Interview: KITTY IN A CASKET

July 2011

"BACK TO THRILL" is the 2^nd album of this young, Austrian and female-fronted band. Their soft Psycho-Pop-Punk-a-billy is pretty well done and this CD should easily reach a bigger audience.

1/ 1/ Kitty In A Casket, where does the name come from?

Well, that is actually a good question. Only thing I know: my name is Kitty and somehow we came up with the name "Kitty in a Casket". I am sure we had a very good reason for it, but apparently I can't remember. Might sound weird but that's just how it is. I probably need some drinks to bring it back into my mind.

2/ Who are the different members of the band?

We have four instruments, so that makes four people. We got Scott on the drums since a few months. He is from Portland, Oregon and we are very happy to have him. On the doublebass we have Slappin Suspender from Germany, who is also the bass-player for the legendary P.O.X. And then there is Billy, my husband on the guitar and me doing some vocs. ;)

3/ Likes and dislikes?

Oh I really like a lot of things, so I don't really know where to begin. But what I and the whole band like is: good food (especially peanut butter!!!), great music and hanging out with nice and tolerant people.

4/ How would you describe your music?

I would define our tunes as modern punkrock with a little bit billy in it. I actually don't like to give it a real name, because there is none. We definitely do not play true psychobilly and we also do not play original punkrock. People tend to give everything a "name" and determine it, which is human of course, but I think everyone should check out the tunes and find their own independent definition for it, because I rather not label my tunes :)

5/ What are your lyrics about?

The lyrics of our first two CDs were mainly about horrorthemes but in a rather funny and not serious way. When it comes to the new album there are also songs about socio-cultural issues. I really like to write more serious lyrics, because that's simply what's on my mind. But sure, the horror lyrics mostly are metaphorical and it is a lot of fun to write those.

6/ Back in the days... The band started in 2008, and played very soon in major festival. Could you tell us a brief history of the band?

Billy and I decided to start "Kitty in a Casket" in June 2008. A few months later we had the rest off he line up and published our first CD in May 2009. This was soon followed up by the EP release "HalloWien”. Since then we played a lot of live shows across Europe, also playing at major festivals such as WGT 2010 and Back to Future in Germany, Psychobilly Meeting in Spain, Fiesta du Rock in Belgium, Warhead Fest in Poland, Club Sin in Finland among many others. Well and now the new album is about to be out!

7/ How would you describe your band, comparing to other female-fronted-billy bands?

I don't like to describe myself and my band. And I really don't want to compare myself to other musicians, especially not to female fronted billy, because I would not categorize myself there. So I leave this stuff up to professionals. ;)

8/ What are your main musical influences?

There are a lot of different influences, but mainly bands like: Operation Ivy, Ramones, NOFX, Mad Sin, and many many more.

9/ What are the 5 last albums you bought?

To be honest, I really can't remember. One of the most recent CDs I bought was "Broilers – Vanitas".

10/ Your new album, "BACK TO THRILL" has just been launched on Wolverine Rcds. Could you introduce it?

"Back to Thrill" is not really a Psychobilly CD, but all different kinds of music mixed together. All in all I'd say it is a punkrock album with a little bit "billy" in it. There are 13 tracks, of which one ("Blutsauger") is sung in German. We have a lot of different lyrics reaching from classic horror themes to socio-cultural issues. So I think there is something for eyeryone! :-)

11/ We can hear Rene D la Muerte from The BRAINS on one song. How did you manage to work with him?

We played with the Brains in Vienna and also at the Psychobilly Meeting in Spain in 2010 and that is why I know him in the first place. We always had a great time partying and laughing and that's when we decided to do a song together. And I guess he liked the song and that's why he decided to participate in it. We are very happy to have him on the album, because we like his music and we really enjoy hanging out with him and his band.

12/ Are there any other special guests on this album?

Indeed. On the track "Shake your Bones" is not only Rene D la Muerte featured, but also Takeuchi, the bass player from the Japanese Psychobilly band "Dice for Lights". We met him at the Psychobilly Meeting in Spain as well and we really had fun hanging out. There is also another guest singer: Lucas Fendrich sings the last song "Caught in a dream" with me. We recorded the album in his studio and we feel really honored that he was willing to join us in this particular song. Other guest vocalists are Eve Evangel ("Lolita Komplex") in "Never Wanted" and "Headshot" and Sandro from Ramazuri, who did a lot of backing vocals in various titles.

13/ What are your future plans? Any chance we can see you in North America?

Right now we try to play as many shows as possible and after that I guess we're going to record another album. And I really really hope that in between we can go on a North America tour!!!

14/ When you're dead, what will be written on your epitaph?

There will be a warning on it: attention attention: will rise anytime soon!

Thank you!