gruhamed
05-12-2009, 02:52 AM
Phone interview with Katherine Katz (Agoraphobic Nosebleed/Salome)
April 30, 2009
G: Alright Kat thanks so much for talking to me today.
Kat: Thank you for having me
G: No problem. First question, how did you end up as the new vocalist for Agoraphobic Nosebleed?
Kat: Well, Scott (Hull) and I knew each other through mutual friends and he actually heard my voice on a demo back in 2003 and he talked about having me come in and do some vocals for ANb but it took a while to get things going. I finally came in 2007 to do the Crom split and that was basically my shot for the band and they seemed to really like the vocals. Jay was really happy with it so I actually out on my birthday that I was in, so that was pretty awesome. (laughs)
G: Well that’s a good birthday present.
Kat: It was the best birthday present ever.
G: So what new aspect do you think you’ve brought to ANb?
Kat: Well you know, I just think my vocals are a lot different than Jay’s and Rich’s. I think you can probably tell, but I’m a chick on there. Actually it’s funny because one dude who reviewed our album actually thought I was a guy.
G: Really?
Kat: Yeah, totally and I wrote him and I said uh dude… I’m a chick. (laughs) But you know, my vocals just have a different quality, my vocals are higher. Originally Scott wanted me in there because of my lows, I actually do guttural vocals.
G: You do gutturals on Agorapocalypse too right?
Kat: Yeah I did all of them except Rich did them on Timelord Two, so the rest of them are mine.
G: I remember when I first popped in Agorapocalypse, which I think is incredible by the way…
Kat: Thank you.
G: Hearing your vocals, I heard there was a new female singer and you know, after I heard your vocals I expected you to look like a female version of Corpsegrinder or Lemmy, like a big beasty woman, and I look at the back of the album and its this little blonde girl…
Kat: (laughs)
G: Are a lot of people shocked when they see you live with Salome?
Kat: Seriously, every time I’ve played a show since I was… I guess my first show was when I was 16, every time people come up to me and they’re like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe that sound came out of you!” Every show I’ve ever played. You get kind of used to it after a while. (laughs)
G: Also Agoraphobic Nosebleed is known for its intense lyrics. In the booklet for Agorapocalypse it says you provided some of the lyrics for the band, how did you manage to tap into that part of the band?
Kat: I’ve been writing for a really long time, I’ve been writing since I was a kid and I write all the lyrics for Salome. Scott has seen my lyrics before and he was into them, so he just encouraged me to start doing it. I had never written anything before like I did for ANb, where you have to go in depth into a much darker, darker part of yourself. Honestly it was very liberating for me and I had a lot of fun with it. With ANb there are absolutely no boundaries, you can say whatever the hell you want whereas with Salome I would never be able to use lyrics like that… my drummer wouldn’t have it. (laughs)
G: It’s always really interesting when a female makes an impact on the metal scene, especially as a vocalist, so what are your influences and what inspired you to start doing guttural vocals?
Kat: Oh man, Thor’s Hammer. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them before but they have this excellent singer named Runhild. I listened to her in high school and I just though “Oh my God” I was just in love with her vocals and when I started singing I though “I’m going to get my vocals as low as hers.” She was a really big influence on me, as well as Dying Fetus. I was 15 or 16 when I started listening to them and again it was my goal to get the guttural vocals as low as I possibly could. I was such a weird kid; I was always walking around school practicing my guttural vocals. (laughs) It was so bizarre.
G: That’s awesome (laughs) I wish I went to your high school.
Kat: (laughs)
G: So what was it like working with Scott Hull, what’s his creative process like in the studio?
Kat: He’s an incredible man and seriously, I had such a blast working with him to the point where I really wish I could record my vocals for Salome with him. I’ve talked to him about that before, I really want him to do that for me. It’s funny I don’t really see that much of the creative process with the actual music writing, I just come in to do the vocals, but what’s cool about working with him is that he really knows how to get the best out of you as a vocalist. He knows exactly what to tell you at the time to get your best take.
G: What does he inspire you with? What does he say? Like, picture a dying baby and yell at it?
