Name:
Kat Bjelland

The name of your band/act etc:
Katastrophy Wife

Where are you from?
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA.

Your sound can be described as?
The sound of being “locked up in outer-space”. The sound of self trying to bust out of own self to discover true self. Sexy=hard, raw and honest.

Fill us in on the history – where did your band/act start, what changes and developments have happened along the way and where are you now?
I was the lead singer/guitarist for Babes in Toyland but started playing in Woodburn, Oregon with my Uncle David who helped me form a surf band called The Neurotix which evolved into The Venarays. After that I played in Sugar Baby Doll which turned into Pagan Babies and happily became a three piece called The Italian Whorenuns. In 1986 I moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and played for 12 years in Babes in Toyland. In that time we recorded five albums. In the early nineties [I] moved to Seattle and played bass in a band called Crunt. We recorded one self titled album. In 1998, I  created and recorded a soundtrack for the comix Witchblade on Dreamworks. I had featured artists such as Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins, Lydia Lunch, Miho of Cibo Mato, Girls Against Boys and Dave Ogilvie of Skinny Puppy.  In 1998 I formed Katastrophy Wife. The band has released two albums Amusia and All Kneel. This coming March Katastrophy Wife will have a single out on the new Australian label RiSH Records. [We’re] presently working on [a] new album.

What’s your earliest memory of developing a passion for music?
When I got my first Close ‘n’ Play record player; I was maybe around six or seven-years-old.  I liked playing those 45s that were in the back of children's story books. I had a penchant for haunted-house-sound records.

Making up songs on the piano for my Dad whilst spinning tales of my future as a creator of horror film soundtracks, which I tried to achieve with Songs of the Witchblade; Songs to the Comix on Dreamworks records a while back — my attempt at making a soundtrack for the apocalypse.

Your influences (musical, political etc) and why?
Blues, the old Robert Johnson kind; anything raw that you can detect a black-stripe in;  songs that sound as though both an angel and devil play a part in the inception.
Visceral sounds that give you the shivers; it helps when the singer manages to bring you into their head and show you around. I dig daemon-wranglin’ exorcisms of all types!

What’s your Mum or Dad’s favourite record/song and why do you love/hate it?
My father enjoyed almost exclusively the “classics” of classical. The Masters. I see vinyl covers of Madame Butterfly, Carmina Burana (my favorite) San Lake. He loved Sgt. Peppers.

Most memorable gig you’ve played and why?
It was with Babes in Toyland at Reading Festival 1991 on the same stage as Sonic Youth, Nirvana and Iggy Pop. I got to chat with John Peel there, which was zenith. He told me that Babes in Toyland, along with Captain Beefheart and The Fall, were favorites of his. He brought his wife and lovely children to a lot of our gigs in England.  Good memories... Another was playing Lollapalooza, 1993; also Lublijana, Yugoslavia on the precipice of the war there. Too many for me to access.

What’s the most naughty thing you and/or the band have gotten up to on tour?
One of my many juvenile acts that comes to mind is when I drank a bottle of Dewars. The big one... Lollapalooza could become like that movie Ground Hogs Day at times so... I also swallowed some little pills that someone gave me and the combination made me well... sorta crazed.  I proceeded to destroy everything in sight. Five thousand dollars (yeah right) of damage to a dressing room in the US, nailing sandwiches to the walls and altering the ambience by smashing all the lights with a broom handle.  That same night I sprung and literally clung like a crazed monkey to the front grill of Alice in Chains tour bus and if you’ve seen a tour bus you know how one must truly cling.  I ripped the windshield wipers from their sockets, went around punching rock stars in the stomach that kind of thing... We went back to that city to play a year or so later and they made us have our "dressing room" outside! Under a tarp.

Do you drink? And if so what’s you’re favourite rock ‘n’ roll recipe? If you don’t drink would you care to elaborate as to why?
No, but I don’t condemn it in the least, it’s just that my liver got older... as did I. I have a beautiful seven-year-old boy to care for and am in love which I’ve noticed takes care of everything really. It’s a known fact that I drank quite a bit over a 20-year period of time, mostly on the road. Damage. Cheers matey!

Any parting words?
Read. Sing. Draw. Play. Paint. Create. Love.

“Sabbadanam adhammadanam jinati.” In Sanskrit says: "The best of all gifts is the gift of truth."