Katastrophy Wife - Living in the Real World
Kat Bjelland - lets make the history brief...
Well, she has been playing in bands, quite a few bands actually, since the early 80's. She was lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Babes in Toyland – described as a band having a key position in the Riot grrrl family tree.
To quickly define riot grrrl:
“Riot grrrl (or riot grrl) is a form of hardcore punk rock music, known for its militant feminist stance. The genre first appeared in the early 1990s as an offshoot of alternative rock and punk music and as a response to prevalent attitudes of punk machismo, building also on a history of all-women bands. A key factor in this movement was the support for girls not needing to be musically trained to start a band.” Thank you Google...
And she is also the lead singer/guitarist and founder of the band Katastrophy Wife.
So Kat Bjelland, 20 years of rock jammed into 15 minutes? I expected the usual buffer person to ease the meeting over the phone but the call was answered with a distinctly feminine voice greeting me with a usual “Hello”.
Already there was a problem. I could hear it in Kat's voice as I put on my most professional telephone voice and gave her my name. Her tone became armored, I heard the walls go up as she muttered off her manager's email address and how it was best to email him before attempting to even speak to her. If I was Kat Bjelland I would be wary of anybody ringing her at home to seek words from her mouth to be printed too.
Everything I read prior to that moment made my insides spin. A woman painted so many shades of something I was terrified of what to expect – but I was reading other people's word's, other people's opinions... “think outside the square Belle, think outside the square” rolls over and over in my mind at this point.
Then I mentioned my Editor's name, a few more details about The Dwarf and the tone changed, melted, her voice softened down the lines that were connecting us worlds and a day apart… and so my less than 15 minutes with a music legend begins.
Kat Bjelland returned to the studio in November 2006. A woman focused on her band, Katastrophy Wife, who hadn't been into a studio since 2004's All Kneel.
Now this incarnation of Katastrophy Wife is just Kat – and her new single 'Heart-On' was put together exclusively for new Aussie indie label, RiSH Records. The single released in early 2007 not only returns Bjelland and Katastrophy Wife but launches the label with her at the “front of its roster”
So how does it feel for to be just Kat of Katastrophy Wife?
“Its new... I love it, its the ultimate of what I want to do. I have gotten to that stage of a musical career to do it... you can play the instruments, guitar, drums... I try to keep it as organic as possible”.
I ask Kat about the cover, which features a beautiful naked woman stretched out on the floor wearing socks and heels. Assumptions are a dangerous thing, it is always polite to ask – because her name is on the cover it doesn't mean it is her – so I inquire gently about the beautiful naked lady.
“It's me... I think people should get over their nudity... don't run around naked, but make it beautiful... it's (the cover) supposed to be showing honest love and truth.”
Kat has another love – actually, I am sure has many loves and passions, but for a moment we touch on her son, Henry Paul Mattson – her son with Glen Mattson, drummer from a earlier version of Katastrophy Wife.
So how is it for Kat, combining motherhood and music?
“I try to make it as convenient as possible. There is a rehearsal studio in the basement, sound proofing, Adrian also lives here, my boyfriend. I cook Henry breakfast, dress him, send him to school, the daytime before Henry gets back – writing some things in the day, I don't feel very rock during the day...” she says “Switch... screaming and singing and make sure you don't do this and don't swear... and he is a really good boy. I want to train him to be my little personal roadie... I did work and tour with Henry twice in England.”
Reading the lyrics of Kat's songs past and present, they are deeply poetic. Kat and I talk about her song writing process, “How I do it?… I play a guitar riff and I go and psycho-babble over the top... different phonetics, sometimes that sparks something off and go back and look at my notes...” she says.
Kat Bjelland has deservedly returned to a position of power and has a strength that is electric and so palpable that I felt down my phone lines. Her brutal honesty and truth could be misinterpreted for angst and anger but really she is “living in the real world honey” - and its not all butterfly's and roses. It has hurt, drama and betrayal. A true artist like Kat knows this, there are many facets to the human soul and we need to tap into them all to achieve greatness.
