CAITLIN

Timaru-born alternative pop artist CAITLIN (Caitlin Bradley) is part of a new wave of thoughtful, self-produced songwriters carving out space in Ōtautahi Christchurch’s thriving music community. Now 25, she balances sharp musical instincts with a strategic mindset, having completed a Bachelor of Commerce in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Canterbury alongside a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Vocals from Ara Institute of Canterbury. Raised by full-time musician parents, she grew up immersed in country and folk before shaping her own sound — one that sits somewhere between alternative pop, indie rock and folk-leaning intimacy.

Drawing inspiration from emotionally direct songwriters like Maggie Rogers and the textured early work of Bon Iver, Caitlin builds her music from feeling first, often letting melodies and fragments of lyric lead the way. Fresh off opening the main stage at Electric Avenue, she’s stepping into a new chapter with her upcoming EP Guardrails — a largely self-produced project exploring growth, identity and the emotional shifts of your twenties.

What instruments do you play?

I play whole range of stuff. I play guitar, I sing. Yeah, guitar and vocals are my main instruments, but I grew up playing keys. I used to go and do classical piano lessons for quite a while. But I sort of just dabble in everything else, I do music production as well.

What's the earliest live performance you can remember doing?

Well, my parents are music teachers down in Timaru, so it was probably playing a showcase that parents were putting on at the end of the year, probably singing some song like Build Me Up Buttercup or something.

What's the music scene like in Christchurch?

The music scene is absolutely wicked here. I love it. There's just such a wonderful community here. It feels like everyone's really supportive of each other and everyone's kind of got their own little niches that they do. And everyone is making really unique stuff that's not super driven by the commercial market, but just by what people love. It's really music first rather than anything else.

How do you define your music? What sort of genres do you float in?

Hmm. Alternative pop, I would say, but with elements like indie rock and folk pop.

Who are your biggest influences and musical inspirations?

Growing up I, I really loved, like as a late teen and later into my teenage years, Maggie Rogers and HAIM. I've always loved been drawn to strong female songwriters. But then also I remember being like 15 and listening to Bon Iver's first couple of albums and being obsessed with that.

What’s your songwriting process like? Do you start with a lyric first?

Um, it's always different. I normally actually, I start with like a feeling, so normally if I sit down to write it's because I've got something that I feel like I need to express and just need to get out.

So then I'll sit down and kind of gravitate towards what feels really nice to play on the guitar. And it could be simple or it could be more intricate. I try to find something that resonates with how I'm feeling in that moment. And then I'll kind of start blabbing melodies with kind of like gibberish words - and then sometimes little phrases fall out and they just kind of find their way into the song.

So if someone was discovering your music for the first time, what song do you think they should start with?

Oh, that's a hard one. Yeah. I think they should start with Light Leak. I feel like that was one of the earlier songs where something really clicked for me and I feel like I tapped into the emotion that I was feeling in an authentic and kind of vulnerable way. I feel like that was the first time where I thought “this is something that I've got to put out on stage.”

And then I feel like since then, um, I've just been able to be more and more honest in my songwriting. I really love my song You Are Only Good To Calm Me Down, which I just put out. I love that it's just nice and euphoric, but with a good narrative through it.

Do you have a favourite song to play live?

I'm loving playing my song Wash live at the moment.

So you just played Electric Avenue, which is so awesome. When did you first find out that you were on the lineup?

Oh, it would've been months ago, I think. Uh, if I remember rightly, the lineup got announced in September. I think I knew from about, uh, like mid-winter ish. Maybe July. Um, so yeah, I knew about it for quite some time. So I've been really excited for that gig for quite a while.

Did that kind of feel like you were holding onto a big secret? Who was the first person you told about that?

I think the first people I told were my mum and dad. Yeah. I was like, “you can't tell anyone!” But I always gotta tell the family first!

What was your reaction like when you found out?

