| Interview by Burt Wolf with chief leprechaun/lead screamer, Drama & bassist, Raina of SWITCHBLADE KITTENS. Interview done February 11th, 2002. |
| PLEASE GIVE ME SOME HISTORY ON SWITCHBLADE KITTENS & HOW YOU GOT TOGETHER? Drama: Wait, I can't do this without coffee...hold on...(brings out huge latte cup)...OK! (Reads bands bio) "It was odd. She was just sitting there playing bass in the rain oblivious to the world around her. Apparently, her car broke down & she was waiting for some one to pick her up. So while she waited she just took out her bass & started playing it on a bench in the rain" Drama & Pep walked up to her & explained that they had just lost their bass player & asked her to join SWITCHBLADE KITTENS. Not a scaredy cat, the strange girl on the bench agreed to join, & from that day the girl was known as Raina (the female form of rain). With the addition of a bass player the band had a two bass combo like no other band. Raina: Drama & Pep found me under a tree (no kidding!). I like trees. WHY WAS THE NAME SWITCHBLADE KITTENS CHOSEN FOR THE BAND? Drama: The name actually came from a short film directed by Jim Edwards-the founder of BARKING WEASEL PRODUCTIONS (who will be directing SWITCHBLADE KITTEN's "My Dad's A Janitor" music video). He made a really funny short film about this menacing cat named Switchblade Kitten that attacks & eats green army men that a little boy leaves lying on the floor. I won't tell you the end, but it is quite humorous. So the name of the cat was Switchblade Kitten. It was also a perfect name cause I wanted a "feminist, we are all grrls in this together" name, but we are by no means whoos grrls. I liked the fact that Switchblade brings to mind toughness & Kitten is a slur for female. So people would know we are tough grrls. WHO OR WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES IN MUSIC OR LIFE IN GENERAL? Drama: Courtney Love & Eric Erlandson. "Teenage Whore" was the first song I learned on guitar. Carol Kaye- the greatest bass player in the universe. THAT DOG, BLONDIE, MADONNA, George Sand-a french novelist & poetess, QUEEN CLEOPATRA, & your mum (looks at interviewer). Raina: My mom has most influenced my life. As for the past few years, I must say that Drama & Pep have most influenced the music I am playing! Drama: Ahhh! She likes me, she really likes me! SWITCHBLADE KITTENS HAS A DEFINATE PUNK ROCK SOUND, BUT I DO HEAR SOME OTHER INFLUENCES AS WELL. HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE & SOUND? Drama: If BLONDIE & BLINK 182 had a baby that had a lesbian affair with KENICKIE, but married the cousin's niece of THAT DOG, named Carol Kaye. Then that is what we sound like. Raina: Fun-loving-Pop-Punk! WHO CAME UP WITH THE COOL SWITCHBLADE KITTENS CHARACTER? Drama: Your mum! Raina: No, your mom! HOW WELL HAS YOUR CD "HEY PUNK! TRY HEROIN(S)" BEEN DOING SINCE IT'S RELEASE? Drama: Fine thanks & you? No really, we sold close to 5000 copies. BUT we went with this one distribution company called ORCHARD, they sold our CDs & NEVER paid us. Don't ever use them. Goddess knows how many they sold? Raina: ORCHARD! Booooooo, Hisssssss! WHAT IS SOME OF THE LYRICAL CONTENT OF YOUR SONGS? Drama: "Emily" is a series of Emily Dickinson stanzas put together & "My Dad Is A Janitor", is about loving your dad, cause you gotta love your dad (unless of course he abandoned you & let your mum struggle), & "Solar Plexus Kick" is about my gaurdian angel... Raina: The song "You'd Be So Pretty If" is about the pressures girls have to be pretty... My favorite line from that song is, "Your pretty looks like prison!" I LOVE YOUR COVER OF CELINE DION'S "MY HEART WILL GO ONE (THE THEME FROM TITANIC)". WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO COVER THIS SONG? Drama: Many soundtracks have songs that give the wrong idea about sex to young women. This song did that. The movie says to grrls, don't think about the future, just sleep with a guy. The song was an extension of the film. What really annoyed me was that so many teenage grrls were into that song which was reminiscent of the mores of the movie. Plus it HAD to be done, it just had to. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG ON YOUR CD & WHY? |
| Drama: "All Cheerleaders Die", because I wrote it about my experiences in middle school. I didn't fit in & the other girls made fun of me & beat me up. Everyone looked the same, all tan with blonde hair & blue eyes. Middle school was like being attacked by the Malibu Barbie isle at a toy store. Raina: I like "Solar Plexus Kick". It's fast & fun to play YOU USE NO GUITARS ON YOUR RELEASE, WHICH IS ALL BASS, DRUMS & VOCALS. ARE YOU ANTI-GUITAR & WHY THE DECISION OF NO GUITARS? Drama: Shhhh! There are no guitars. (Looks around suspiciously) Bassorama? (She runs & shuts the door. Then sits very close to the interviewer). The bassorama is a mixture of tuning & several effects through the processor. So Pep had to play it everyday, so he tweaked it & made the final effects, but much to the chagrin of Pep, I am taking apart basses again. I inverted what I am calling the Bassola. It is a bass that sounds like a viola. Hey if you don't like instruments, invert your own. Raina: We don't need no stinking guitars! |
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