| Kat Bjelland | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Katherine Bjelland |
| Born | December 8, 1963 Salem, Oregon, United States |
| Origin | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Genres | Alternative rock Grunge Indie rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, Bass guitar, Vocals, Piano |
| Years active | 1985-present |
| Labels | Treehouse Twin Tone Southern Reprise Sympathy for the Record Industry Integrity Records Rish |
| Associated acts | Sugar Babydoll Pagan Babies/Italian WhoreNuns Babes in Toyland Crunt Katastrophy Wife |
| Website | www.katbjelland.com |
Katherine "Kat" Bjelland (born December 8, 1963) is an American punk rock musician. She is the former lead singer and guitarist of the band Babes in Toyland, and is currently the lead singer/guitarist of the band Katastrophy Wife.
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Childhood
Bjelland was born in Salem, Oregon and grew up in nearby Woodburn. Her mother was Lynne Irene Higginbotham (married to Lyle Bjelland).
She attended Woodburn High School where she was a popular student and cheerleader. It was while a teenager that Bjelland became interested in music. Her uncle, David Higginbotham, taught her to play guitar, and her first performance was at a small bar in Woodburn called Flight 99 (now defunct), with the band called 'The Neurotics'. A Portland band called 'The Dots' opened for them.
Early career
Shortly after graduation from high school in 1982, Bjelland moved to Portland, where she formed a series of bands, first The Neurotics and then an all-female band called The Venarays, which Bjelland has described as "rock with a '60s edge":
The Neurotics were composed of Bjelland (rhythm guitar); her uncle David Higginbotham (lead guitar); Marty Wyman (vocals); Dave Hummel (drums); and Laura Robertson (bass).
After The Neurotics I got this band together with my best friends, so it was an all-girl band. We were called The Venarays. The name came from the word venary which means actively hunting out sex! We began as a way of having fun with each other.[1]
In reality, the Venarays was not an all girl band. Drums were performed by Dave Hummel, and later, Jack Rhodes. The name 'Venarays' was originally taken from a Television character from the early 50's program called 'Rocky Jones Space Ranger' in which actress Sally Mansfield portrayed Vena Ray. After the band was named, some members of the band discovered the word 'venary' in the dictionary and became confused regarding the origin.
After quitting The Venarays, Bjelland formed a band with a new friend, Courtney Love, and bassist Jennifer Finch. Love went on to form the band Hole, while Finch would be part of L7. The band went by several names, including: Sugar Babydoll, Sugar Babylon and Sugar Bunnyfarm.
Around 1985, in San Francisco, Bjelland and Love formed a new band called Pagan Babies with Deidre Schletter on drums and Janis Tanaka (later in Stone Fox and L7, and with the singer Pink) on bass.[2] When Love left, this lineup played under the name Italian WhoreNuns.[3]
Demo versions of songs that Bjelland and Love worked on together, including "Best Sunday Dress", which was later played by Hole on numerous occasions, are available on various Hole fan sites.
