☆Q&A: Sarah Katherine☆

Sarah Katherine on Writing Real, Singing Soft, and Staying True

Sarah Katherine Lawless has a voice that sounds like honesty wrapped in melody. The New York based singer-songwriter invites listeners into her world with a kind of vulnerability that lingers long after the music stops. Whether she’s strumming through self-doubt or holding onto fleeting moments, her songwriting is rooted in emotional clarity and quiet strength. You don’t just hear her songs, you sit with them.

When I first heard Sarah Katherine, I was pulled in by how personal and textured it all felt. Her work blends the confessional lyricism of indie folk with a pop sensibility that feels both fresh and familiar. She’s a storyteller who makes you feel seen, even in your saddest or most confusing moments. Her EP Look What I'm Learning holds that kind of weight, and what comes next seems to go even deeper.

Talking with Sarah Katherine felt less like an interview and more like swapping stories with a friend. We covered everything from songwriting and self-doubt to our favorite Radiohead tracks. Our conversation flowed between laughter, reflection, and those “wait, same!” moments that come from shared experiences and mutual understanding. Scroll to read our full conversation!

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Ale: I’m so excited to be speaking with you! So diving into the first question—you briefly mentioned to me that you learned guitar in high school. I’m curious: when did you write your first song, and was it with the guitar?

Sarah Katherine: Oh my God, my first song. Well, okay, there's like two things to it. I remember when I was really, really little, I had one of those plastic recorders, and I would just run around the house making up my own songs. Like, it was literally anything that came into my head—I would record it into this tiny recorder.

But I feel like my first real song was actually with one of my best friends—who I literally live in New York with. She was always the one who could really play the guitar well. I'm talking about her—she's literally in the other room. We were always very creative and musical with each other. I remember we sat down and wrote this song called “Forget Me Not”. It was a play on the flower, but also about being in love—like, “oh, you know, forget me not,” something like that. That was the first real song we wrote together.

Ale: I love that. And you two have been friends for a while?

Sarah Katherine: Yeah, yeah. Oh my God, she’s one of my best friends. I also live with another one of our best friends. We've all known each other since like middle school or high school. And yeah, we’ve just carried through. I always talk about how both of them—Amanda and Megan—inspire me musically a lot too, because they have really good music taste.

Ale: Oh my gosh, that’s so cute! So it’s been about a year since Look What I’m Learning came out. How does it feel to look back on that release now, and everything that’s happened since?

Sarah Katherine: Oh my God. I mean, I think what’s super surreal about the whole thing is that when I released it, I remember feeling so let down. I think so many people can relate to this—you put something out, you think people are going to hear it and it’ll reach the right people, and it doesn’t… because of social media and the world and all that stuff.

I remember even forgetting the day it was released, and I just felt so sad. But moving along through the year and seeing where I’m at now, I think it’s kind of a beautiful thing to reflect on. Even though it’s been a really long time, I can still celebrate it. It still resonates with me and with other people. And there isn’t really a date on art, you know what I mean? It’s always going to be there, and it’ll take different shapes. So I feel like that’s the really nice thing. I’m a little bit easier on myself now when I think about the release of it all.

Ale: Yeah, exactly. Someone will find it and resonate with it. It doesn’t matter if you released it a while ago. We’ve seen it happen—like literally, Charli’s song Party 4 U? That old song is resonating with people now. You just never know.

Sarah Katherine: Yes! I think that was one of the coolest things about her release, Brat. When she went back to her other stuff and changed the covers to look like Brat, I was like—yes! Because it’s still you. It’s a different time period of you, but it’s you. And that’s the best thing about seeing artists’ discographies. I guess I’ll see that with myself over the years too.

Ale: That’s real. So real. Speaking of inspiration, I read in your bio that you mentioned artists like Lucy Dacus and Madison Cunningham. I wanted to ask: have any unexpected influences crept into your work lately, musically or otherwise?

Sarah Katherine: Ooh, I love that question. That’s a great one. I feel like I have some weird influences—stuff you wouldn’t expect. I love Radiohead. I love what they write about and how they deliver their music. It's all put together in this really introspective way. Lucy Dacus and Madison Cunningham are like that too. But yeah, definitely Radiohead.

