Interview with Kate Moross.

25 year old Kate doesn't limit herself to one talent. Together with running ISO & Isomorph Records, she creates live installations, designs sleeve covers, plays around with film and makes some pretty awesome t-shirts. Katia met Kate in her Cavendish Street Studios to ask questions her FAQ hasn't yet answered. For further information you can follow Kate on twitter, facebook, and flickr.

How did you find what you loved doing?

I’ve never had a real job. I had internships when I was in my late teens and worked all through secondary school, designing yearbooks or the set for the school play: anything I could get my hands on. I felt like I already had that running parallel with my education.
When I went onto university I started freelancing, and working within the music industry for people like Young Turks and All Ages. It was almost a relief when finished education because I could purely work on what I wanted to. I encourage people to pursue that: continuing and starting to work from as young as possible

How do you start off with a blank canvas? Do you ever get frustrated?
I never sit and watch and wait for something to come to me. I just start and start again. At least I know what I don’t want to do. You have to be opportunistic. Sometimes I don't work in pencil, I go straight to pen. I try not to be scared making mistakes.

And what do you think of the current state of the music industry?
It's potentially quite an exciting time and money is rapidly changing within the industry. There is the reawakening of creativity within the industry now. You have to do interesting stuff in order to engage people. It’s great because that's where I can come on board. They're not the boss anymore, musicians need people like us.

If you had complete control of the music industry where would you go with it?
I would make a strong effort to engage with music in different ways, from more installation-based work to live experiences for communication between the bands and audiences. For example, HMV could have pods where you could experience music and interact with the artists inside them. Live music is great now; it's really becoming a chance to let artists have amazing visuals and great costumes.
If money were no object, where would you go with a live performance?
I'd like to be able to go back to the old stadium tours with robots and zip wires and insane live shows that would’ve been more like going to Thorpe Park instead of Wembley Arena. I'd like to develop one like that – an amazing magical experience.



So who would you say is the best band you've recently worked with?
I have worked as Simian Mobile Disco's Art Director, for the last two years, and I will be continuing to work with them in 2012. They let me have full creative control when working on projects with them. At the moment I've also been working with James Connolly (L-Vis 1990), who also does design and film.
Here at ISO we have been developing his live visuals. We’ve been able to start afresh with his brand and work with him to create something new for the album.

So what are best and worst album sleeves of all time?
Best – I would say, Electric Light Orchestra, Balance of Power. I love intricate ones, but this one is fucking sick. So simple and well executed. Worst – anything that is a photo of the artist with text on top. I know that's what sells music... Rihanna gets it right but some people don’t. Like Olly Murs. 

We would like to thank Kate for taking the time to talk to us. You can view Kate's view lookbook here.