Babes in Toyland
In the mid-1980s, Bjelland moved from Portland to Minneapolis, where she would eventually form Babes in Toyland, becoming their lead singer and guitarist. Babes in Toyland would achieve minor success in the early 1990s. Babes in Toyland's debut single on Treehouse Records ("Dust Cake Boy" b/w "Spit to See the Shine") was an instant success. Bjelland's lyrics about female empowerment soon earned her recognition as a feminist icon. Bands such as Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Sleater-Kinney have all named her as a main influence, while less political female bands like Jack Off Jill, 7 Year Bitch, and Fluffy have also cited Bjelland and Babes in Toyland as a major inspiration. The Babes' career peaked in mainstream exposure when they performed on a portion of the Lollapalooza tour in 1993.[4]
Crunt
Earlier in 1993, Bjelland had begun a side project called Crunt with new husband Stuart Gray (aka Stu Spasm), formerly of Lubricated Goat. Bjelland played bass and Gray guitar, while Russell Simins of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was the drummer. In February 1994, the band released a self-titled debut, along with its first single, "Swine". For a time there was talk that Crunt would replace Babes in Toyland as Bjelland's main project. The band had ended by the time Bjelland and Gray divorced in January 1995.[5]
Katastrophy Wife and current projects
With Babes in Toyland playing only sporadically in the late 1990s, Bjelland started the band Katastrophy Wife in 2000. The band toured at venues, such as Ladyfest, worldwide. Katastrophy Wife have so far released two albums, Amusia and All Kneel; as well as a new single Heart On on the Australian record label Rish in April 2007.[6] Bjelland has also done some soundtrack work. In an update to the Katastrophy Wife website, Bjelland reported that "Katastrophy Wife have had a few incarnations but from here on I will only re-incarnate my self."[7]
She produced the album The Seven Year Itch for the band Angelica, released in 2002.
In late 2008, Courtney Love posted in one of her blogs that Kat's home was being repossessed. She also stated "all you riot grrls who i just know are organising a way to get Kat Bjelland off the street especially Kathjellen Hannah since you can use all that Beastie Boys money that wasnt stolen to help her since you have millions and millions and millions of dollars." Courtney has posted no more on this subject.
Discography
Albums
- 1990-Spanking Machine (Babes in Toyland)
- 1991-To Mother (Babes in Toyland)
- 1992The Peel Sessions (Babes in Toyland)
- 1992-Fontanelle (Babes in Toyland)
- 1993-Painkillers (Babes in Toyland)
- 1994-Crunt (Crunt)
- 1994-Dystopia(Babes in Toyland)
- 1995-Nemesisters (Babes in Toyland)
- 2000-Lived(Babes in Toyland)
- 2000-Devil(Babes in Toyland)
- 2000-Viled(Babes in Toyland)
- 2001-Minneapolism(Babes in Toyland)
- 2001-Amusia (Katastrophy Wife)
- 2004-All Kneel (Katastrophy Wife)
- 2004-The Best of Babes In Toyland and Kat Bjelland
- 2009-Pregnant (Katastrophy Wife)
Singles
- 1989-Dust Cake Boy (Babes in Toyland)
- 1990-House (Babes in Toyland)
- 1991-Handsome and Gretel (Babes in Toyland)
- 1991-Bruise Violet (Babes in Toyland)
- 1993-Catatonic (Babes in Toyland)
- 1994-Swine (Crunt)
- 1995-Sweet '69 (Babes in Toyland)
- 1995-We Are Family (Babes in Toyland)
- 2001-Gone Away (Katastrophy Wife)
- 2003-Liberty Belle (Katastrophy Wife)
- 2003-Money Shot (Katastrophy Wife)
- 2004-Blue Valiant (Katastrophy Wife)
- 2007-Heart-On (Katastrophy Wife)
References
- ^ http://www.katbjelland.com/venerays/indexvenerays.html Katbjelland.com Retrieved on 05-10-07
- ^ http://www.katbjelland.com/paganbabies/indexpaganbabies.html Katbjelland.com Retrieved on 05-10-07
- ^ http://www.katbjelland.com/italianwhorenuns/indexwhorenuns.html Katbjelland.com Retrieved on 05-10-07
- ^ Karlen, Neil Playboy Magazine 1/96 http://www.nirvanafreak.net/art/art54.shtml Playboy Magazine 1/96 Nirvanafreak.net
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aw7zeflk7gf2~T0 Allmusic.com Retrieved on 05-10-07
- ^ http://www.rishrecords.com
- ^ http://katastrophywife.com/kat.html Katastrophywife.com Retrieved on 05-10-07
External links
- Kat Bjelland at the Internet Movie Database
- www.katbjelland.com
- www.katastrophywife.com
- Everything2: Kat Bjelland
- Rish Records
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