Gen Z pop sensation Caity Baser has gone from working in Co-op to releasing the feel-good break-up song of the summer in just three years.
Next week she will take to the stage at American Express presents BST Hyde Park for her biggest gig to date and she has just released a huge fashion collaboration with depop allowing fans to snap up her distinct and quirky festival style.
It’s been a whirlwind few years for 20-year-old Caity who uploaded her first singing video to TikTok in lockdown and has not looked back since.
Speaking of her runaway success, the Southhampton-born singer says: “This opportunity doesn’t come round very often so from the jump I was determined to give it my absolute everything. Even if things were a bit sh*t for a few months or a year I just want to keep going and being the best I can.... it’s like a plant you have to water it every day!”
This week Caity dropped the music video to her irresistibly catchy new single Leave Me Alone which sees her recreate scenes from her favourite movies, including Martin Scorsese classic The Wolf of Wall Street.
Dressing up as Margot Robbie and giving her handsome leading man the middle finger is a far cry from her early days of employment at supermarket chain Co-op.
But Caity’s life changed forever when she was encouraged to share a video of herself singing on TikTok - which blew up in astounding fashion and reached over a million people overnight.
This (very modern) fairytale happened to coincide with teenage Caity starting her job in retail.
"I did one shift then I came to London for the first time and met my [now music] managers. I did a second shift, cried the whole way through it and went back for day three and said: "Hello boss man, I’ve never met you before... but I’m quitting... I'm going to be a pop star.’”
And Caity has achieved just that.
Her bitingly-honest lyrics or ‘calling people out on their s**t’ as she puts it, has won her legions of adoring fans and drawn comparisons to hitmakers Lily Allen and Kate Nash before her, but Caity admits she’s not always been as confident as her stage persona would suggest.
“I was not confident in myself for so long. At school I was a bit of a doormat. I wouldn’t really sing in front of anyone. People would judge me because I was a bit annoying and weird. But then after posting my first singing video and seeing so many people who didn’t even know me say, ‘This is amazing you are so great’. It felt incredible.
"And I think, 'You don’t have to tell me that, you don’t know me, you don’t owe me anything,' but the support from other people has made me believe myself more and more and now I’m like, 'Yeah f*cking right on!’”
And does Caity still read the comments of her performances that have grown from DIY bedroom cuts to huge mainstream festivals?
“I do read every single comment! Every one. This is bad! When I’m having a bad day I go on TikTok - I'm addicted - and type in 'Caity Baser live performance' and I go through all of them. And I comment on them all too! I reply things like ‘Ah I love you. Thank you.'
"I just get involved with it all, the good, the bad and the ugly.”
Next weekend Caity will play her biggest date yet as she supports Blackpink at Hyde Park’s British Summer Time Festival.
“I could quite literally scream, do a few cartwheels and run up the walls in excitement for it.
“I just can’t wait to be doing my own thing at BST in front of all those people in the sunshine.
“I’m not nervous at all it’s weird. Before every show I always look at pictures of the stage and I looked up BST and now I’m just excited to get out there. It’s that feeling like when you know when you’re about to get on a rollercoaster and you are all adrenalin, you know you’re not going to die and you know it’s going to be fine and it’s all the anticipation. It’s going to be amazing I can’t wait.”
While her set-list of pop bangers is already in the bag, Caity admits she's still working on her look for the day, "I am thinking a ponytail down to my thigh," she muses.
Caity is no stranger to festivals having attended and played some of Britain's biggest in the last year.
And as she releases her eagerly-anticipated festival edit with American Express x Depop, Caity gives her top tips on surviving a raucous weekend in style.
“If we’re thinking logically - when I never do - my go to look is a mini skirt co-ord, with a cool funky pattern on it and some chunky boots because if it rains you don’t want to be stuck with your little trainers on.
"I would say bring a raincoat but I’ve never done that. I always get soaked. I will do my make up all amazing and look good for an hour before I turn into a drowned rat."
And when her summer of festivals is over... what next for the pop star?
"An album, another tour including Europe next time, bigger venues, I want to go to America and do what I did here - loads of little shows everywhere. I want to keep growing and keep connecting and keep making people happy with my music."
American Express and Depop have partnered with rising star Caity Baser on a new festival edit, allowing shoppers to purchase pre-loved clothing in her distinct Y2K style. The edit is available now online and via the Depop app
