D.O.A. recently put out a pretty bad ass record called Talk – Action = 0. You can read a review of it here if you like. In celebration of this event, D.O.A. founding father and proverbial punk rock legend Joe ‘Shithead’ Keithly took the time to answer a few questions.

Ian:  So Talk – Action = 0 is out now and I personally feel it’s the best thing that D.O.A. has done in a long time. Did the shitty state of the world over the last year or so fuel the record or did you guys just hit a stride or what?

Joe: Yes, the crappy state of the world had a lot to do with the song writing. Tunes like I Live In A Car,  Atheist and Tyrants Turn in Hell speak to that.

Ian: The band’s been around over three decades, which in band years, is a really long time. What’s your shining moment? What are you most proud of? What’s the coolest thing D.O.A. has ever done?

Joe: That’ a tough one, been lots of highlights, I’ll meet you for a beer sometime and try and figure it out.

Ian: I love beer, you’ve got a deal! The band, through various incarnations, has also recorded with some pretty interesting co-conspirators over the years, like Jello Biafra and the almighty Thor. For the record, I love Thor. Any good stories from working with either of these two fine men? Did Thor wrap a microphone stand around your neck or subject you to multiple viewings of Rock ‘N’ Roll Nightmare?

Joe:  Yes Biafra’s very cool and Thor is as well. The first time I met Thor I was hosting an online TV show and I had him on for an interview. He took a really solid straight steel bar and bent it into a U only using his teeth! The funniest was a trip where he got hired by a bunch of bikers to play at a kick boxing event here in Vancouver and he needed a band. So we learned a bunch of Thor songs and we played inside a wrestling ring, the ring’s canvas was really bouncy and pretty well all the amps fell over by the end of the set.

Ian: Thor rules! Are there any more collaborations in D.O.A.’s future?

Joe: Sure , I am trying to talk Willie Nelson and Neil Young into some recording.

Ian: Both of those would be amazing opportunities, I hope they pan out. So what’s up with the Star Trek song on the new album? You just felt like writing about Kirk and his pals or is it a clever allegory for the world without heroes we all live in now?

Joe: Both , it was my favorite show as a kid and on that show they saved people and the world because it was the right thing to do. Not because they could get rich, acquire property and bling and be idiot celebrities.

Ian: Bling is overrated, it’s true. You’ve done some acting here and there, even appearing in Graveyard (with Thor!) and the excellent Hardcore Logo. Any movie projects in the pipeline? What was it like getting in front of the camera? Any thoughts on Joe Keithley: Actor?

Joe: I’m wondering when the Academy will nominate me??? Acting’s pretty fun, I have been in about six different TV shows doing small parts, I usually play a “heavy”! Typecasting all the way……

Ian: Well if you’ve got it, flaunt it! You also run Sudden Death Records, which in addition to releasing D.O.A. records puts out discs from the likes of Thor (yes, Thor!), The Real MacKenzies, The Vibrators, The Damned, Sham 69, The Pointed Sticks, Vice Squad, M.D.C., and even some rascals from Portland called Apt. 3G. That’s a pretty bad ass line up of Canadian and international bands right there. How’d you get these guys to sign on with Sudden Death?

Joe: It wasn’t too tough, I know a lot of these bands from all my travels , so it just kind of worked out.

Ian: How has the record business been treating you? Is the internet really killing the CD or did Lars Ulrich make that up to screw Metallica’s fans out of more money?

Joe: The biz is tough right now, but I you are careful you can survive, SDR’s still going fine.

Ian: Well I’m glad to hear that. You recently played the Punk Island Festival (pictures are here) in New York June 20^th. It was a blast. But you also toured the U.S. in support of the new release. Does touring in the U.S. differ much from touring in Canada? Are the crowds nuttier? Less nutty? Equally nutty?

Joe: It’s different for sure, there’s more of an emphasis on DOA’s ‘hardcore” tradition in the USA. But both countries have their good points and cool people.

Ian:  So there was an incident involving some riot cops at a show in Switzerland recently. What happened there? There’s gotta be a good story about that.

