Hey Look Listen is the moniker of Gwen Katherine, a Michigan-based artist who began releasing music in 2024. Having recently had the pleasure of hearing her new album, Now is the Time, I discovered a musician fully committed to her art, treating her craft with the reverence it deserves.

Catching the impression that Gwen was an artist with an interesting story to tell, I felt compelled to see whether she'd be up for an interview. Thankfully, she was more than willing to chat with us!

Diving into her brand new album, her love for Weezer and John Frusciante, and why her songwriting process is anything but conventional, please welcome our new friend Gwen Katherine, AKA Hey Look Listen!

Hi Gwen, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! I'm super excited to introduce you to our ever-growing audience!

Before we dive deeper, I'd love to ask you about your musical journey so far. What sparked your passion for it, and how has that led you to where you are today?

Thanks for having me.

My passion for music is pretty closely tied to my life experience as being both trans and queer. Music didn't really click for me until my teens, when I was introduced to punk, and I realized you could use music to express all those feelings of not fitting in and confusion.

For a long time, it was my only outlet to express any of it, even if only I really knew what I was doing. Over time, it became fuel to help me be myself, and now I would like to help others struggling with the same things in some small way.

By the time this interview is published, your debut album, Now is the Time, will be out in the world.

I was fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at the record before its release, and may I just say, it's a beautiful, hazy, and deeply immersive collection of tunes.

What do you hope listeners take away after spending time with it?

Thanks, I appreciate that.

I always hope that the songs connect emotionally with the listener above all else. Sonically, I wanted the songs to transport listeners to another place where they can get sucked in and enveloped by the sounds, if just for a few minutes.

Lyrically, I hope that it encourages people to face their own demons instead of ignoring them and having them come out in ways that are unhealthy or destructive. I want to help normalize the reality that we all have problems and trauma, but what matters is how you deal with them.

There's usually a wonderful backstory to a musician's chosen name, and it's a question I just love asking artists.

How exactly did Hey Look Listen come about?

In this case, there isn't really that much of a backstory. There's an old Zelda game called Ocarina of Time where a guide-type character that is following you the whole time says some variation of "hey", "look", and "listen" pretty constantly. It has become an internet meme.

I thought it was catchy and memorable in the vein of other band names like BADBADNOTGOOD or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I think it works as a rallying cry for trans people like myself or anyone else marginalized by society; it's a way of saying, "I refuse to be ignored."

Who are some of your biggest musical influences - and if I peeked at your ‘Recently Played’ section right now, who would I find there?

Weezer and the guitarist John Frusciante were big influences early on. Punk from the 70s and 80s and Indie Rock from the 90s were huge as well. A local shoegaze band called Glowfriends had a great guitar player, and they influenced me a lot.

I'm all over the map with what I listen to, but this year has been a lot of Courtney Barnett and Jesse Welles. Both write such great lyrics. I've also been revisiting The Clash quite often. And truthfully, even in this day and age, I still listen to and discover stuff on the radio.

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Without music, life would be a mistake.”

What would your life look like without music, and what fills your days when you’re not busy creating?

That's hard to imagine, but I would definitely be creating stuff in some way. I've been writing since I was a kid, and I love visual art, especially video editing and animation. I'd love to make a graphic novel.

If I'm not creating, I enjoy learning new things and staying constantly curious - I'm a huge nerd/geek in general and not at all ashamed about it. Weather permitting, I love nature and photography as well.

Please tell us a bit about your songwriting process. Not specifically for any song, but just in general. How do you take an idea and turn it into a piece of music?

My process is pretty unintentional; songs are rarely deliberately written and are often accidents or experiments. Quite often, I will have pieces of songs that come about separately that just happen to fit together.

I really love writing and recording at the same time because it lets me try different things quickly and see what works and what doesn't. Something I do like to do is start with a title or line, before music or anything else. I use that as a sort of invitation to see what is sent my way. It's surprising how reliably it works; melodies and chords come to me without thinking too much about it, and then it's just up to me to translate them.

Alright, Gwen - desert island time! You're only allowed to take three albums with you to a deserted island. Which do you choose, and what makes them essential for you?

That is really hard!

All Things Made New by Glowfriends probably has to be on there; the songs are just stunningly beautiful, and the guitar work inspires me so much.

Let Go by Nada Surf got me through a lot of low points; at times, it was like a comfort blanket and still is.

The Blue Album by Weezer is one I still love listening to. The guitars just sound so perfect, and there really isn't a bad song on it.

Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us Gwen! It's been great getting to know you better! Before we sign off, what’s next on your creative radar?

I have an instrumental album called Things We Keep to Ourselves that I'll be releasing most likely in November. The music is more somber and reflective, which is fitting for the upcoming winter.

Next year, I'm planning to put out a more aggressive, punk-influenced album that is more outwardly focused as opposed to Now is the Time, which was internal and personal. Musically, they are the heaviest songs I've written.

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Hey Look Listen: “I'm all over the map with what I listen to, but this year has been a lot of Courtney Barnett and Jesse Welles”

Nom De Plume: “Success for us is people listening to our music and enjoying it. That’s it”