Kat: (laughs) Yeah, one time he told me… a little while ago I was going through a rough time in a relationship and he was trying to get me to do these punk vocals which really aren’t on Agorapocalypse but will be coming out on the Endless Blockade split that we’re putting out sometime soon on Relapse, but he was trying to get me to do that and I had never really done punk vocals I’ve always just done full on screaming, and he was like “Just pretend you’re yelling at your boyfriend!” I was like, “But I don’t yell at my boyfriend!” (laughs) There have been times where during recording between breaks he would say “Yeah that’s great!” Also he always said to bring my war face and I would tell him “You’re killing my war face dude.”
G: So tell us a little more about your other band Salome
Kat: Salome has been together for a few years. It’s pretty much a doom band… my drummer would hate me saying that, you know being labeled like that, but I love playing with them. I think we’re starting to get a little bit more popular and we’re actually planning on doing a tour sometime soon. We’ve kind of made the decision to create a shift into doing more music. It’s actually, surprisingly working out, I never thought it would. I’m going to try and do some touring with them. We have great chemistry together; there are only three of us which some people think is kind of weird because we have no bass. At the same time I think we’re able to get a really bassy guitar sound. I love the purity of that guitar sound.
G: Same deal with Pig Destroyer, they don’t have a bassist and they sound great still.
Kat: They do. I think it’s a little easier for grind, because with doom it’s known for being so low and bassy. We’ve definitely gotten critiqued on that, but you know, the hell with it. We like what we’re doing.
G: So you must have a day job. What do you do for a living when you’re not making music?
Kat: Oh man, whenever I say this people think I’m such a weirdo. I’m actually a yoga instructor and a massage therapist.
G: Wow, that’s like two opposite sides of the spectrum right there.
Kat: Yeah, whenever I tell people at work that this is what I do they look at me like I’m crazy or something, but I don’t know, I kind of look at it as the yin and the yang. I really like the balance of it and I’ve always been like that. Actually I do art too, I paint a lot. I like doing some of those darker things but at the same time I’m a super positive person and I like being in super relaxing environments. My environment at work is totally awesome and chill.
G: Would you say the recording studio is relaxing for you in any way?
Kat: Oh, no it’s not at all. In fact I get really anal. (laughs) You know, really anal retentive in the studio.
G: So you’ll like, listen to your voice 100 times and pick out all the little insecurities?
Kat: Yeah, I definitely get a little bit insecure. I think with Scott it’s a lot easier because you don’t have to worry about the money aspect of it. You can do as many takes as you want and you don’t have to worry about that. When I do stuff with Salome it’s a little bit more difficult. I recently had kind of a bad experience in the studio with one engineer.
G: Do you want to tell us about that?
Kat: Oh man, I think he was just a stubborn person because he was pushing me to use a mic I didn’t want to use. I sound like a weirdo. J.R. feels the same way, J.R. and I are really good friends, that’s why I mention him a bunch. But yeah, I really like to hold the mic in my hand, that’s really important to me. I had to use this huge microphone that I couldn’t touch. This guy was just giving me so much crap, it was ridiculous. He totally broke me down in the studio (laughs).
G: That’s pretty interesting recording with a mic you hold in your hand, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
Kat: Oh really?
G: Yeah, did you do that with ANb?
Kat: I did that with ANb. In fact what was so funny about recording with them is they he (Scott Hull) actually used an instrument mic. He used a Sennheiser instrument mic and I tried to do that with Salome in the studio and it sounded like crap. I don’t know how he does it.
G: Scott’s just the man!
Kat: He is the man (laughs).
G: Alright last question, seeing as you do a lot of yoga, do you every record your vocals in any strange positions?
Kat (laughs) No. That would be pretty awesome though. I do it just standing up. I rock out totally, you know, I move around. I totally give my all to it and I know I make a really interesting war face in the studio… and I’m glad that nobody is really there to witness that.
G: (laughs) So there are no pictures of that floating around anywhere?
Kat: No, we talked about getting a camera in there to videotape it, and I remember being like, oh no man, that would suck. It never happened because everyone got too drunk. (laughs)
Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s new album “Agorapocalypse” is in stores now on Relapse Records so go pick that shit up!
