CAY: Not Your Typical Girl Next Door
Photos and Words by Cameron Dorsey
CAY wants to come off as your average, everyday girl next door, but her journey has been anything but average. Living in Germany for the first 5 years of her life before returning to her birthplace of Chesapeake, VA, the creative seeds were planted early in the singer/songwriter/rapper. 2 EPs and a handful of singles into her career, CAY is enjoying the process of finding her voice as a writer and an artist overall. We caught up with her in the midst of a productive 2023, check it out below.
So you’ve mentioned that you started out creating visually, doing graphic design and edits before the music, where did that come from?
I think I’m just a naturally artistic person. When I used to play as a kid, it was deeper than just bringing out the Barbies, it was a production for me. I pretended to have a talk show but I needed my mom to record me, I had a script, I had to have my Barbies there, I was just really into it. I didn't know at the time but I just had a really big imagination. So I think my outlet has always been to create, I found my way into photography and graphic design and that's where that started.
Okay, so where did the music come in throughout that?
Music is still intertwined throughout my whole life. My mom was in the choir, so she was always singing and listening to music but mostly gospel music. So I've always been into music and singing, but when I moved back to the States, I was exposed to Disney Channel & Nickelodeon, so I got into Cheetah Girls & stuff like that, where the music is intertwined into everything. I got into doing covers by watching them and recording myself, so I say that's where making music started for me. I’d just play around with it with my friends, I'd write raps and keep them to myself. So the moment that I was like, “Yo I want to make a song”, was out of boredom. I was with my friends, and one of them wanted to be a singer. I didn't really have an interest in being a singer but I thought it was cool. So we went to a friend of mine’s house who also makes music, and he's like, “Why don't you get in the booth?”. I was kind of shy about it at first, but we just picked a beat off of YouTube and we made this song I wrote. After that, everyone came in and was like, “Oh this is fire”. So now I'm like ok, I like this, maybe I should do something with it. So I would say that's when the seed was planted.
So is there any particular way you go about your songwriting process? Do you have to be in the mood to write?
I’m more of an emotional writer, so if I don't feel compelled to write, I'm usually not writing, I just don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. From a practice standpoint, you should be doing it even when you don't feel like it, but I honestly just have to feel it. I've also noticed that I write in hooks, it's not intentional but I can come up with those a lot easier and I think that helps because it kind of sets the tone for what the song is going to be.
You have a few EPs out right now, a few singles as well, how do you think that you've grown between those projects?
When we were in the middle of making my last EP, it was a very long, drawn-out process and I think it was necessary for me to go through. As we were making it I was thinking “This was the best music I've ever made, this is so crazy, this is gonna be the one like this is it”. And now it's not that I don't like it, I do, I just already know what I would do better. So now I’m making music that I'm a little bit more connected to.
What do you think you’re trying to get across in your music? Is it all written purely from experience or is there a bigger picture where you’re trying to say something overall?
I think a lot of it is purely from experience. I write a lot of my music for myself, so it's either something I've gone through, a space that I want to be in, or something that I've learned along the way that I think is important to my life. So whether it’s something I think other people should partake in or a certain outlook you should have on life, that’s what I like to speak to mostly but I'm still learning along the way.
What are some of your influences musically, you mentioned your mom playing a lot of gospel growing up, what do you find in listening to your own music?
I feel like I'm really into playful sounds and sounds that feel good. I'm pretty sure Disney Channel has done a number on me, I'm sure that goes into the music in some way. I haven't uncovered how yet but I'm sure there's something to it. I like a lot of cartoons, I'm really just a big kid, so I like a lot of playful stuff in my music. But, I'm also really into love and relationships. I think that’s probably from my upbringing and not seeing great examples of that, but I've always been very drawn to learning more about it. I feel like it takes up a lot of my mental space, but in a good way because I genuinely just like learning about relationships between people and trying to understand how and why they work but I think that comes out a lot in my music.
You recently started Cay Studios, talk a little bit about what that is and what can we expect.
Cay Studios is my brain child. I provide marketing consulting/campaign creative direction and products to educate and inspire innovative/creative entrepreneurs. We are scheduled to launch our first product in January 2024. It’s an extension of the work and platform I’ve built as CAY. I wanted to create a platform that I needed in my upcoming pursuit of a creative career. If you enjoy the work I do, there’s something for you at Cay Studios. So there will be a lot of cool things happening in the year to come!
So other than that, what else can we expect from you throughout this upcoming year?
I think the one thing I can definitely count on is a clear projection of who I am and what I'm trying to build. That people will see me pushing my boundaries with creativity, that's what I'm hoping for.
And what do you think it takes to push through those creative boundaries?
A level of knowing yourself, not caring what anybody thinks, thinking outside the box, taking risks and just going for it.
