Exclusive interview with the American alternative musician who will be in Europe in June to present her second album ‘My Side of the Mountain’.
Hi Kat, how are you? We haven’t spoken since the summer of 2021, before the release of ‘Love Made Me Do It’, and it’s been a while…
Amazing! Staying busy as hell, but happy indeed. More than anything, I’m just so excited to finally be returning to Milan for the first time in almost a decade, but this time to perform the new album!
‘Love Made Me Do It’ was written around 2014 and released only seven years later. What was it like writing music practically “live” for ‘My Side of the Mountain’? I imagine that little time passed between songwriting, recording and the final mix, right?
‘My Side of the Mountain’ was a much more efficient release. We scheduled the song writing sessions at a studio like a typical 9-5 job. We would clock in and get to work until we hit good stopping points. Once the skeletons of each song were formed, I would take the songs back to my house where I had a room for synthesizers, and my bandmate and I would produce a majority of the sounds there and record final vocals. I wrote over 22 songs, and then selected the ones that made the album depending on which ones helped tell the full story.
This album was so emotionally rewarding more than any other project I have ever worked on.
When did you read for the first time the famous novel by Jean Craighead George which gives the title to your second album?
I read ‘My Side of the Mountain’ early on in my youth – perhaps during my elementary school years. I remember, even back then, a deep connection to the little boy in the story who left everything behind to explore isolation in a forest with nature and a pen and paper. This was very appealing to my young mind, even though it was a fantasy. And for some reason it has stuck with me since. This album is about finding your own way, and navigating these feelings of loneliness in a world where you may not fit in, whether you’d like to or not. Making music for the outsiders is nothing new to me, and is possibly my favorite “genre”.
Is it always the past – I mean your past – that you try to exorcise in these new 11 songs (plus a cover)? I interpret them this way for the melancholy and dark soul that they manage to express despite the vitality of the rhythms and your dominant voice. And then your life seems more peaceful to me since you got married and became a mother…
I think the theme of struggles in Love never gets old. I think I will most likely forever be writing sad love songs. Even though I am quite happy in my own marriage.
How did the collaboration with Alissa White-Gluz on ‘I am a machine’ come about and what do you want to express in that particular song? By the way: have you always liked Arch Enemy or have you only started to appreciate them since Alissa joined them?
I’ve been a huge Arch Enemy fan for years! And I’ve been close friend with Alissa (IG: @alissawhitegluz) for a long time as well. I was actually hesitant about asking Alissa to sing on this song at first because it is a far cry from the metal world that she is used to. But after playing her the demo, she really related to the lyrics and was honestly such a perfect match for that duet. I honestly love bringing those metal elements into an electronic space, and hope to work with her again on more songs in the future.
If you could travel in time and ask advice from a musician from the past who unfortunately is no longer with us, who would you go to and above all what would you ask him or her?
Hm. I’m not very good at asking for (and giving) advice in general. I think everyone’s experiences are so different and a “one size fits all” approach very rarely works.
In June, a European tour of over three weeks awaits you, starting from Madrid on the 4th and ending in Copenhagen on the 29th with many venues along the itinerary and also two music festivals. Do you want to introduce me to the band that will accompany you and when will you officially start rehearsals?
Yes! I am beyond excited to come back to Europe after all this time! Dark electronic band, Prayers (IG: @prayers) will be joining me along a majority of the tour except festival dates, as well as a few surprise openers on select dates.
We begin rehearsals in Los Angeles in May and will fly directly to Madrid after!
On May 16, 2022, your Milan gig was cancelled, in what would have been your first Italian concert. Do you remember what happened on that occasion?
Yes, it was quite unfortunate the first time we had a tour scheduled for Europe was right when there was announcements of possible wars in Russia and Ukraine. There was much uncertainty for us here in America whether we should postpone, and at the end we wanted to be as respectful to our fans and to our crew by waiting to return in different times.
This time there are two gigs in Italy (Pinarella di Cervia on June 7th and Milan on the 8th) and Italian fans will no longer be waiting to see you live…
Italy has always been so warm and welcome to me, so it holds a special place in my heart. I am so excited to be playing two dates in Italy.
There is a rumor that in 2025 you are already writing the songs for your third album. Do you confirm? How are things going?
Yes. I’ve been diligently working on some special collaboration singles to be released soon, as well as more music for the next year. My bandmate and I are inspired and have so much to bring to the table.
Do you ever get nostalgic about tattoo art?
In all honesty, I am content with closing that chapter of my career. I remain forever grateful to the tattoo world for giving me so much in my short lifetime. At the same time I am happy to pass along that torch to the next generation.
Tell me the truth: isn’t there a “new Kat Von D” missing from today’s tattooing universe?
I think the tattoo world has evolved dramatically since my days of tattooing – at least here in the States. It’s not something I yearn to return to, to be honest. But I still have much respect for those who do!
Last question: why a cover of ‘All by myself’ at the end of ‘My Side of the Mountain’? Is this perhaps a tribute to its composer Eric Carmen who passed away in March 2024 while you were working on your album?
I can’t think of a sadder song than “All By Myself” and I wanted to challenge myself to create an even more desperately sad version of it. It was always meant to be a sort of outro for the new album, but now it is my favorite way to start each show!
