interview

The interview was carried out over the phone, due to Kat being back in the US. The questions asked were partly ones sent in by you, and partly mine.

1. What is the current stae of Babes In Toyland considering the reunion show in Minneapolis?
Kat Bjelland : " Well, we just did one show in town, and that's really all we're doing over here. In February we're going over to Europe, Kurt, what date is it?"
Kurt Pagan-Davies : "February 7th"
KB : "Right, Feb 7th we'll be doing a small European tour starting in Spain, and we'll probably go to Belgium, Copenhagen, Dublin, UK, probably the Astoria 1 or 2, probably some others too".

2. Can you give us some info on the new Babe's bassist?
KB : "Her name's Jesse Farmer, I met her at a coffee shop. She's really cool, she's been listening to Babes In Toyland since she was like 14 years old. Yeah, she's cool, she lives downstairs from me now".

3. Any chance of Babes In Toyland going back into the studio to record?
KB : "Nope"

4. What are the touring plans for Katastrophy Wife and Babes In Toyland?
KB : "Babes In Toyland are going to do a small European Tour in February. Katastrophy Wife may tour in March, then record some more tracks maybe. The album is out in January, we've just recorded 'Liberty Bell' with Gavin Monyahan, who's a really great producer, and I feel like I want to record a whole album with him. We'll (KWife) will probably tour the US after all that.

5. What kinds of things have Kat + Lori been up to in the past 4 years since Babes In Toyland went their separate ways?
KB : "Well I had a baby, got Katastrophy Wife together, some waitressing, basically got ourselves grounded, back to reality I guess".
Tried to get back to "normality?"
KB : "Yeah, and Lori has had two musical projects, one was Egg something....erm..Eggtwist and I can't remember the other one"/

6. Do you keep in contact with Michelle or Maureen? Were they approached for the reunion shows?
KB : "Yeah, Lori saw Maureen in New York a couple of months ago, she lives in Nashville, Tennessee now. I spoke to Michelle a couple of weeks ago now, she's living in New Orleans, doing her flower business. Neither of them were approached for the shows."

7. When were the songs for 'Amusia' written?
KB : "There were a handful written during Babes In Toyland years, but mostly they were written in the last 3/4 years. We've got a couple of new KWife songs at the moment that we're going to record soon".

8. Do they mark a departure from the Babes In Toyland sound?
KB : I guess there's a little departure, they're a bit different, more developed. I mean theyre different coz we are a different band".

9. How hard is it to stay "independent" in the music business, or is there always some form of selling out to a major?
KB : Well, you can stay independent, if you have enough money to distribute and record your c.d.'s , there are some bands who can do that. I mean, distribution is needed and wanted so people can hear your music, so I don't mind relinquishing the power to do this".

10. What would you hope to achieve / happen with Katastrophy Wife that din't with Babes In Toyland?
KB : I'd like to do some different stuff, record with different people, on my own and stuff. I'm basically doing it because I love music, I love making music".

11. Who's been an influence on the writing / production of the Katastrophy Wife record?
KB : "Me".

12. Do you still speak to Jennifer Finch? Do you look back on your days with Sugar Babydoll with fondness?
KB : "Yeah, I spoke to her a couple of months ago, I saw OtherStarPeople at the 400 bar a while back. You know, Sugar Babydoll was such a small amount of my time, it was like a couple of months, and we did two gigs, one in a friends living room, and an acoustic thing in San Francisco, and that was it. It's really just a thing that journalists like to do, they think that if they put Courtney Love's name there, it will attract people, but it doesn't".

13. What music are you listening to?
KB : Mostly MPR, public radio, classical, blues and jazz.............Placebo!!

14. Do you prefer recording or touring?
KB : Well, right now I prefer recording coz of Henry, it's easier for me at the moment".

And that's it, Henry started playing around, and Kat had to go to look after him. On a finishing note, Kurt Pagan-Davies let me know that they are releasing a DVD of Babes In Toyland live throughout the years, but didn't say when............