Also, at the end of the day, I’m a pop girlie. That was me growing up. And honestly, my friends, my partner, and my brother all made me a better musician because their music taste is so good. But yeah, I was a pop girlie through and through in middle school. So I feel like a lot of that influence comes out. I love Remi Wolf, Dora Jar, Gracie Abrams, Role Model—those kinds of artists. 

Ale: Yes! Oh my God, Radiohead—I have to ask, what’s your favorite Radiohead album?

Sarah Katherine: You know, I listened to it a lot in high school. It’s not one of their most famous albums, but I loved A Moon Shaped Pool.

Ale: Oh yeah, that’s a beautiful one. Mine is In Rainbows.

Sarah Katherine: Classic.

Ale: I feel like everyone always says OK Computer, but I’m like, In Rainbows is right there!

Sarah Katherine: Yeah, yeah. Which one from In Rainbows did I listen to a lot? It’s kind of basic, but definitely "Weird Fishes."

Ale: Oh my God, same. I can never get enough of that song. But I also love "Nude" and "All I Need." So heartbreaking.

Sarah Katherine: I need to listen to those more. I’m such an interesting listener—I hop around a lot. So when people ask about influences, I hesitate, because I’ll get obsessed with like six songs, play them to death, and feel like I know an artist’s whole discography. And then I realize, oh my God, they have so much more to offer.

Ale: Yeah, totally. I get that. I feel like my music taste is all over the place. One day it’s all reggaetón, another day it’s full-on pop—Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo. Then of course, Phoebe Bridgers, Adrianne Lenker, Radiohead, The Strokes...

Sarah Katherine: That’s a really cool pool of everything. I love that. You can really hear it in someone’s music, too. You might not know exactly what it is at first, but then it clicks, and you’re like, oh, that’s what makes it unique.

Ale: Yes! I would love to write songs in Spanish too. I have a few, but I get so picky with my writing, especially in Spanish. Because if my parents hear it, I know they'll point out what I got wrong, and I’ll be like, "Wait, let me fix it!"

Sarah Katherine: That’s actually really interesting. I didn’t think about it in that way, but even when I think about grammar in English, I’m honestly not great at it. There are words I use and then I’m like, that is definitely not a real word or not grammatically correct. But I guess in music, it really doesn’t matter—it’s all about what sounds good and feels good.

Ale: I've literally Googled words I’ve used in lyrics to make sure they exist.

Sarah Katherine: Same. I probably sound smarter than I actually am.

Ale: So real [laughs]. So as you move into your next EP, is there a risk you’re taking that feels exciting or maybe a little scary—something you’re doing differently for this era?

Sarah Katherine: Hmm, yes. There are definitely more songs showing how hard I am on myself and how much self-doubt I have. I feel like this upcoming EP includes every thought or feeling I’ve had about myself, the music industry, and the world. And that’s scary. Because part of you wants to present yourself as confident, and then you look at the songs and realize—wait, actually, she’s not. But it’s also beautiful, because you don’t have to pretend. You can just be real.

Ale: That’s interesting—it immediately made me think of Olivia Rodrigo’s song "Pretty Isn’t Pretty." I was like, girl, you are gorgeous!

Sarah Katherine: Yes! I totally feel that. You see someone and think, how could you ever feel like that? But then you realize you think those same things about yourself too.

Ale: Exactly! Okay, last question. If Look What I’m Learning was about growth and understanding life, what story or feeling is this next chapter telling?

Sarah Katherine: Oof, I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately, especially as we work on the visual world of it. One of the lines in the new songs is "Good things take time." Another one says, "Hypocrite, look alive." It’s this idea that maybe no one is listening and maybe no one cares, but at the end of the day, I’m myself, and that’s all I can be. I’ll keep messing up and trying different things—that’s what I have. So yeah, I think that’s what this new chapter is about. Still working out the full theme, but those ideas are definitely present.

Ale: That’s so exciting. I’m so excited for you. I heard your music, I was like, oh my gosh—I love singer-songwriters, I love guitar-driven music, and I love when a song hits you in the heart. I just really love sad music.

Sarah Katherine: Me too. I’m right there with you!

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