After all this, returning to reality without a break, while also planning shows, dealing with merch, social media and the myriad other pies in which an artist must now have their fingers instead of keeping them on the neck of a guitar, Kate was knackered. As someone with autism, the whole process proved a challenge, and an exhausting one at that. Kate needed to go to bed. So they did. And then found they couldn’t get back out.
“After I got home, I was stuck in bed for a month. I had autistic burnout,” they explain. “I couldn't do anything. Literally standing up, I’d get really dizzy and nauseous. I couldn't look at a screen. I couldn’t read a book because it was too much stimulation. I literally just stayed in bed staring into space. Painkillers didn't do anything. My brain was going, ‘You need to stop working.’”
In the months that have passed since, Pupil Slicer still haven’t had much time to rest, having just finished a mammoth European tour with Japanese avant-doom outfit Boris. Today, Kate says with a grin, what they’d like is to just be able to go home and spend a week playing Zelda. That’ll have to wait: Download’s coming this weekend, then even more festivals, then more touring. To make room, the job has gone, but after coming this far, it’s a worthy sacrifice.
“I’m gonna be absolutely broke, but I would rather put all my effort into making this release as good as it can after putting this much effort,” they shrug with a wry smile. “I'm really proud of it. I might as well commit.”
The way people are talking about Blossom already, it’s a wise strategy. And with Kate as a star in the making, it’s one that may pay off. Right now, Pupil Slicer are one of the best, fastest-rising metal bands in Britain. For those just arriving, you won’t discover a better band in 2023.