Kate Nash calls for better support systems for musicians: “Because our lifestyles are associated with partying, the industry hasn’t had to be professional”

The star recalled the issues she faced as a teenager signed to a major label

Kate Nash has called for more support for musicians, recalling her experiences as a teenager starting out in the music business.

The star was signed to Polydor when she was 17 years old and scored a Number One album with her 2007 debut, ‘Made of Bricks’.

In a new interview about a new documentary, Underestimate The Girl, focused partially on Nash’s early days, she looked back on instances in her career when she was left without a support system.

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“Artists often have mental health issues,” she told the Guardian. “And their lifestyles are unstable because of all the travelling and the media commentary on their lives. Now I’m like: ‘How were all these 40-year-old men hanging out with me and happy to profit from me and not concerned about my health in any way?’”

Kate Nash
Kate Nash

She added her experiences of filming Netflix wrestling series GLOW had shown her it was possible for those in creative lines of work to have similar protections to others in more typical lines of business. “As many problems as there are with Hollywood, I feel so much more protected because if there’s a serious issue, I have someone I can talk to,” she said.

“Where’s that in the music industry? We need it. Because our lifestyles are associated with partying, it hasn’t had to be professional. But you’re like: ‘Where’s HR?’”

Speaking to NME in 2018, Nash called the music industry “the most unprofessional business in the world” and said it’s #MeToo moment was coming. 

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“It’s a night-time lifestyle – people are fucked and doing drugs and drinking,” she said. “Labels are buying drugs. Men in their 30s and 40s are buying drugs for 18-year-olds. That’s fucked up. I haven’t personally experienced anybody like that. I haven’t had a #MeToo moment of people in the music industry. I’ve had inappropriate shit, though. I’ve had unprofessionalism. I’ve had them treat me like shit, like a piece of meat, and not care about me really at all.”

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