Katy B

As soon as you heard the tune, you knew that you'd chanced upon something special. In what was an otherwise depressing, distressing year for radio pop, this record seemed beamed down from another, better, sexier planet. A lurching, slashing, nasty rhythm, somewhere between dubstep and grime. An evocation of both the pleasure and the danger at the heart of the best club nights out you've ever had. And, crucially, a girl's voice.

This voice was high and pretty, yet strong and indomitable. It wrapped its creamy virtuosity around words about the sub-bass going boom and inhaling in the fumes, in much the same way that Donna Summer breathed a celestial fire into simple words about love and sex many years ago, over an equally alien electronic rhythm. 'I Feel Love' casually invented the dance world we all live in, and this new tune, with its entirely feminine and sensual take on hedonism, was going all out to reinvent it for an era that has become cynical about the transcendent qualities of going out dancing to extremely loud music. But, again... The Voice. It was somehow urban, and pop, and soul and slightly alien. Apparently, the voice was called Katy B. And it was, indisputably, On A Mission.

The maker of 'Katy On A Mission' is not a celestial alien... at least, not today. Today she's a small, friendly and alarmingly pretty Peckham lass who is getting her hair done in a small room at the Rinse FM HQ in East London. We're also joined by her mentor and producer Geeneus, who is also the co-owner of the legendary London pirate radio station, which finally got its long overdue licence in June 2010. He's going to help his protégé explain how a BRIT school graduate with a couple of garage tunes to her name has become the maker of a classic underground breakout anthem and, in the forthcoming 'On A Mission', one of the most eagerly-awaited dance albums of recent times. It seems like overnight success, but actually took over three years. And Katy is still just 21.

It all begins back in Peckham. The young Katy was an R&B loving girl who wasn't satisfied with just listening to her favourite Boyz II Men, Destiny's Child and Alicia Keys records. Her parents were supportive of her ambitions for a musical career, and sent her to The BRIT School. Her soul fan father had been a singer himself, and various aunts and cousins were musicians. Hanging out with like minds at The BRIT School led her into an enduring love for neo-soul, particularly Erykah Badu and Jill Scott.

'Do you know what? I'm so happy to talk about the BRIT School and everything. Because some people seem to think it's some kind of fame school, but it's not like that at all. I went there when I was 14 so we did normal lessons. Music is just a small part of it. But the atmosphere at The BRIT is just amazing. People actually enjoy going to school. The journey that you go on in such a small period of time... the people that I met there are still my best friends today. They have a really good studio there and that's where I got my first demos done.'

The BRIT School also teaches aspiring artists how to record their own material, giving them a crash course in engineering and producing. And Katy plays piano to classical standard. So couldn't she just sack Geeneus and co-producer DJ Zinc and go DIY? 'I'd rather they do it, really! I'm too lazy! Singing and songwriting is where I can really express myself. It's there that I want to perfect my craft.'

Katy went on to a degree in music at Goldsmith's in New Cross, south London. 'It makes you realize what goes into being a musician... how to rehearse, how to create a performance. And for a singer it really helps to study theory, understand music, and know what you're talking about. Singers often go into a room with musicians and get intimidated. They'll talk to you like you're an idiot. Knowing as much as them about music gives you a kind of confidence.'

Katy got her first break at the tender age of 17. DJ NG and an MC called Versatile (not the Toddla T collaborator) hooked up with Katy on 'Tell Me', one of the first and most enduringly popular UK funky house anthems. Geeneus got in touch.

'As soon as I heard her I knew there was something about her voice. I was writing a lot of grimey music, and the scene was all getting a bit overcrowded with men. We can make ravey bassline music all day long. We needed the girl element back in it. When I've played this album to girls they don't care about the background music -- they couldn't care less. They're like, "Oh... the lyrics." It wasn't planned like that. But that's what Katy supplies. I think we've merged our two worlds into one.'

The original idea was that Rinse FM wanted to make a showcase album for their DJ's, most of whom are also composers and producers. This would have been multi-genre, as well as multi-artist. In order to give the record any hope of sounding like an album rather than an eclectic compilation, it needed a sonic link. But despite Katy's presence, the eclectic range of producers just didn't link well enough to provide any continuity. Meanwhile, Geeneus and his compadre Zinc were falling in love with Katy's voice, lyrics and melody lines. It became increasingly obvious that Rinse FM's showcase had turned into a potential debut album for Katy B. 'It just seemed natural. Geeneus and Zinc were providing the best tracks and I loved working with them.'

The process honed Katy's fledgling songwriting skills. Let's be clear: the beats hail from her stellar cast of producers, which also includes Benga and Benny ill (Horsepower Productions), as well as extra-curricular guest spots with Magnetic Man. But the songs are all Katy's own work.

'I come from a background where I would be getting beats to work with. These are people who make instrumental music so there's no song. There's no one there to write my songs for me. I was kinda forced into it but then found out that I really enjoy it.' So much so that Katy is also signed to EMI as a songwriter. Nevertheless, it's taken three years of work and experiment to get 'On A Mission' made. 'We made one album and completely scrapped it,' laughs Katy. 'It was like... the warm-up', adds Gee. But... three years? Teenagers aren't noted for their patience. Didn't the slow progress drive Katy nuts?

'Definitely. But you've got to understand that Gee and Sarah (Lockhart, Rinse FM co-owner) are busy people. Gee's a manager, DJ, producer, radio station owner, promoter, record-label head. And they do all of it really well. So sometimes I did feel like I was bottom of priorities. But I always had faith that they would do their best. And I'm glad that it's happened now. I got to finish my degree, and Katy On A Mission all happened just as I came out of Uni. The timing's perfect.'

'Plus it's a good experience to work with her,' Geeneus smiles. 'She's down-to-earth, just like us. We'd worked with other singers and they're all a bit, like... diva-ish. The initial idea with the showcase was to bang an album out in six months. But Zinc and me realised that we really liked working with Katy. So let's concentrate on it, do it properly. And as time's gone on she's still never got that diva attitude. Before we knew it we had an album and the "Katy On A Mission" track... that song just went "Whoosh!"' Its been a slow, invisible climb that we didn't realise we were on.'

It turns out that the impact of Katy On A Mission was as big a (happy) shock to its makers as it was to us humble pop fans, as Geeneus explains. 'Its success changed all our plans. It took us all by surprise. I think a lot of the underground came together and bought it all at once. Possibly because the video was shot at a real rave -- we were all sick of people doing videos with fake raves. Then the rest of the world saw it and latched on. So Katy On A Mission was like a breath of fresh air. We don't wanna make Ibiza-type pop-house with an MC on it. All we're trying to do is the real thing. We'd slit our wrists if we had to make manufactured music.'

And so to Katy's debut album, 'On A Mission'. A 12-track fusion of underground beats, pop hooks, soulful sophistication... and that alien something that made Katy On A Mission add up to so much more than its parts. What's it all about, then, Katy?

'It's me; just as a young woman, partying, relationships... the album's definitely where I'm coming from. Tracks like Disappear and Easy Please Me are all experiences in my life and emotions that I've felt. I love Jill Scott because her lyrics are beautiful, but always telling a simple story, in a clever way. When someone writes about love you want to be able to relate to it.'

Geeneus: 'I watched Katy write this album and know that every track has a meaning to her, and those meanings relate to a lot of people. A lot of people write about being somewhere else. Katy writes about being here, today.'

Katy: 'For me, Power On Me is one of the tracks that really defines the album. There's drum 'n' bass in it. There's house in it. There's grime in it -- I don't even really know what genre it is! But it's dark and atmospheric. Listening to music like dubstep makes me want to write about dark emotions.'

Current single Lights On is another perfect meld of urban dark and femme-pop light, and features the wonderful Ms. Dynamite. The Mercury Prize-winner had come into the Rinse studios to work with Zinc and Geeneus at the same time as Katy and Gee were writing Lights On. Gee asked her to try spitting a verse, the venerable Ms. D agreed, and the rest is history. 'This is about two years ago', Geeneus reminds us, 'and back then no one had really heard of Katy and Ms Dynamite was a big thing. So she did us a big favour.' 'She's been really supportive,' adds Katy, 'a really lovely person.'

As the album developed, Katy also insisted that she move away from P.A. style live performance and front a proper band. Her ten-piece live group, complete with horn section, are accomplished enough to pull off a triumphant recent support slot with John Legend and The Roots. Word of mouth about these early shows has led to extraordinary demand for her first headline tour in May 2011. Small regional venues have had to be hastily bumped up to 1000-1500 seaters, while the immediate sell-out of her London show forced an additional date -- which will be sold out too, by the time you read this. Katy is one of the UK's hottest tickets in 2011.

And for her next album, Katy intends to experiment more with live instruments. 'We've got trumpets and keys on this record, but I'd like to bring more of that next time around.' But there's still the small matter of her debut to deal with before ambitious musical visions can be pursued. The girl may not have planned to be a pop star. But she increasingly has no choice in the matter. So what, exactly, is Katy B's mission? 'I've always had this, "Who cares about the charts?" attitude. But I've always wanted to be successful in what I do. All I've ever wanted to do is make a living.'

'We're hoping that people would like some real music for a change,' Geeneus declares, proudly. 'Something that harks back to Soul II Soul and Neneh Cherry. And, so far, it's going quite well.'

Katy B chews that over, mumbles something self-deprecating... and then finally settles on the best possible reason for making On A Mission. 'Because I look up to certain singers, I'd like to be that to someone else. It would be cool if someone's favourite album was a Katy B album. That would be the biggest thing for me.'