This post was updated Nov. 11 at 9:29 p.m.
Katrina Weissman leaves a one-of-a-kind print on listeners with EP “Phantom Thumb.”
The 2023 UCLA graduate released “Phantom Thumb” in April with her self-titled band, Katrina Weissman. Weissman, a sociology graduate, said music was not her area of study at UCLA, but she integrated musicality throughout her four years by taking uncredited poetry classes. These, she said, helped her lyricism, with some of thef poems later evolving into song lyrics. The artist added that she took audio engineering courses, which granted her the experience to record and produce original songs in an on-campus recording studio located in Melnitz Hall. In these courses, Weissman said she learned how to use music software such as Pro Tools and Logic Pro.
“Growing up, I was a musical theater kid. And then in high school, I was in marching band and I formed a band through people I knew through the marching band. We would play all around New Jersey at DIY venues,” Weissman said. “So when I got to UCLA, I definitely knew that I wanted to start a band and continue doing that.”
The band Katrina Weissman began playing Weissman’s songs around 2021. With her musical style shifting from indie rock to more folk rock over the years, Weissman said “Phantom Thumb” incorporates the style of Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch, who both lean toward a folk style. Though, she added, ’90s alternative rock bands The Cranberries and Mazzy Star are always sources of inspiration.
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When it comes to lyrics, Weissman said her writing reflects aspects of what is happening in her personal life. Writing in Los Angeles, Weissman said themes of homesickness were central to her work. She said the way of life in the city, as well as her platonic and romantic relationships, tend to inspire her lyrics, too.
“Writing music is very cathartic for me and often helps me process certain things that I’ve gone through, and my favorite music has the same effect,” she said. “So I hope that there is some cathartic and relatable element when people listen.”
Weissman and the band’s bassist Tristin Souvannarath first connected around 2019 through a Facebook page for incoming UCLA students, Souvannarath said. Though the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays, he said the pair eventually began playing together once back in the same space. Souvannarath said Weissman is ultimately the creative director for the band’s work. He added that she brings in ideas for lyrics and chords, but the group’s musicians work hand-in-hand to fully flesh out the songs.
“We all play and collaborate and sort of figure out how to make it sound good with each other,” he said. “Usually, Katrina just has pointers of what we want the vibe to be like … Everyone else in the band sort of sinks into that vibe – and when we get there, it’s just really beautiful.”
Weissman said that her full-time job, as well as her bandmates’ busy schedules, lengthened the recording process. She said, however, that the year-and-a-half endeavor helped the band and their producer Simon Hirschfield grow closer.
After the release of the EP, Weissman said she took the band’s songs on tour for a week and a half. Lena Fine, a solo artist and Weissman’s longtime friend, accompanied Weissman on the tour, she said, along with the band’s violinist Raina Markham, who played for both artists. The group booked the gigs themselves, with stops from San Diego to Portland, Oregon. Markham, who met Weissman at a house show at UCLA, said the tour was a new performing experience.
“We really got to explore the songs with just the two of us and background vocals … I didn’t expect it to feel so different,” Markham said. “I hadn’t necessarily played this song with just guitar, vocals; vocals and violin – and it changed the way I played the songs a lot of the time, which was really fun.”
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Meeting fellow musicians and experiencing different cities’ music scenes along the way made the tour special, Markham said. As for future plans, Markham said Weissman has wasted no time coming up with new music. She said she recalled recently being told by Weissman that she was having trouble choosing only 12 songs to put on a new album, since she had over 60 options. The new album will feature songs that thematically connect and follow a story, Weissman said, which will differentiate it from her previous work.
“She’s got a lot of music inside of her… that is yet to be released into the world. So hopefully someday, the world will hear all of this that she’s got,” Markham said.
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