:bow:
April 30, 2009
G: Alright Kat thanks so much for talking to me today.
Kat: Thank you for having me
G: No problem. First question, how did you end up as the new vocalist for Agoraphobic Nosebleed?
Kat: Well, Scott (Hull) and I knew each other through mutual friends and he actually heard my voice on a demo back in 2003 and he talked about having me come in and do some vocals for ANb but it took a while to get things going. I finally came in 2007 to do the Crom split and that was basically my shot for the band and they seemed to really like the vocals. Jay was really happy with it so I actually out on my birthday that I was in, so that was pretty awesome. (laughs)
G: Well that’s a good birthday present.
Kat: It was the best birthday present ever.
G: So what new aspect do you think you’ve brought to ANb?
Kat: Well you know, I just think my vocals are a lot different than Jay’s and Rich’s. I think you can probably tell, but I’m a chick on there. Actually it’s funny because one dude who reviewed our album actually thought I was a guy.
G: Really?
Kat: Yeah, totally and I wrote him and I said uh dude… I’m a chick. (laughs) But you know, my vocals just have a different quality, my vocals are higher. Originally Scott wanted me in there because of my lows, I actually do guttural vocals.
G: You do gutturals on Agorapocalypse too right?
Kat: Yeah I did all of them except Rich did them on Timelord Two, so the rest of them are mine.
G: I remember when I first popped in Agorapocalypse, which I think is incredible by the way…
Kat: Thank you.
G: Hearing your vocals, I heard there was a new female singer and you know, after I heard your vocals I expected you to look like a female version of Corpsegrinder or Lemmy, like a big beasty woman, and I look at the back of the album and its this little blonde girl…
Kat: (laughs)
G: Are a lot of people shocked when they see you live with Salome?
Kat: Seriously, every time I’ve played a show since I was… I guess my first show was when I was 16, every time people come up to me and they’re like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe that sound came out of you!” Every show I’ve ever played. You get kind of used to it after a while. (laughs)
G: Also Agoraphobic Nosebleed is known for its intense lyrics. In the booklet for Agorapocalypse it says you provided some of the lyrics for the band, how did you manage to tap into that part of the band?
Kat: I’ve been writing for a really long time, I’ve been writing since I was a kid and I write all the lyrics for Salome. Scott has seen my lyrics before and he was into them, so he just encouraged me to start doing it. I had never written anything before like I did for ANb, where you have to go in depth into a much darker, darker part of yourself. Honestly it was very liberating for me and I had a lot of fun with it. With ANb there are absolutely no boundaries, you can say whatever the hell you want whereas with Salome I would never be able to use lyrics like that… my drummer wouldn’t have it. (laughs)
G: It’s always really interesting when a female makes an impact on the metal scene, especially as a vocalist, so what are your influences and what inspired you to start doing guttural vocals?
Kat: Oh man, Thor’s Hammer. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them before but they have this excellent singer named Runhild. I listened to her in high school and I just though “Oh my God” I was just in love with her vocals and when I started singing I though “I’m going to get my vocals as low as hers.” She was a really big influence on me, as well as Dying Fetus. I was 15 or 16 when I started listening to them and again it was my goal to get the guttural vocals as low as I possibly could. I was such a weird kid; I was always walking around school practicing my guttural vocals. (laughs) It was so bizarre.
G: That’s awesome (laughs) I wish I went to your high school.
Kat: (laughs)
G: So what was it like working with Scott Hull, what’s his creative process like in the studio?
Kat: He’s an incredible man and seriously, I had such a blast working with him to the point where I really wish I could record my vocals for Salome with him. I’ve talked to him about that before, I really want him to do that for me. It’s funny I don’t really see that much of the creative process with the actual music writing, I just come in to do the vocals, but what’s cool about working with him is that he really knows how to get the best out of you as a vocalist. He knows exactly what to tell you at the time to get your best take.
G: What does he inspire you with? What does he say? Like, picture a dying baby and yell at it?