Joe: That’ a long story, Clint can send you the details. (Editor’s note: Clint is D.O.A.’s PR guy and he did send the details, click here to read them!)

Ian: Mike Ness has been ranting about the state of punk rock from the stage for years now, lamenting the fact that you can go to the mall and get your little pussy pierced. But here’s D.O.A. stating the opposite, claiming that ‘They Hate Punk Rock.’ Do you feel punk’s been watered down or homogenized over the years or is Mike just babbling?

Joe: Well the They Hate Punk Rock is referring to the real tradition of punk, which has been and can still be a dangerous thing to society. So I am saying mall punk kind of sucks .

Ian: On that we can agree. You’re not the only punk band to cover a Dylan track with the new album. The Cobra Skulls did it recently too. He’s not really punk rock at all, or at least you don’t really associate him in that regard because he’s a bit of a hippy/beatnik type. What made you want to cover ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’?

Joe: It speak volumes about our world. I feel the lyrics are timeless, I got the idea to cover it after watching an odd movie.

Ian: We love odd movies around here. Last question – what’s next for D.O.A.? Are you going to play until you die or is there a plan? You’ve lasted way longer than most of your counterparts and are still going strong but nothing lasts forever. How long is D.O.A. going to be around?

Joe: Well I’ve always been a activist/musician, so I will keep playing till I cannot play anymore, if that is still in the form of D.O.A. , that I am not sure.

Ian: Well I hope you’re around for a long time. Thanks again for taking the time to do this. I know you’re a busy guy and appreciate your efforts!

Wanna learn more about D.O.A.’s latest and greatest record? Check out the Sudden Death Records homepage by clicking here!

Dante Tomaselli On The Torture Chamber - An Interview By Troy Howarth 

The name Dante Tomaselli should be familiar to fans of off-beat horror cinema. In a genre dominated by cookie cutter sequels, remakes, reboots, re-imaginings and regurgitations, he is something of an anomaly. For one thing, he is devoted to the genre – horror, for Tomaselli, is not a stepping stone to “bigger and better things” – it’s a means of exploring his own fears and fantasies. For another, he couldn’t care less about the current trends.

He made his initial ripple in the horror “community” with Desecration, a slice of delirium bathed in Catholic guilt; he expanded the picture from a short subject, and it turned a few heads even if it didn’t qualify as a runaway hit. Tomaselli followed it with Horror (2002) and Satan’s Playground (2006), but he’s had some difficulty in securing financing for subsequent projects. Fortunately for his fans, however, he’s back with a vengeance with Torture Chamber. The storyline is simple enough – a possessed 13-year-old boy escapes from an asylum and discovers an old abandoned castle with a secret passageway to a cobwebbed torture chamber – but story, for Tomaselli, has always been a starting point. His films are more about mood and atmosphere, and a look at his previous films reveals a growing maturity which should be even more evident in this latest effort.

Torture Chamber follows on the heels of The Ocean, an apocalyptic horror story that very nearly came to fruition in 2007. The multi-talented Tomaselli – who typically writes and scores his own films, a la John Carpenter (an admitted influence) – is showing no signs of slowing down, either; in addition to The Ocean, he’s also interested in making a film about the Salem Witch Trials.

Whatever one thinks of Tomaselli’s films – to say that they tend to divide viewers is an understatement – there’s no denying that his vision is personal and unique. Tomaselli sat down with us to talk about his latest project, which promises to be his rawest, most visceral picture to date.

Troy Howarth: How long has it been since your last picture?

Dante Tomaselli: I finished Satan’s Playground in 2005 and it was released by Anchor Bay August 2006…So about 5 years.

TH: Could you explain what happened with The Ocean?

DT: Well, right after coming off Satan’s Playground, I wrote an apocalyptic horror script called The Ocean, a twisted family psychodrama, with supernatural riptides terrorizing a small coastal community in Puerto Rico. I went through some drafts and decided I needed a co-writer. I thought of Michael Gingold, so I contacted him and we met for lunch in NYC and discussed the film concept. A few months later Mike delivered The Ocean script to me with the same ideas and the same characters as the original draft…except much improved…fleshed-out characters with more dialogue. I sent the script, along with copies of my other films, to Adrienne Barbeau and she was interested! This was a Fog-like film, a lady in a lighthouse on the ocean…a psychic haunted by visions of a watery apocalypse. I saw The Fog in theatres in 1980 when I was 10 years-old.

Adrienne and I met at my apartment in New Jersey and she was all ready to go. She even helped cast Tom Atkins as her husband in the film. I also had a daredevil cinematographer, Mike Prickett, totally committed to the apocalyptic waves sequences. He was one of the cinematographers on Riding with Giants, Billabong Odyssey, and a bunch of other deadly ocean footage films. He was jazzed to finally work on a movie that features the ocean as something supremely scary…which it is. Plus, my loyal cinematographer, Tim Naylor, was on board, for the narrative sequences. A couple of weeks later, I went to Puerto Rico to location scout with The Puerto Film Commission. I found the caves, the main locations, the lighthouse, everything in the script…but the last day of my scout I learned that we didn’t have all the financing. Adrienne was let down because she was really looking forward to the adventure. I was nearly suicidal. Then, about four months later, I thought I had the money again, through a private investor, but now Adrienne was starring in a NYC play about Judy Garland. She wanted to do The Ocean but wasn’t available at that certain time. I reached out to Margot Kidder. She enjoyed the script, was interested. Then all of a sudden it fell apart when the producers couldn’t or wouldn’t insure her. Then I asked Dee Wallace. I was thrilled to know that she loved the part and project. We began a hearty dialogue and got ready to shoot the film. More anticipation and intense excitement. Even a mention in Variety Magazine. We thought we had the financing through an indie film company…which is now defunct. I needed at least 2 million. Yeah, I know, the catering bill on Avatar. No one is to blame. The recession? No, I can really only blame myself. I make my own reality. So 2007 was a horrible year…a succession of let downs.

TH: How did Torture Chamber come about?

DT: In early 2008 I started writing a script called Torture Chamber. It just felt right. I liked the idea of a demon of blasphemy and murder. I was feeling blasphemous and murderous! It was a screenplay of rage. I tapped into all of that emotional violence and wrote the first draft in six months. Unlike The Ocean, I purposely crafted it with a low budget in mind. I needed to make a little tough horror film to pave the way for bigger ones, like The Ocean. I met a particularly nightmarish fellow who wanted to put lots of money into my film. Then I found out he was a bona fide drug dealer and his money was dirty money. No way. Goodbye. Around that time, I contacted Gary Vitello, Executive Director of International distribution at Lionsgate. He liked my Torture Chamber script and other films and got me a Letter of Intent from Lionsgate. With that letter, which was basically a letter of interest, I was able to eventually secure the financing. Gary Vitello is one of the Executive Producers of Torture Chamber, along with Maria Tassiello, my long-time film business partner.

TH: The title seems to indicate an affinity to the current trend of “torture porn” horror, typified by the Saw and Hostel films… is this what you’re aiming for in the film?

DT: No. No. There’s nothing about this film that is torture porn. First of all, there is no porn, no nudity. This film is not about kids having sex. I’m interested in the hazy intersection between life and death. It’s about peeling back layers of pain and guilt buried in the unconscious mind. It’s about a family in deep psychic pain. For me, Torture Chamber is a mood, a state-of-mind. It conjures dungeons…and death. You definitely know what you’re getting yourself into with a film that has a title like Torture Chamber. To me, it feels like a Drive-In shocker from the 70s. I wanted to create a pure horror film…A serious scare-fest with a warped family psychodrama at the core. There are scenes of characters burning on a torture device known as The Stove that are hard to watch. But really Torture Chamber is an interior journey, a colorful, psychedelic horror show. It’s a macabre ‘Chutes & Ladders’ game. The film…It’s a place, a location, a maze with many traps doors. Each portal leads you to the next. I’m trying to construct a nightmare in which we experience the protagonist’s damnation. I never even watched Saw or Hostel. Though I did see James Wan’s Dead Silence. That was well done. I rarely go to modern horror films. It all stopped around the 80’s, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. My favorite performers are from older films too.

TH: You mention being more interested in old school actors. Who are some actors you’d like to work with? There are still a number of actors associated with old school horror working: Christopher Lee, Udo Kier, Lance Henriksen, John Saxon, Robert Englund, etc.

DB: I’d love to work with a lot of Italian ladies of horror like Catriona MacColl…and Daria Nicolodi. I plan to reach out at some point. Also American performers like Veronica Cartright, Piper Laurie, Sissy Spacek, Jessica Walter and Brooke Adams. John Saxon, yes, he’s an actor I’d love to work with, such a rich history in cinema…from Mario Bava to Wes Craven and so on. Lance Henriksen, yes, Damien Omen 2, Pumpkinhead, Aliens and so many others. He’d be terrific as a sadistic priest…or a witch hunter. Christopher Lee…whenever I can afford him…it would be an honor. I’ve had my eye on him from the beginning, in fact, I’m just waiting for the right moment. It’s a shame that Oliver Reed is not with us. I would have loved the opportunity. Karen Black…though I’ve heard from her DVD audio commentaries that she really doesn’t like doing horror anymore. If her heart’s not in it….

TH: Tell us about the cast you assembled.

DT: Torture Chamber stars Vincent Pastore from The Sopranos in a role that could be described as an Italian-American homage to Dr. Loomis in Carpenter’s Halloween. Dr. Fiore works at an institution for disturbed youths. He’s stalking the evil, pyromaniac 13-year-old Jimmy, swirling deeper into a supernatural puzzle. Lynn Lowry, with her old-school horror resume from David Cronenberg’s Shivers to George Romero’s The Crazies, has a big role in the film…Lisa, a nightmare-plagued art therapist at the institution. She’s being psychically terrorized by Jimmy. Needless to say, this boy has an ugly relationship with his own mother…Mrs. Morgan…portrayed by actress Christie Sanford, who’s been in all my films. Christie is blind in this film. Enigmatic and unnerving, she’s the emotional core of the movie. Ron Millkie, from the original Friday the 13th, is Dr. Thompson, a doomed science teacher at the institution. The demonically possessed child, Jimmy, is played by 13-year-old Carmen LoPorto, a New Jersey actor.

TH: Given the use of a psychiatrist figure in the film, do you have a particular stance on psychotherapy, psychiatry, etc? Do you subscribe to a particular school on this topic, be it Freudian or Jungian, and would you say this informs your work?

DT: Between Freud and Jung? Definitely Jung. I do believe in the importance of religion for better or worse and the idea of purposely going through the darkness to get to the light. The emphasis on the unconscious mind and the recognition of the animal side, the shadow side… That’s part of my films, definitely. I don’t look down on religion. I see its power. Both of my grandmothers were very religious and it brought happiness into their lives. They taught me the peaceful side of religion…A deep feeling of connection to a light source. Of course I see the danger in organized region too. Lots of danger. But getting back to psychology, I’ve visited psychologists and parapsychologists on and off since my teens. Also astrologers… acupuncturists…Chinese herbalists…psychics….

TH: How does Torture Chamber compare in terms of budget and schedule to your other films?

DT: It has the same kind of low budget as my early films, except this time I juggled about 8 different locations within a 19 day shoot. Usually I stay in one area, as most independent films are made, but on Torture Chamber, I was all over the place. We filmed a portion of the film in a small mining town in New Jersey called Ogdensburg. We also shot for about a week in Fort Totten Queens, an old underground military base. Plus there were locations in Brooklyn and other parts of Queens and a few more in New Jersey. Each day was heavy and intense and sometimes we were all a bit shell-shocked. I really had the hardest working crew, the most professional group I’ve ever worked with. Everyone there - wanted to be there. There was a whole new spirit on set on this film. We had to come up with so many different set-ups per day it was insane. The shot list, I mean, the schedule, was frightening. I’d sit in my motel room as serious as a monk. From the get-go, the locations that I needed were spread-out in different states in completely opposite directions and we just had to accommodate that fact. The look and design of the film was very specific. It was nothing if not an ambitious shoot.

