A Buzz Magazine “Retrospective” to Kathomnatics Feb 2004
Kath from Kathomnatics was online about their forthcoming release happening in February. Around the Melbourne Music Scene for seeming ages, Kath (formerly KTV, formerly XXXX) was enthusiastic about the forthcoming new single.
And with the need for a new guitarist satisfied (Matt having joined the band), the CD will finally be released.
It has been a long road for Kath. The decision was a difficult one. Finding a new member for a band is not always an easy task. ‘There are always egos in music and there is always some-one not getting on with someone else. To find the right sort of personality to fit within the band can take a while. We wanted to get it right this time.’
‘You also have to find the people that can compromise. Otherwise you’re not getting anything out of the band.’
‘Our music is more mature now. I went through the phase of writing punk songs, but now they are a bit more refined. I went through the punk phase. People now say I have a really good voice. I guess all those years of performing have given me the voice I have now.’
There are six tracks on the release (Kath still calls it a single). Recorded at Indent music in Brunswick, with the aid of Producer ‘Clint’, Melbourne act Red Circle, the release was carefully polished up. ‘It really has a radio friendly sound,’ says Kath. ‘It’s the best thing I have ever recorded. Really. He’s (Clint) really enthusiastic. It was great working worth him. It’s not really commerical, nor is it really alternative. It’s somewhere in the middle. It’s alternative pop I suppose.’
I liked the track You Look Like Alison Hannigan. Which means we know something about Kath already. She is a big ‘Buffy:The Vampire The Slayer fan.’
‘It’s just a novelty song I suppose.’
Why did you chose that particular actor? Out of American Pie or just because she is a virtual “Willow” wherever she acts?
If you know Kath you might think of another path. Being a songwriter Kathy is in love with words. ‘I really wanted to write a song with her name in it. Alison’s name is a rhyme itself. It always interested me to see if I could fit her name around d a song. It was a challenge I set myself and it worked. ‘The song isn ‘t about her but about someone who looks like her.’
Kath’s favourite song would be Wet Blanket, which will feature a video clip for the forthcoming release. Is this song about a friend who is a ‘wet blanket?’
‘No it’s about someone treating someone else really badly.’
‘The last song on the single Fun and Games is about. That’s for my brother. It is a really personal thing.’
Being an independent act the Cd was self this was financed ‘with great difficulty.’
‘I had been saving money for a long time from my job. A couple of the other guys put in a fair deal of money as well. ‘I had to have the money to do the video and a bit of promotion. It c osts a fortune to do something like this but that is what it is all about.’
What drives you to do this? To work so hard, yet make something that does not financially reflect the enormous effort that goes into it?
‘I guess it’s the creative urge. I find that writing songs is an outlet for my emotions. I know that I am not going to be doing it forever and that if I don’t ‘make it’ in the next few years I will fall back on a journalism degree that I have been working on. (Kath has written a couple of articles for Buzz in the past.)
I don’t think I would be able to exist in a nine to five normal job anyway. I’m not the person to do the same thing every day.
I know I have spent a hell of a lot of money for little return and that is an enormous sacrifice.’
The other members of Kathematics all have jobs to survive. The drummer works full time at Mortgage Underwriters in Melbourne, the other two guys work a bit of part time here and there.
Kathematics are planning a tour of Adelaide