I was definitely beyond stoked. I was really excited. Um, I felt like I had been, you know, working towards something like that for quite a while. So to have the opportunity to step up onto the main stage and open and set the tone for the day on that stage was such a privilege. I think that's an important role you have as an opener to set the tone for the day. 

What do you do to prepare for playing a festival like Electric Avenue? 

There's a lot of work that goes into it. I think for me, I did a lot of work across those months of really digging into my artistry beyond just the songwriting and kind of looking at all the threads that I had built in my artist world across visuals, visual releases and what colours I'm drawn to and the narratives that I'm telling, and the way I'm telling them, and the way that I love to perform. And kind of pulling all that together and being like, “okay, how can I represent myself? Where am I at at the moment? What would feel the most authentic right now?” So then, after that it was lots and lots of rehearsals.

Was there quite a different energy at the festival compared to playing a show/gig?

Um. Definitely. Yeah. I think, uh, playing your own show you've kind of got an audience that is purely there just to witness you and they can be held by the moment a little bit more because they're focused on that one thing. Whereas at a festival you've got lots of competing demands for attention and people wanna basically come walk past and be drawn in by something that makes them feel something, whether that's excitement or intrigue or anything like that.

At a festival, it's almost like you're trying to capture the people in front of you and bring them in a bit closer to experience this thing together. So it's very different, but they're both so much fun. I really like playing festivals 'cause I, I love that feeling of discovering something new. I know how cool it can be when you’re in the crowd to be discovering some new songs or artists. Even if it's an artist that I love and listen to heaps of their songs, it's like, I love going to a set and being like, “oh, I've never heard that.” or  “I didn't expect to feel that thing.”

Did anything happen that you weren't expecting?

I thought I was gonna be really nervous before my set, but I feel like I got to the stage. And I felt prepared and I felt ready for it. And so when I walked on, I just felt this immense sense of joy and playfulness, and I felt really present rather than, um, feeling nervous. So that was a surprise and a really exciting experience.

Did you get a chance to watch any of the other artists across the day? Did you have any favourites?

Ooh. Yes, I did. I loved all the different local artists. Um, I'm a big fan of Mim Jensen and Goodwill and Fazerdaze and There's a Tuesday, so to kind of, uh, hear the homies play, that was pretty special. Um, but other than that I really enjoyed Royel Otis, they were great. And L.A.B. But one of those most exciting things was getting to see Kesha do her soundcheck. It was so cool to see her doing her thing and then coming out with the full production later in the evening, and especially with all those outfit changes and the latex.

Has playing Electric Ave kind of changed your perspective on what's possible for you?

That's a great question. Um, I think it has, I think playing, and feeling what it was like to play that sort of scale of a stage just felt right. Yeah, it has definitely kind of opened my eyes a little bit to the possibilities.

But a music career is always a marathon, not a sprint. And so I kind of look at it like you just keep, keep going and keep pushing yourself and learning, and eventually, opportunities will just start to accumulate.

Do you have your sights set on any future big stages? Any dream venues you'd love to play?

Oh, I feel like there are some big dream venues. I'd love to just play some classic venues, which lots of people go through with their music career, like Baby’s All Right in New York, and the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Something like that would definitely be a bucket list item. 

So what's coming up next for you? Any new shows or releases coming out that we should keep an eye out for?

Yeah. I'm releasing a new single called Guardrails on the 13th of March. And then I'm releasing my EP, which is also called Guardrails, on April 10th, which I'm really excited about. I've dropped a few singles off of it, and its my kind of first true exploration into like leading the production process myself, and it was primarily produced and engineered at home in my bedroom. And then I worked with my good friend Will McGillivray of Goodwill to kind of bring it to life and strengthen some of those ideas. The themes of it are a lot of self discovery and learning and you know, all the things that you go through in your early twenties.

So I'm really excited for that. And then I'm going to be road testing the EP across New Zealand on tour in May. That will be my first headline tour, so very exciting.

CAITLIN will be releasing Guardrails on the 13th of March and Guardrails (EP) on the 10th of April. You can find her on Instagram @caitlinmusicc