‘It gave a potency to my work that I haven’t had for years’ … Natasha Khan, AKA Bat for Lashes.‘It gave a potency to my work that I haven’t had for years’ … Natasha Khan, AKA Bat for Lashes.he year my son was born, I spent a lot of time walking laps of my small ground-floor flat in a milky, slightly hysterical state of sleep deprivation, listening to a set of instrumental albums by Raymond Scott from 1962 called Soothing Sounds for Baby.
Much has rightly been made of the difficulties musicians face when they become mothers: the touring, the life-juggling, the sexist attitude that you’ve become too old for pop. Groups such as Bristol-based Mothers in Music are doing vital work around networking and supporting women who want to carry on. But there has been less focus on the kind of inspiration Khan is talking about: the creative power of motherhood.
Another queer parent, Katie Harkin – a solo artist who has also played with Sleater-Kinney and Courtney Barnett as well as her own band, Sky Larkin – has gone through the distinct experience of becoming a bereaved parent. Her first daughter, Alba, was stillborn. After brilliant care from a team of bereavement midwives, Katie and her wife decided to try again. “The science of it all is completely incredible,” she explains from her home in the Peak District.
“Having a child is an act of collaboration and that’s the thing I’ve learned from my career, too – whether that’s texting musicians that have gone through something similar to me, or passing on advice. Like, Alan and Mimi from Low told me to get one of those pop-up tents for kids because backstages are reliably disgusting, so it’s at least a few square foot without broken glass or anything sticky.