Let's have a dialogue
Can I just be a lil bitch for a sec?
Welcome to the all-new mailer from Slung. You’re here because we'd like to take you on a new journey somewhere cool. But if that’s not for you, then that’s all good! See ya around x
Hi I’m Katie.
I always thought I was quite good at delivering myself. It’s been almost knee-jerk in fact - packing this all up into the perfectly digestible form for whoever I was aiming to please.
But the older I’ve gotten, the less I’ve felt the need to be ‘for sale’, and this ability to pitch has melted away, like butter heated gently over the warmth of inner peace.
So in a lot ways I’m freer than I’ve ever been.
But at the same time, I’m kind of stuck.
’Cause how do you launch a band that no-one knows?
Ah fuck... You’ve gotta launch yourself.
And man am I out of my depth.
It seems you’ve now gotta train as an elite gymnast for the hoops you’re expected to jump through if you wanna get anywhere online.
You’ve gotta turf out any delusion of getting by on talent, mystique or repertoire, and suddenly dial up your output to 100. All whilst knowingly attempting to squirm your way into people’s field of vision, because trying to walk before you can run is as good as shooting yourself in the foot.
’Don’t worry about getting it right,’ I was once advised by someone in a digital marketing. ‘Just get it out. Think of it like growing up in public.’
But god that’s humiliating isn’t it?
And miserably dystopian in a way that kicks my cynical ass into overdrive.
FUCK YOU ELON MUSK MARK ZUCKERBERG FUCKING STREAMING MAFIA RUINED OUR INTERNET I DON’T WANNA BE A MARKETER I WANNA SING SONGS
Okay sorry I just needed to get that out of my system.
I’d like to note here that I’ve also decided this will be the first and last time I’ll ever whinge about being a cool authentic artiste being forced to bend the knee to Daddy Algorithm. ’Cause outside of being lame as fuck, I’ve also come to realise that it is unfortunately a limiting belief.
I’m reminded of this George Carlin quote:
“Scratch any cynic and you’ll find a disappointed idealist. But that fire never goes out completely.”
As it turns out, there are actually quite a few creatives online making really wonderful, charming and non-depressing shit. (My absolute fave rn is this woman on tiktok called Saima who I am absolutely smitten with)
These videos are fun and engaging not because they’ve studied the art of the visual hook, but because they acknowledge their own artifice. There’s no obscuring the fact that a camera has been staged to capture something candid, or that some ideas only come about because the first thought is that it would make great content.
No matter how much I resent the game, refusing to play is only ever going to mean being left behind by it. And what these people are actually doing so well, is continuing to play, just now with their cards on the table.
So that’s what I’m trying to do here.
I’m under no illusion that anyone might care about this. If you’re still reading this far, no-one is more shocked than me lmao. This is just step one of figuring out how to talk again, and there’s something weirdly comforting about doing that in a place that might not even reach any eyes yet. That feels like a much safer way to grow up in public.
And most of all, it just feels really fucking good to be this honest.
Because every ‘big things coming soon!’ or ‘available to stream now!’ post comes dogged by this nagging void that chips away at my sense of connection, and ends up just feeling quite lonely.
But who am I to believe I’m above it? I’m just a wee little someone still clinging on to a dream of making something big and bright and beautiful one day. So it’s really on me to distill a way to do all this that keeps my soul intact. And this is what I’ve managed to do so far:
- I’ve started to make some tiktoks that have felt really good to make (pls be nice, I’m extremely easy to embarrass)
- And I’ve started this substack :)
So this is where you can find me now, writing little blogs as a newsletter in the aim to put some real life and energy back into the ether. Which feels a but like a counter-curse for all the other unfulfilling shit we have to do to try and make it in the biz *
I’m finding myself genuinely inspired to try and carve our a really fun and warm space here (with much less complaining I promise). So if you like the sound of that then do stick around, say hi, and tell me about your favourite people on the internet.
Lots of love,
Katie
Vocalist, Frontwoman and Worrier-in-Chief
of a band called Slung
*Just know that any time you see a sponsored ad of ours you can picture me standing right behind it yelling I’M SO SORRY
This hits. We have grown up in a world that has seen such a wild evolution of the internet and how connecting with people globally has changed so much… but in its current state, the things you have to do to get better positions in an algo — it’s so incredibly draining. FWIW I am digging your Slung vids. I’m glad you’re utilizing this venue too!!
This truly resonated with me, but for what it’s worth Katie, in my mind you’ve already made something ’big’! And no one can ever take your music away from you, or thankfully us!