TH: Your films are known for having a dreamlike, illogical approach. You’ve spoken before of your admiration for the horror films of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci… are there any other directors within the genre working today that you admire?

DT: John Carpenter will rise again. I remember when I was 17-years-old, I used to drive full speed down a pitch-black dirt road in New Jersey. I’d purposely turn out the head lights. There were no street lights. Total darkness. The dirt road was called Heartbeat Road. I think it’s listed in the magazine, Weird New Jersey Magazine. I sped like a madman, somehow never hitting the trees or surrounding huge rocks. I could have easily killed myself and friends in the car many times. I was operating on something else. Tapping into something else. Something…celestial…I felt possessed like Arnie in Christine, driving…floating….The same feeling I would have when I would wake up in bed with my arms and hands flapping like a bird. Trapped in the trance. Somewhere else. I should mention that I didn’t do drugs growing up. Didn’t drink alcohol. If anything, I was repressed. I have a history of sleep problems. Recently, I found out I have something called synesthesia. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember, I just didn’t know there was a name for it. My eyes have always been very light sensitive. It’s the joining, the blurring of the senses. I see colors and patterns when I hear certain sounds. It depends on the sound or feeling. Sometimes rain drops are like floating fiber optic dots. Or if a needle goes into me I see bright yellow or crystal. Kind of like when you’re on the beach lying on your back…you look up and close your eyes and see shapes and colors…involuntarily. Sometimes it can look ghostly, like something you’d see in a microscope. Cells. I think it’s a part of the fabric of my filmmaking. Colors and sounds are pristine. Taste color. Touch sound. And my nightmares are very tactile, very specific. More than anything, my films are about replicating my nightmares. I go back to the same places, time and time again. The films have the look and feel…the vibration of those places. I’ve been talking about seeing multi-colored streaks in the atmosphere and having out-of-body-experiences for as long as I can remember. Even though Torture Chamber is low budget, I want to give it a kind of epic exuberance. I purposely shot the film at 2.35:1 so it would be very expansive. 

TH: This is your first 2.35 film. Did you use anamorphic lenses? How did you find composing for the wider frame?

DT: We used non-anamorphic lenses. I love 2.35:1. I just thought it was time. I think of movies like John Carpenter’s Halloween and The Fog. This ratio gives you a lot of space to play with, there’s just so much more for the eye to explore.

TH: What are your thoughts on the proliferation of remakes and sequels we’ve been seeing in the genre of late?

DT: I think most of them are unnecessary. I won’t even name the worst offenders. The Fog remake and The Amityville Horror. Yikes. Those are the ones I watched on cable so far. I usually just avoid them completely. They’re like car commercials. Soulless. Built to sell only. At the same time I’d be hypocritical to denounce them all. I really loved John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing and Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly. There are some others too. Overall, though, there’s no doubt that the current explosion of remakes of horror classics gives the horror film business an aura of sickness and desperation. Some of the titles being remade…Blasphemy.

TH: Now that Torture Chamber is wrapped, what’s up next?

DB: More horror movies. I’ve learned not to announce anything until it’s firm. I still intend on filming The Ocean, when the time is right. I also have a horror feature, Salem, focusing on the Salem Witch Trial period, on the backburner. I feel a connection to Salem, the location. A New England gothic atmosphere….I like to spotlight places that reverberate with evil. There’s also a remake of my cousin’s film, Alice, Sweet Alice on the horizon. Alfred and I are relatives…blood…He just sent me the gold chalice prop used in Alice, Sweet Alice’s communion sequences. I have it on display. He gave me the original bound screenplay too. I own rare stills…Alfred sort of passed the torch. I know he believes if anyone should remake it, the person should be me. And I agree…I cringe at thought of anyone else doing it…Because you know it’s inevitable…if we don’t beat everyone else to the punch and I hope it doesn’t sound hypocritical because I just told you that I don’t like the majority of remakes. But this would not be soulless. This would not be for money. This would be a dream project that my cousin and I have talked about for years. He wants it to be remade…by me. Plus we were both born in Italian Catholic Paterson. This would be more of a re-imagining of the original…you can’t touch the original. He knows that…we both know that. I’m very protective of Communion… Holy Terror… Alice, Sweet Alice. I grew up with it, never get tired of watching it. Love it with all my heart and soul. Alfred was a family relative I could really look up to as a kid. Now as an adult, I have to focus on the post production for Torture Chamber, my own horror movie. Making every one of these films has been a battle. To extract the images…it’s never easy. When I view the footage, and I’m in the trance, it feels like I’m in a psychedelic funhouse. A spacious dungeon in my mind. My nightmares are poking through full-force.