Kat: (laughs) Yeah, one time he told me… a little while ago I was going through a rough time in a relationship and he was trying to get me to do these punk vocals which really aren’t on Agorapocalypse but will be coming out on the Endless Blockade split that we’re putting out sometime soon on Relapse, but he was trying to get me to do that and I had never really done punk vocals I’ve always just done full on screaming, and he was like “Just pretend you’re yelling at your boyfriend!” I was like, “But I don’t yell at my boyfriend!” (laughs) There have been times where during recording between breaks he would say “Yeah that’s great!” Also he always said to bring my war face and I would tell him “You’re killing my war face dude.”
G: So tell us a little more about your other band Salome
Kat: Salome has been together for a few years. It’s pretty much a doom band… my drummer would hate me saying that, you know being labeled like that, but I love playing with them. I think we’re starting to get a little bit more popular and we’re actually planning on doing a tour sometime soon. We’ve kind of made the decision to create a shift into doing more music. It’s actually, surprisingly working out, I never thought it would. I’m going to try and do some touring with them. We have great chemistry together; there are only three of us which some people think is kind of weird because we have no bass. At the same time I think we’re able to get a really bassy guitar sound. I love the purity of that guitar sound.
G: Same deal with Pig Destroyer, they don’t have a bassist and they sound great still.
Kat: They do. I think it’s a little easier for grind, because with doom it’s known for being so low and bassy. We’ve definitely gotten critiqued on that, but you know, the hell with it. We like what we’re doing.
G: So you must have a day job. What do you do for a living when you’re not making music?
Kat: Oh man, whenever I say this people think I’m such a weirdo. I’m actually a yoga instructor and a massage therapist.
G: Wow, that’s like two opposite sides of the spectrum right there.
Kat: Yeah, whenever I tell people at work that this is what I do they look at me like I’m crazy or something, but I don’t know, I kind of look at it as the yin and the yang. I really like the balance of it and I’ve always been like that. Actually I do art too, I paint a lot. I like doing some of those darker things but at the same time I’m a super positive person and I like being in super relaxing environments. My environment at work is totally awesome and chill.
G: Would you say the recording studio is relaxing for you in any way?
Kat: Oh, no it’s not at all. In fact I get really anal. (laughs) You know, really anal retentive in the studio.
G: So you’ll like, listen to your voice 100 times and pick out all the little insecurities?
Kat: Yeah, I definitely get a little bit insecure. I think with Scott it’s a lot easier because you don’t have to worry about the money aspect of it. You can do as many takes as you want and you don’t have to worry about that. When I do stuff with Salome it’s a little bit more difficult. I recently had kind of a bad experience in the studio with one engineer.
G: Do you want to tell us about that?
Kat: Oh man, I think he was just a stubborn person because he was pushing me to use a mic I didn’t want to use. I sound like a weirdo. J.R. feels the same way, J.R. and I are really good friends, that’s why I mention him a bunch. But yeah, I really like to hold the mic in my hand, that’s really important to me. I had to use this huge microphone that I couldn’t touch. This guy was just giving me so much crap, it was ridiculous. He totally broke me down in the studio (laughs).
G: That’s pretty interesting recording with a mic you hold in your hand, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
Kat: Oh really?
G: Yeah, did you do that with ANb?
Kat: I did that with ANb. In fact what was so funny about recording with them is they he (Scott Hull) actually used an instrument mic. He used a Sennheiser instrument mic and I tried to do that with Salome in the studio and it sounded like crap. I don’t know how he does it.
G: Scott’s just the man!
Kat: He is the man (laughs).
G: Alright last question, seeing as you do a lot of yoga, do you every record your vocals in any strange positions?
Kat (laughs) No. That would be pretty awesome though. I do it just standing up. I rock out totally, you know, I move around. I totally give my all to it and I know I make a really interesting war face in the studio… and I’m glad that nobody is really there to witness that.
G: (laughs) So there are no pictures of that floating around anywhere?
Kat: No, we talked about getting a camera in there to videotape it, and I remember being like, oh no man, that would suck. It never happened because everyone got too drunk. (laughs)
Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s new album “Agorapocalypse” is in stores now on Relapse Records so go pick that shit up!
:bow: