The ubiquitous image of young women gyrating feverishly around a stage in lingerie or pouting seductively for a music video is not one Squamish singer-songwriter Kate Kurdyak wants for her band, The Katherines.
“My mom’s a huge feminist and I am a feminist,” Kurdyak told The Squamish Chief.
The alternative pop trio The Katherines is made up of front woman Kurdyak, her sister Lauren and a childhood friend, Kaitlyn Hansen-Boucher.
“What I like to focus on is the empowerment and friendship and aspect of it. Women working together and supporting each other and working hard and doing well,” said Kurdyak, a third year Quest University student.
“You do have to be aware of this whole business side and especially when it comes to women. You know, sex sells, and so it is really hard to walk that line, I’ve found,” she said.
Kurdyak, 20, has thought a lot about perspectives and how they are formed. Her focus at Quest has been on answering the question, “How are our realities formed and influenced?”
“I hope that people will see through the pictures and listen to what we are saying,” she said of how people see her band.
The band, which was a concept back when the girls were in elementary school in Vancouver but officially formed in May of 2015, has already had a taste of stardom.
The band recently signed with Vancouver record label 604 Records, which represent established rockers Theory of a Deadman, pop star Carly Rae Jepsen and country singer Dallas Smith.
Their first album will be released sometime this year, Kurdyak said.
Their songs are getting play on local radio, and last week, the band released a new music video for its song “Primitive,” which premiered on Vice music website Noisey.
Kurdyak said controversial Australian pop singer Sia inspires her.
“She’s an incredible vocalist and an incredible songwriter,” she said, adding Sia recently performed on TV and hid her face the entire performance.
“I think it was a little bit of a protest of this need for this beautiful, sexualized image of women to be successful in the industry, so I think that is really cool,” she said.
All three members of The Katherines are classically trained musicians as well as singers. While Kurdyak was the songwriter on the debut album, she said that won’t necessarily be the case for future albums.
“I sort of did the [initial] album before we formed the band as it is now,” she said. “But I think going forward, the format of the band is going to change a lot. I know that my sister is starting to write songs, and she likes doing that sort of thing.”
Kurdyak said while becoming a superstar band on the pop scene would be nice, the ultimate goal is for the band members to be long-term working musicians.
“We just hope that we can sustain ourselves and keep doing it, because it is just the most fun job in the world. I just want to keep working so I can make it my life because… I know there is nothing that can compare.”
