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So, how long
have you been doing music ?
This year will be the 10th
anniversary for Cattie Ness and
the Revenge. How
did you get started ?
I had a guitar but didn’t
know how to play, the drummer had
a drum set and didn’t know
how to play, so we railroaded
another guy at work to teach us.
Did
you grow up in a musical family ?
Although my parents didn’t
play, they listened to a lot of
records in those days. My dad was
in the service, and I grew up in
Germany, so most of my music was
my dad’s rock and roll
records.
Do
you remember the first record you
bought and/or the one that made
you think «Woahhh, that’s
what I want to do !»
LOL, actually I can’t
remember when I didn’t sing.
I was always in the choir at
church as a little girl, and
always a music afficianado as a
teen, but I was shy and couldn’t
bear the thought of being on the
stage. As I got older, all my
friends and boyfriends were
musicians, and music was a way of
life. It wasn’t too long
before I joined them.
What
are your influences as a singer
and a songwriter ?
Definitely, and in tribute,
my favorite singer/songwriter is
Mike Ness. Therefore, the name of
my band. His style is very
unique, not that carbon copy
American Idol crap. He gave me a
lot of inspiration to get out
there and do it.
What
about your band, where do they
come from, were they in other
bands before ?
The current members of my
band are John Bruce, my husband
of one year, on lead guitar. (We
played and got married last year
at Viva.) John played with Aces
& Eights and Shot to Hell
before joining me. On the big old
bass, Fabiola Gomez, who is 24
years old and in her first band.
(Boy, was she excited when we
played Viva last year.) Our
drummer, Jose Sanchez, we stole
from The Spahn Ranch Boys when
they broke up. Fabi and Jose live
in Orange County, about 4 hours
from where John and I live. So we
commute to practice and mostly
play in LA, although I have set
up shows up here. We just had Big
Sandy with The Lonely Blue Boys,
and in May we’re having my
annual birthday show with
Deadbolt.
Do
you remember the first show you
played ?
Definitely one of those
things you never forget, we kind
of knew 6 songs, it was my
birthday show and the guitar
players amp, started going out,
making a lot of noise, which
fortunately let us exit the stage
gracefully.
Does
it change something being a woman
on the rockabilly scene, is it
harder ?
Since I can’t say how it is
for men, I will say being in the
spotlight sure gives everyone an
opportunity to come up and say
whatever they damn well please. I
always have men coming up to give
me advice. ALWAYS. Never has a
woman come up to give me advice.
Since I’m Cattie, I can
usually put them in their place
before they know what happened
and walk away. Then there are the
promoters and other band guys who
call me ‘babe’ and want
to hustle me somehow, thinking I
am a pushover, which I definitely
am not, this usually pisses them
off, then I get attitude as well.
Needless to say, I am a strong
woman, and I play by my own rules.
In a man world’s, in
sometimes works against you, but
I really try to stay away from
people with self-esteem problems
anyway.
Don’t
you think that things change,
that we see more and more
rockabilly women (Marti Brom,
Josie Kreuzer, Kim Lenz, Carrie
Lee…) than 15 years ago ?
The main woman I see you are
missing on the list is Rosie
Flores. When Rose brought Wanda
Jackson and Janis Martin out of
retirement, that really kicked
off the once dying scene in
California. She really was a
driving force for me, plus when I
first was hanging out in LA, she
was running with the big dogs
like Dave Alvin, and James
Intveld (The Blasters), had
appeared in movies, and was
signed to a international record
company. These days in LA there
are so many more women fronted
rockabilly bands. It is truly
wonderful to see.
About
your albums, how many are
they ?
Years ago there was an EP
called «Fresno Rockabilly»
recorded at Wolfe Studios, here
in Fresno. And then the full
length «Live at Tokyo Garden».
Tokyo Garden is home base for me,
and I used to put a monthly show
there called «The Cattie Ness
Cafe». We’ve just recorded
a single for a compilation on
Split Seven Records, and have
plans to go into the studio later
this year.
Do
you remember the most memorable
gigs you played and/or went
to ?
The very first show I ever
saw was called «Monsters of Pomp»
in San Jose, CA. It was an all
day show, and featured Big Sandy,
Pearl Harbor, Hayride to Hell,
and so many others. Being from a
small city out in the middle of
nowhere, I had no idea there were
people out there that actually
liked the same kind of music that
I did. I’d go up to the Bay
area and see shows a lot by
myself after that. Monsters of
Pomp eventually turned into the
Greaseball in San Francisco, and
we were fortunate to play the
very last one. This, of course,
was way before anyone else was
putting shows like this out west.
When
can we expect a new
release ?
It’s hard to say when
something new will be out. I do
not care for recording, I find it
very tedious and boring, although
a necessary evil, and since we
had such a painless time
recording recently, I think it
will be much sooner than later.
A
last word ?
I love to travel and I love
France, so one day I hope we can
come play there. If not that, I’d
at least to go to a good rockin
show there, so I can see how you
guys do it! Hopefully that will
be this year.
Thanks
for the answers.
No, thank you !
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