Kate Nash Shares Her Spooky, Rad Road Trip Diary

Kate Nash is one of our favorite singer-songwriters and actresses for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one is probably because she unabashedly owns her spooky side. Last weekend, Nash embarked on an epic pre-Halloween road trip in the desert and was kind enough to exclusively share all of the film with us. As you can see, she made stops at a local clown hotel, alien warehouse, and cemetery—among other strange things hidden out west. Awesomely eerie, to say the least, and an abduction may have been involved.

"My sister and friend, Clare and Matilda came to visit me in LA," Nash told NYLON in an email. "We took a bunch of road trips to tick off their bucket list experiences! My friend and photographer/visual artist Kelsey Hart came with me and we documented/experimented on the road."

"I couldn’t road trip without my best friend, Stella, my rescue pup. She is crazy but I love her so much! Having her on the trip made it all the more special. This is us when we first arrived at the Extraterrestrial Highway."

"Exploring kinda creepy, run-down, pretty towns with Stella."

"This is Tonopah Cemetery, which is where the clown motel is. Like right next to/on top of the cemetery."

"Tonopah is an old mining town that has just recently had their hospital closed down. The graves are all so old and feel kind of homemade, with pebbles and rock markings, a lot of child graves and beautiful old hearts and fences." 

"The clown motel has the larges collection of clown memorabilia. I got very into the idea of how I think I would make a good clown. It just pleases me that people are clowns, I love the idea of that, it’s so unusual and I support the freaky flag always."

"Being weird in the desert with Matilda the gorilla."

"Unfortunately this amazing looking alien warehouse seemed to be shut down, we visited a couple of times during our stay and were so ready to spend all our cash here on souvenirs! But posing with the giant alien was obviously satisfactory, too. I’m wearing the obligatory tin foil protective hat and Stella is having a drink."

"I watched a light in the sky for a good 20 minutes whilst driving through Death Valley. It seemed odd for some reason but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I wondered if it was just me, my eyes, or the environment, so I asked the girls and everyone had been watching too. We pulled over to the side of the road to pee, the desert was vast and empty, no cars on the road. Right as we decided it must have been a planet, I turned to put something in the mini-van and everybody screamed. I turned and the light shot straight up into the air in a straight and vertical line. Not how a craft I have ever seen flies. It then proceeded to slowly fly over us until it was out of sight. We were all speechless. That was the first time all of us ever saw a UFO." 

"In Rachel, Nevada, right by the little Aleinn, you can hear the craziest noises. Like, you can hear the LOUDEST craft you have ever heard, and it seems strange that you can’t see the craft. Is it high? Is it low? Is it invisible? There are definitely secrets being kept from the public about technology and aliens. It’s never been more obvious to me and I’m very excited about it." 

"The little Aleinn was incredible. I want to go and stay there for like two weeks straight and get deep into the whole scene. We got as physically close as you can get to Area 51 without getting arrested. We heard A LOT of great stories and shared our own UFO experience. The people that work there are a little skeptical, apart from the owner, who will get mad if you call her encounters and experiences "stories," because they are not stories, they are the truth. But everyone who stays and visits is an alien enthusiast and there’s a great sense of excitement and comradery! It felt amazing to be a part of something that I dreamed of since I was 11 with a ginger bob and an FBI cap. I always wanted to be Scully and staying near Area 51 is the closest I got to that. "

"Kelsey and I experimented with freaky exposure, lights, tinsel and her crazy camera skills."

"The pumpkin patch in San Luis Obispo was soooooo fun! This is definitely my favourite season. I love everything about it: the colors, the good, clean family fun that is to be found at a pumpkin patch, it’s my American dream. The smells and looks and taste of all the vegetables is everything."