Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images
The London-born indie singer-songwriter has been enjoying a hot streak with her three-season turn as Britannica on Netflix’s pro wrestling comedy GLOW (excellent quarantine binge-watching, FYI). This weekend, she releases her tour documentary, Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl, through Alamo Drafthouse’s Alamo at Home service. Here, she takes on our travel questionnaire and tells us about the world’s best vegan cheese and who she’d add to her own GLOW-style fighting squad (paging Judi Dench).
1. Your documentary Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl follows you on tour. What’s your favorite venue to play?
Shepherd’s Bush Empire [in London]. I love the crew there—I met one of my best friends there, my lighting engineer Paula Trounce. I love the old theater vibe, and I just love playing a home show. It’s so special to have your friends and family at a gig.
2. Are there any songs, albums, or artists that are always on your travel playlist?
P!nk, M!ssundaztood. Hole, Live Through This. “Once More, with Feeling” [Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s 2001 musical episode]. UK garage mixes on SoundCloud. Christy Moore, Live at the Point.
3. If you could put together a GLOW-style squad of real-life heroines—living or dead—to fight alongside, who would you choose?
Oh wow. Ummmm Cameron Diaz definitely, Nicole Richie, Barbara Windsor, Pam St Clement, Maggie Q, Lisa Lefteye Lopes, Tracee Ellis Ross, Phoebe Waller Bridge, Shirley Manson, Lady Leshurr, María Conchita Alonso, Cher, Jada Pinkett Smith, Judi Dench, Rosario Dawson, Kristen Stewart, Beth Ditto. Wow, what a crew.
4. Have you been supporting any small businesses during quarantine that you want to give a shout out to?
We’ve been getting some takeaways from Kitchen Mouse [a vegetarian restaurant in LA’s Highland Park] and Sage [a vegetarian restaurant with three locations across LA]. And I bought some really cute masks from The Mighty Company in LA, a female-owned brand. Hot Lava is another female-owned business I love; they have sales on right now and amazing swimwear. I have been trying not to shop too much for material things, and we’ve been getting a lot of plants and seed from Sunset Nursery to grow our own veg and work in the garden.
5. Where’s the first place you want to go when this is over?
Home, back to Harrow to hug my mum and dad and have my sisters make me laugh. My older sister, Clare, could make me a meal, and my younger sister, Helen, could tell me to leave her alone—and then we could all watch trashy horror movies together.
6. When you travel, do you dress for the occasion or choose comfort?
I have this one pair of trousers from Stella McCartney that are so friggin’ comfortable. I bought them in New York ’cause I needed something that looked good but felt like pajamas. I think that’s the way to go. Stylish pajamas. I have mostly been wearing tracksuits and comfies from Hot Lava.
7. What’s the most transformative or meaningful trip you’ve ever taken?
I went on a sort of pilgrimage to Ireland with my boyfriend a few years ago. My memories of Ireland were always me in the back of the car with my parents, so I wanted to be in the front seat of the car and drive myself. We drove down the Wild Atlantic Way. I was just freshly in love—like, literally the night before going, my boyfriend and I told each other we loved each other for the first time. And it was just this magical trip. We went into unreal forests and found ancient stone circles. We made very rough plans and sort of booked hotels and bed-and-breakfasts as we went along. It felt really adventurous and freeing, figuring out what we were doing as we went along. I felt like I was actually inside romance; I’m certain fairies were involved.
8. What’s the best souvenir you’ve ever brought home from a trip?
Two photographs by Alejandra Quintero Sinisterra on a recent trip to Colombia. I finished shooting a movie there and wanted a souvenir to celebrate it. We went to a local art exhibition, and I bought these two photos of men lying down tanning—this one guy on the beach looks like he’s roasting. The photographer did a series on people’s bodies, without showing their faces, to encourage empathy. They’re up in my living room and I love looking at them.
9. What’s your favorite hotel you’ve ever stayed in and why?
Stella Maris in Kilchee, Ireland. They had incredible traditional music in the pub, and we met so many nice people, including the local tour guide Michael O’Connell. It was in a beautiful cove and we swam in the freezing ocean at 8 the next morning.
10. Where is your home away from home?
Hmmm… Madre workout spot in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles. Or The Rectory Hotel in England makes me feel home. I love the English countryside. Also any services on the motorway or cheap hotels feel like home to me ’cause of touring.
11. Is there one meal or drink from a past vacation that you can’t stop thinking about?
Everything I ate in Bogotá. I am obsessed with patacones, and the almond vegan cheese they make there is the best I’ve ever tasted in the whole world.
12. Overpacker or underpacker?
Overpacker forever. Touring has made me that way. If you don’t feel good one day and you have to go on stage and have people stare at you, then you’re gonna need options.
13. If you could travel back in time, when and where would you go?
I’d go see the dinosaurs.
14. Which famous person—living or dead—would be your dream seatmate? What would you talk about during the flight?
[English comedian] Bob Mortimer. Cabbages and biscuits most likely.
