Cassie Henderson’s next chapter: Kiwi singer on X Factor and return to music

When Cassie Henderson first appeared on X Factor, she wasn't sure what she wanted to say through music - now, she does. Cassie wears a Harris Tapper top, Levi's jeans, and Anoushka Van Rijn earrings. Photo / Marissa Findlay

Cassie Henderson was 14 when she made a name for herself on X Factor New Zealand in 2013. Now, after a hiatus from music, she’s back, smashing radio records, playing festivals such as Homegrown and Electric Ave, and preparing to release two EPs following last year’s The Pink Chapter. Here, the rising star reveals what happened during her break from music — and what brought her back.

“I don’t think I imagined I’d be sitting here now. I think I probably imagined I’d be sitting here when I was 16,” Henderson, now 25, tells the Herald.

“But I’m happy I wasn’t, you know, because I just don’t think I was ready for it at 14. I always feel that way about people like Justin Bieber. I’m just like, I can understand why you are the way you are, because of course you are — you were a child star.”

Stardom was something a teenage Henderson longed for, but her X Factor journey was cut short when she was eliminated in the quarter-final. Now the Christchurch-born artist is grateful that she got the chance to grow up away from the spotlight.

“X Factor was a crazy time. I’m so happy I did it. I sometimes almost envy 14-year-old Cassie. I wish I could have done that when I was more prepared and more focused and more interested in practising instead of running around just doing stupid s***.

“I couldn’t wait another second when I went on that show. My mum said, ‘Why don’t you wait until you’re 16?’ and I was like ‘Absolutely not, why would I do that?’ Right from that moment, that’s all I wanted to do, be on stage. I didn’t know that I wanted to write songs yet, didn’t have anything I wanted to write about, I just knew I wanted to perform in front of people.

“I learnt a lot about how much I care about what I do, because I had to watch it come and then go, so quickly ... and I’ve been working really hard to get it back ever since.”

Cassie Henderson became a household name in 2013 when she competed on X Factor NZ at age 14.

What brought her back was a realisation that will resonate with anyone in their mid-20s — that we only get a narrow window to make our mark on the world.

“It might sound silly, but I think for females and female singers particularly, we’ve got a ticking time bomb on what our career can be,” she says.

“Obviously, that is being combatted at the moment, but I just started to look at what I was doing ... I was sitting at my day job, and I was doing marketing, and I was like, this is great, but I cannot imagine doing this for the rest of my life. And if I don’t do something about it now, I’ll lose it.

“Time ticking away on me was just starting to freak me out a little bit. It had taken so long to get prepared to be where I am now. And I was like, ‘you’re ready, just jump’.”

Jump she did. She quit that job and hasn’t looked back. Now the teenage Henderson who dreamed of pop stardom is a confident 25-year-old musician with something to say, thanks to some universal life experiences.

“I had a really bad heartbreak a couple of years ago, and when I bounced back from it, that’s when I got back into music,” she shares, adding with a laugh, “So, I mean, thanks, ex-boyfriend! You’re incredible! Look at where you’ve got me now!

Cassie Henderson says a break-up gave her something to say when it comes to songwriting. Cassie wears an Aje dress and Meadowlark earrings. Photo / Marissa Findlay

“For so many years, I was just always looking for something to say — and yeah, he just opened up a can of worms that hasn’t been closed ever since.”

Turning those emotions into songs ultimately helped her process the break-up, she says, admitting, “I’ve always been quite a dramatic person, especially when it comes to songwriting.

“It’s all from my own experience, I think that’s the only real way I know how to write. I find I write the most honest stuff when I’m not trying to be anybody else or be anything else.”

It’s that emotional honesty behind her single Whatever that helped it skyrocket to the top of the New Zealand music charts. It’s catchy, upbeat, heart-wrenching, and nostalgic all at the same time. It’s a song you want to scream the lyrics to in your car, or after a few drinks on a Friday night with your mates. It’s a song you can either cry or dance to, or both.

A song so popular, in fact, it was the most played song on radio by any New Zealand artist for 12 consecutive weeks last year — something that hasn’t been achieved by a Kiwi female artist since Lorde in 2017. Henderson still can’t quite believe it.

