Test Card Girl

A Profile

Whatever happened to the testcard girl? For decades our tv screens would be filled from time to time with that recognisable image of a little girl and her clown halfway through a game of noughts and crosses. Her frozen smile etched into our minds. For one Manchester based singer/songwriter the image of this little girl frozen in time would form the initial idea of her songwriting journey, a journey that would begin in 2019.

“….I’d always had a kind of fascination with the image of the test card girl, even when I was little I’d dress up as her and pretend to be her, weird I know, but then I started to think about what sort of woman she might be and it sort of ran from there…she’s not really a representation of girls today either so I thought in my own way I could maybe update the image in someway, make her a bit more modern, I had thought of going with Testcard Woman but that just sounded weird so stuck with the original….” Catherine Burgis (Test Card Girl)

With the name settled on Catherine knuckled down and hit the ground running with her songwriting.

“….It was about a year and a half ago now I just said to myself, look your thirty five now, and if I don’t start I’ll never do anything, so I picked up my guitar and just started writing songs….I found myself going all the way back to relationships and break ups from when I was like fifteen and stuff but I just kept writing….” Catherine

In committing to her new project and to recording/releasing her own original music, Catherine had one last thing to do. That was, be confident in her own voice.

“….I’d never had any confidence in my voice, the sound, the range, anything, it probably goes back to being denied a part of a singing donkey at a school play or something, whatever it was I hadn’t really sang myself, I’d taken part in projects and bits instrumental but never took the lead vocally, so again it was a now or never moment…I’m getting more confident in it as time goes on but I think I’ve got someway to go….” Catherine

Confidence growing Catherine found herself churning out tracks one after the other. All while continuing work as an enthusiastic music teacher and moving from London, back home to Manchester.

“….I think, to be honest, and this is probably going to sound really wanky, but I think I’d always been writing songs, in my head at least, I’d be out and about and get an idea and sort of partially think it through but then bury it down, so when I started writing I had a few ideas already partially done…also I don’t really schedule time to write songs, its more of a, idea strikes me and I write, I’m not quite at the pull my phone out in public to record an idea stage, but most of the time I try and write while the ideas fresh….” Catherine

As the songs took on a much firmer shape Catherine began crafting her sound and the tone of her music.

“….I’ve always loved that sort of old school synth sound, like the old keyboards you could get at school, that kind of Casio sound so I wanted to try and incorporate that into my songs wherever I can…I’d also got the more folky influences, like we’d always have on in the car or something people like Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, and then there wer people like Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell, those kind of inspirations, so I try to find a balance between all of them….” Catherine

Performing her balancing act Catherine began to record and produce her tracks. To help with this she received great support from the local music community.

“….I was lucky enough to receive a grant from the arts council which really came in handy to help fund the whole thing and get me off the ground…there’s also a great group that support female songwriters here in Manchester as well as a really supportive music scene that I’ve got to know over the years so its all helped me really make things a reality….” Catherine

September 2020 would mark the beginning of Catherines recording career with the release of Hold Me Down. In the track she captured the synth sound and announced herself as an act to keep one eye on. Also her vocal kept its Northern twang bringing a whole new layer to her own music.

“….I’ve always admired singers who can sing in their own accents, I know there are people out there with technically brilliant voices but honestly I know mine will never reach that kind of level and for me, singing in your own accent makes the song a bit more real…I do notice that it is easier for male vocalists to getaway with it more than female vocalists but again there is just something real about keeping a hint of your own accent in there….” Catherine

After the positive reception to her debut single and now growing in confidence Catherine put the finishing touches to several more tracks and set plans in motion to release an EP in late 2021. Before that though she dropped two more singles, each one slightly different from the one before it but equally heartfelt and well written.

“….Don’t go, my latest release is a bit more upbeat than, when you’re feeling down, and then my next single out at the end of April is slightly more darker and folkier than this one, so it’ll be interesting to see what people think about it all….” Catherine

The one thing however that Catherine is looking forward to most of all is getting out there and performing these tracks live and in person.

“….I’ve only performed since starting this project twice…they went well, at least, I didn’t die, I survived them, but there are so many great places to play in Manchester I’m just looking forward to getting out there and performing the tracks live for people and seeing what happens next….” Catherine

And so, like many artists up and down the country, Catherine is sitting in wait until she can take the stage again. Until then though there is a lot of new music to look forward to from Test Card Girl, Also, being named as one of BBC 6music’s artists to watch can only highlight the potential that Catherine has boiling to the surface. What started as a young girl enjoying the demo’s on an old school keyboard shows all the signs of becoming a break out artist on the UK scene. So make sure you don’t miss out!

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