Exploring the Depths: A Journey Through Music, Memory, and Inspiration with Cati Landry

Hi Cati!! We are so thrilled to have you at Pop Palace! How are you in this moment?

Thank you so much for having me Jack and Pop Palace. You’ve caught me at a good time—I just moved to a new city, and I’m feeling really excited and inspired by life again, which is funny because I wrote Desert Rose about searching for that feeling, and now it’s found me again.

You grew up on Vancouver Island, surrounded by nature and performing on stages with 'velvet curtains and ghost stories.' How did these early experiences shape your artistic vision and musical style?

Well, I can remember the first time I went into the old Edwardian era theatre in my hometown, I was a little girl and something in my heart just felt like 'I’m home!'... I think that my early exposure to these artistic spaces that held so much energy and so many stories has always guided me in some way...

‘Desert Rose’ is a very personal and soul-searching song. Can you share more about the journey that led you to write it and what it represents for you?

Desert Rose was written in a time when I was feeling lost and disillusioned—and was longing for a safe haven to give me a sense of belonging, freedom & unconditional understanding... I loved being able to make the Desert Rose a hotel, too, and have a nod to one of my old safe havens in there.

Pouring out your emotions can be draining, how do you recharge and do you have any self-care practices?

Actually on the day we wrote this song, when I left the studio, I couldn’t stop crying in the car. It was almost like it tapped into some longing I hadn’t even realized was there and extracted it, and then I was a bit of a mess... I also think having fun is so healing, so I would say spending time with people who put you at ease, and then there’s nothing like a night out dancing to set the soul free.

What has been one of the most memorable moments you have experienced with music?

Hmm gosh this one is hard. Music is everywhere with me. But a formative moment that I can think of is when I had first gotten my driver’s license, and my friend Gabe told me to listen to Bloom by Beach House... I felt like I was drifting on the wind up in the sky...

As you continue to develop your sound, where do you see your music heading in the future?

In the future, I would love to continue exploring and deepening my perspective, which I find advances through every song, but also has some unwavering themes and signatures... Desert Rose is a moment where I really used my voice as an expressive instrument too, so I am feeling inspired to do even more of that going forward.

Finally, here at Pop Palace, we all have our own little 'Royal Court' of artists who inspire us and keep us going. So, if you could build your own musical palace, who would be sitting on your throne, and who would be in your royal court of all-time favorite artists?

Without a doubt, Stevie Nicks would be reigning ethereal supreme in my royal palace—she has soundtracked and presided over my entire life. I’ve tried to narrow down my royal court and it was really hard… but they would be Bob Dylan, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison, Leonard Cohen, Nancy & Frank Sinatra, Madonna, The Smiths, Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey, Kurt Cobain, Kacey Musgraves, Britney Spears, and Mazzy Star.