“I was like, holy s***. Even just both of us being mentioned in the same sentence blew my mind. She’s my idol and such an incredible Kiwi musician, and so inspiring for me.”

The song’s success has left her feeling the pressure to follow it up with something just “as good as that” — and she hopes to achieve that with two more EPs set to be released this year. They’ll complete the trilogy that started with The Pink Chapter, collectively titled The Chronicles of a Heart Broken.

“This is like my Taylor Swift moment,” Henderson says, smiling — though she can’t help adding bashfully, “I feel like there’s not a lot of people that genuinely really care about it, but the people that do - and myself and my mum - we’re getting really excited about it.”

Henderson is set to release two more EPs this year to follow The Pink Chapter. Cassie wears a Harris Tapper top, Levi's jeans and Anoushka Van Rijn earrings. Photo / Marissa Findlay

While The Pink Chapter reflects the initial throes of a messy breakup — “that really distraught, sad, no hope type of thing” — she says that by contrast, the next EP titled The Yellow Chapter is all about the “manic stage”.

“It’s that sort of ‘I’m fine, I just need to go out and drink and get with somebody else or like, just be with my friends and I’m absolutely cool’, and then you’re crying on a flat bathroom floor ... it’s like hangxiety, but for a long, long time.”

While she won’t reveal what colour the third and final EP is just yet, she shares that it’s about the acceptance stage, “which is getting over stuff, and really empowering”. It’s symbolic of a final step for Henderson herself, before she starts pursuing her new goal of producing an album next year.

“I’ve been working on songs for so long now that there’s just a ridiculous amount that don’t fit into this project, so I’m hoping that the album is going to be all those ridiculous, crazy songs that I’ve got left sitting there, which is really exciting.”

Helping her shape those songs is Auckland-based producer Joe Faris, who has worked with the likes of Georgia Lines, Daily J and Christabel.

“He’s just an incredible musician. I kind of relate it back to how my mum was with me in school. She helped me edit my essays, and Joe helps me edit my songs,” Henderson says.

“He is just so good at directing the story and really getting under the skin of it. I feel like as a writer sometimes you need somebody to really pull you back in line and be like, ‘What are you trying to say?’”

Songwriting itself is “a double-edged sword”, she says. “I’ve spent so many hours sitting in my room just like, ‘come up with something, you’re such an idiot’.

“It’s really great when the universe is like, here’s a song — that’s amazing. But when it’s not, it’s just like any other task that you have to do day in, day out. It’s like folding washing. If you’re not doing it, you’re not going to be ready for the moments when it comes to you.”

Cassie Henderson is ready to spread her wings and head overseas to pursue music. Cassie wears a Harris Tapper top, a BW 36.174 dress, Meadowlark earrings and Mi Piaci boots. Photo / Marissa Findlay

Henderson shares some of those moments on TikTok, filming herself sitting cross-legged in her room or outside in the sun, singing and playing guitar or ukulele, raw and unedited.

“It’s a bit scary, though. It’s like the worst social anxiety when you post something and it gets, like, 300 views. You’re like, take it down right now!” she laughs.

“But I love how it’s meant I can reach so many people around the world without leaving New Zealand, and start building fans.”

Speaking of leaving New Zealand, that’s something the singer’s more than ready for. Heading overseas is an undeniable rite of passage for any Kiwi musician, but Henderson is determined not to be defined by that label.

“There’s so much in Kiwi music that I love and adore, but I am aiming for a sound that is an overseas sound,” she explains. “I don’t want it to feel like my music is Kiwi music — I don’t want to be put in that box.

“I think, as a musician, I’m too comfy here,” she admits. “I’m not getting pushed out of my comfort zone consistently enough.

“I want to be over battling some of the biggest artists possible. If you’re not trying to do that, then I, personally, don’t feel like there’s any point in trying to do it.

”It’s a big, wide, crazy world, and I’m pretty keen to go explore it. And I can’t wait to then come back to New Zealand, and be proud to come home.”

Photos / Marissa Findlay. Stylist / Annabel Dickson. Hair and makeup / Claudia Rodrigues.

Bethany Reitsma is an Auckland-based journalist covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2019. She specialises in telling Kiwis’ real-life stories, money-saving hacks and anything even remotely related to coffee.