Room Thirteen had the pleasure of meeting up with the infamous, talented and damn right scary wild women of 'Shred/Classical' rock, The Great Kat, to see whether she had mellowed with age since bursting onto the scene back in the late 80's...
R13: As a teen I'd see you snarling on the front cover of magazines such as Kerrang!, and quite frankly you scared the heebie-jeebies out of me! Have you mellowed since those days?
The Great Kat: WAKE UP!! The Great Kat is the reincarnation of Beethoven/the saviour of both classical and metal music/"top 10 fastest shredders of all time" (Guitar One Magazine)/Juilliard grade violin goddess turned blood-dripping guitar shredder!! Does THAT answer your question?
R13: Was it an act of individualism that your persona grew to what it is, or was it a girl holding her own in a man's chauvinistic world?
TGK: The Great Kat is the most unique and individualistic person in the world- male or female, who is fighting the stupidity, abuse and ignorance of inferior men who think that because they have a penis, that makes them powerful and important!! Those are the morons who use their muscles instead of brains and technique!
R13: I've heard some great stories about you - one being that you shouted obscenities at Kerrang! Writer, Chris Watts, (from behind a closed hotel room door) because he had not heard your ground breaking album of that time, 'Beethoven On Speed'! Was this more of you living up to the much publicised bad-girl hype? Or were you genuinely pissed off with his lack of research?
TGK: This is NOT living up to the hype - The Great Kat is a powerful fireball genius who shall not be insulted by inferior peons who are not prepared to interview and worship The Messiah Kat!
R13: How do you think the music industry has changed now from back in the late 80's and early 90's? Is it harder to be different and original?
TGK: The Great Kat is the only "different and original" artist in the world!! And now the internet is spreading the gospel of The Great Kat's "Shred/Classical" music to the entire world!
R13: So what have you been up to in the past 10 years?
TGK: Single-handedly resurrecting classical music by shredding classical masterpieces from Rossini, Vivaldi, Wagner, Beethoven, Paganini, Bach, Mozart and MORE on The Great Kat's "Bloody Vivaldi" CD, "Rossini's Rape" CD, "Wagner's War" CD, "Digital Beethoven On Cyberspeed" CD-ROM, "Extreme Guitar Shred" DVD and MORE! Check out the great kat web site at http://www.greatkat.com.
R13: I understand that you are a classically trained violinist, so what made you go from solidly playing the violin for 6 years, to switching to the guitar? Was it because it was cooler?
TGK: The Great Kat started violin at 9 years old, and was awarded a full scholarship to the Juilliard School at 15 years old. After graduating from the Juilliard School and performing a Solo Violin debut at Carnegie Recital Hall as Winner of the Artists International Competition on Violin, I realized that classical music was dead and killed by non-virtuoso idiot composers like Cage, Schoenberg and Glass!
I realized that I had to update Classical music and bring it to the masses! I decided that shred guitar was the closest to Classical Violin. I incorporated note-for-note violin solos & Classical motives in heavy metal and invented "Shred/Classical"-The brilliant, unique and complex music, which combines finger-bleeding Guitar and Violin shredding, Speed metal band and authentic Classical music that is now spreading though out the internet and the world!
R13: How many instruments can The Great Kat play?
TGK: Violin, Guitar, Bass and Piano.
R13: When are you coming over to Europe, and of course England again?
TGK: The Great Kat, who was born in Swindon, England (on a U.S. Air Force Base Military Hospital), WILL be coming to England, when all my British slaves and Kat-possessed fans demand to see the high priestess of guitar shred live on stage-it's sick, insane, outrageous and genius!
R13: Is it easy to remain a sex symbol and be tough and aggressive at the same time?
TGK: The Great Kat-hot goddess and sex symbol of shred guitar, can easily play Paganini, Beethoven and Bach while whipping your little flabby asses and dominating you pathetic morons into submission-all at the same time!
R13: One of my favourite quotes of yours is: "... if my breasts flopping out is going to make people listen to my music, fine. I am a musical genius and if you can't see that, you're an idiot!" What was that all about?
TGK: If it takes wearing leather and dominatrix outfits to get you losers to pay attention and wake up to the genius of "Shred/Classical" music and to The Great Kat's finger-blistering guitar and violin virtuosity, then that's what The Great Kat will do!
R13: So what music makes you purr at the moment?
TGK: The Great Kat does not purr - The Great Kat growls! The Great Kat is growling at Beethoven, Bach, Vivaldi, and Paganini!
R13: Which time was better: back when 'Worship me or Die' and 'Beethoven On Speed' (which I've heard by the way!) were gaining you credibility, or now with your latest CD 'Wagner's War'?
TGK: All times are brilliant for The Great Kat, who is systematically revolutionizing the face of both classical and metal music!
R13: So what's next for The Great Kat? What do you hope to be doing in another 10 years time?
TGK: The Great Kat will be taking over all of music and continuing the lifetime mission of single-handedly resurrecting classical and metal for the new millennium! Get ready to be geniusized whether you like it or not!
The NEXT Great Kat CD will feature the first shredding violin and guitar version of Paganini's "Caprice #24" and the famous "Flight Of The Bumble-Bee"! BOW TO YOUR METAL MESSIAH KAT!
...And with that I was left clicking my heels together and repeating, "There's no place like home..."