Today we’d like to introduce you to The Blushes.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Katie Jayne: Like so many people, our worlds were uprooted in 2020. Each one of us had some major life changes whether it be in relationships, careers, or in passion and artistic endeavors. I think that sent us on these new paths that all kind of led us to connect with each other. We knew each other when we were kids, but we had lost touch for a really long time. For a lot of people, 2020 had this magical way of re-positioning you and where you’re meant to be, and it repositioned us to be together. As soon as we got back together, we realized that there was something special here, that there was a chemistry and an energy between us. We all really wanted to make music, and not just music, but music that meant something to all three of us, to each of us as individuals and as women. So we started this project and so far it’s been a dream.
Lori: I agree, and I’ll just say, like, The Blushes is our Covid-silver-lining. We grew up in the valley, we’re real-life valley girls, haha. So far we’ve released two singles, and we’ve played what feels like 100 shows all around Los Angeles. We’re saying yes to every opportunity and pushing ourselves as much as possible. We’ve really build a whole Blushworld that’s grounded in self-love as punk, self-care as punk. We’ve build a world for ourselves, where we insource our own authority and make our own rules.
Katy Rose: I wanted to add, and not forget, that we all actually met doing children’s theater in the valley of Los Angeles. We were the pink ladies!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Katy Rose: It actually, knock on wood, has been a very smooth road as far as starting a project goes. We feel really lucky. The rough road was actually what lead us to The Blushes, and this is our medicine, this has been our healing process. This became our safe space and sanctuary. All of us are really about communication and health. And that’s very different from a lot of other projects that you get into in the entertainment business because let’s face it, the entertainment industry is really steeped in toxicity, male perspective, male gaze, and male gatekeepers. Because we’re doing this our way, we’re making a conscious choice to not work with anyone who makes us feel unsafe. That allows us to create in a way that is most authentic to ourselves.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Katie: I’ve been a singer-songwriter and performer in a band called The Mowgli’s for the last ten years. The Mowgli’s which saw radio success, received a gold record in 2022, toured the world, and has been featured in many film and tv projects. We have over 1,00,000 monthly listeners on Spotify thanks to a die-hard fan base. Our certified gold record San Francisco has over 81,000,000 streams on Spotify alone. I closed that chapter for myself in an effort to pursue a female-dominant work environment, and that is something I’m extremely proud of.
Katy Rose: I signed a deal with V2 records when I was 13, and essential hit the road and have never really stopped. I’ve had top 10 songs in the US, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, the UK and South Africa. The success of my song Overdrive which was featured in Mean Girls and Thirteen, and other projects, helped launch my career as a singer-songwriter and producer for not only myself but for many other artists.
Lori: I’ve spent the last 20 years building a career as an independent artist. I started my career in San Francisco, studying acting and music at The American Conservatory Theater, as well as studying visual arts at a small artist collective. Once I got back to LA, I booked my first role in Steven Spielberg, Extant, followed by Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria Bell with Julianne Moore, James Gray’s Ad Astra, and Aaron Sorkin’s Being The Ricardos. One of my favorite projects was playing in Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer as David Bowie. Turning my attention towards writing and visuals, I’ve had my poetry published in Luna Arcana and Griffel Literary Magazine and do the artwork for the blushes.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Katie: It’s really hard to see where anything is going with an industry that changes so much with technology and creative access. Kids can produce music and art on their phones, which invites so many different types of artists to create. It’s ever-changing, and we’re currently living in a turning point.
Katy Rose: The music business has always been the wild west; it’s lawless. We’re pirates. I think there’s a really fine line between musicians and criminals, hahaha. If we’re being really honest, all of us got into this type of work because we wanted freedom from predictability. You both love and hate the insecurity of it. The excitement of it and the stress of it elicits the same response.
Katie: It’s foolish to say we could assume anything, but we believe that as long as we create music that is authentic to us, we will continue to find our place in it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theblushes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblushesband/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheBlushes
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theblushes
Image Credits
All images photographed by Simone Nieves
