POP starlet Kate Nash is going solo and running her own record label after Fiction Records cancelled her contract.

Speaking to the Observer from her family home in North Harrow, the 25-year-old Foundations singer said: “It was really rubbish to be dropped.

“Obviously it’s not very nice, but these things happen.

“They didn’t even tell me why but after the initial shock, I got over it and looked to the positive.

“I can now do exactly what I want to do and work with the people that work best with me.

“I have loads of stuff lined up so I am really excited about that.

“I am playing at a few festivals this year and have been touring the US. I had two sell out shows there, which was awesome.”

Kate grew up in North Harrow and attended St John Fisher Catholic Primary School in Melrose Road, Pinner before moving to a secondary school in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.

She had a UK number two hit Foundations in 2007, followed by the platinum selling UK number one album Made of Bricks and was named Best Female Artist at the 2008 BRIT Awards.

Her first ever gig was in Harrow’s Trinity Bar in Station Road in 2006.

She said: “Trinity is great. I still go back there a lot and see friends, and I definitely would perform there too.

“I did a charity gig there a couple of years ago. We raised £4,000 for the Harrow charity, Wish Centre, and it was wicked to be back.

“I think Harrow is a good place to do music: everyone kind of knows each other and there is so much local support.

“We all go and watch each others’ performances. Whenever I played at Trinity, I would have about 30 friends there supporting me, and it was great, making it much better.”

Kate will be performing at another charity gig in Camden’s Barfly club on Tuesday, June 11.

She’s headlining the third in a series of intimate Beck’s Live gigs that alternate between London and Liverpool and are designed to support emerging musical taltent, with Let’s Buy Happiness and Twin Graves on the bill this time around.

Kate added: “I have played at Barfly before. It’s a good venue and I am looking forward to the gig. It’s a good way to start the summer.”

Being a singer in the music industry is tough, and Kate regularly returns to Harrow – despite her now living in Bethnal Green in east London – to get some family support.

She regularly hangs out at The Doll’s House on The Hill vintage cafe bar in High Street, Harrow on the Hill, and Trinity Bar.

She said: “The music industry is scary and tough, especially for women.

“People want women to look a certain way and be skinny. It’s stupid – women should just be who they are and the media can rip women to shreds sometimes.

“Kim Kardashian is being called fat at the moment, and she’s pregnant! I mean, it’s ridiculous. There are just so many pressures on women, especially now with Instagram, Twitter, and blogs.

“I have always tried to just be myself and it’s been okay.

“I started dressing in vintage clothes when I was about 16 years old.

“We need to get some brave girls in this industry to stand up for themselves.”

Kate revealed she wanted to go to Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the West Country or London Central Drama School but said she was rejected from every university she applied to.

However, this has not stopped her wanting to get back into acting and she has now starred in three films, the most recent is called Powder Room.

She has always been a London girl at heart, although she would like to live in Los Angeles (LA) at some point.

She added: “I have just come back from LA. It was amazing,

“It took me a few years to get used to it and find its heart but now I have, I love it.

“I am 25 I should really go and live abroad or somewhere else for a bit.”

n For more information on Kate Nash and her up and coming tour, visit: www.myignorantyouth.com.