Katy Rose Wants To Be Understood

09/05/03 4:30pm

Katy Rose sits across from me wearing a black lace shirt, denim jeans ripped from thigh to ankle and dozens of plastic necklaces and bracelets. She laces her fingers politely on the table, sips on a Diet Coke and wants to be taken seriously. Not just by me, or any other reporter waiting to interview her, but by the music world waiting for her debut album, Because I Can, to drop on October 7. "I'd like to touch emotions in different people," she says, jingling her bracelets. "I want people to relate and understand. 'Cause that's been one of my things, I feel like no one understands me. So it's really important to me to get a fanbase of people who can understand me. That's really all I'm looking for. "I mean, I'm not really even looking for success per se," she continues, flipping her streaked blonde hair over her shoulder. "I'm not in this to be a superstar. I just kinda did it, and we'll see where it goes. I guess I'd like PJ Harvey success, but I wouldn't knock Avril success until I've tried it." With that, I mention to her that the current buzz around town is that she's the next Avril Lavigne, to which Katy crinkles her nose and shrugs off the notion. "I haven't really heard that I'm the next Avril," she says. "I think that's probably more relevant here in Canada, since she's Canadian. But once you listen to the CD, you'll see there's absolutely no comparison. It's not like I don't like her music, I just don't listen to it. That kind of music doesn't really appeal to me." So what kind of music does appeal to the 16-year-old singer-songwriter? Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell no less, a result of growing up in a musical household. Her father is Kim Bullard, who was often the touring keyboardist for Crosby, Stills And Nash, and Art Garfunkel, and was a member of Poco. So when his little daughter sparked an interest in music, the only logical thing to do was build her a studio using the old barn on the property of their Los Angeles ranch. Little did they know that the barn where Katy recorded her album was the same barn where Mr. Ed (a 1950s TV show famous for its talking horse) was filmed. "We didn't know it was where Mr. Ed was shot when we bought it," she laughs. "All we knew was that it was Dinah Shore's old ranch. I used to watch Mr. Ed obsessively late at night when I was really little. You know, I wish I had some funny stories of visions of Mr. Ed in the studio, but not really." Switching topics to her showcase later that night at Toronto's Rivoli, her eyes light up. "In my show, I play guitars, keyboards and I fuck around on the drums. I think in a Katy Rose show, I have a lot of fun on stage. I have a great band, and you can tell we have a lot of fun together... I don't know yet if I'll make a second record, though. "This is just something I'm doing, I don't know if it's a career yet." —Christine Estima