TH: When can we expect to see Torture Chamber?

DT: It should be ready for screening around Halloween.

Special thanks to Dante Tomaselli for taking time out of post-production to discuss Torture Chamber with AVManiacs. If you’re interested in reading more about the film, be sure to check out these websites:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=518554086
http://www.myspace.com/torturechamberthemovie

An interview with The Great Kat by ‘Evil’ Ian Miller.

(Editor’s note: For maximum effect, read everything in capital letters in a screaming voice. It works better that way.)

Being a DVD reviewer is not nearly as glamorous as it would first appear. Nope. Rewarding, certainly. Arousing, if you’re lucky, but rarely bewitching, and every now and then the big challenge is to stay awake, let alone summon the necessary enthusiasm to try to express why a potential viewer should care when it’s hard to…….find…..the……zzzzzz…

But then there is also the rare independent release that seems to do it all for you, with you being merely the messenger, channeling its awesome energy onto the virtual page. Even rarer is the golden opportunity to chat with the individual responsible, and if that individual happens to be The Great Kat, well you just better hold on tight, friend!

First things first: read the review of Kat’s latest DVD, BEETHOVEN’S GUITAR SHRED. It’s cool, I’ll wait………………….Alright. Got it? You probably have a few questions, huh? Well, so did I, and so without further ado, I am as proud as any supremo guitar nerd could be to present the woman that I now believe is a dark superhero sent by the ghosts of composers past in order to make darn sure nobody forgets who they are, by any means necessary, the one, the only, THE GREAT KAT!!!!

IM: First of all, it’s an honor to be talking to The Great Kat today for AV Maniacs, how are things in Shred-ville?

TGK: BRILLIANT!!! THE GREAT KAT HIGH PRIESTESS OF GUITAR SHRED IS SPREADING THE GOSPEL OF SHRED/CLASSICAL TO THE WORLD!!!!!

IM: Of course, the main purpose of this interview is to not only bask in the high-velocity glow of the dark priestess of Classical Speedmetal, but to also talk about your new DVD release BEETHOVEN’S GUITAR SHRED. What can devoted “slaves” expect from this disc, and how would you describe it for the uninitiated?

TGK: The Great Kat’s GENIUS “BEETHOVEN’S GUITAR SHRED” DVD is a BRILLIANT showcase of VIRTUOSO CLASSICAL MUSIC from Beethoven, Bach, Paganini, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rossini, Bazzini and INSANE IMAGERY, OUTRAGEOUS SCENES, VICIOUS, BRUTAL METAL, BLISTERING SHRED GUITAR and BLINDING CLASSICAL VIOLIN VIRTUOSITY!

IM: Of all the information that is available about you and your long career in music, one thing that never seems to come up is the subject of how and when you were first bitten by the music bug? It had to have been early in life…….

TGK: The Great Kat was BORN listening to BEETHOVEN!!!!! I had INTENSE EAR-TRAINING since BIRTH listening to Beethoven’s Symphonies, Piano Concertos, String Quartets and more GENIUS masterpieces from Beethoven. THAT’S why my mission in life is to bring CLASSICAL MUSIC to the MASSES and ENLIGHTEN the world with this COMPLEX, POWERFUL and BRILLIANT MUSIC!  The Great Kat began Classical piano studies at 7 and at the age of 9, I began Classical violin studies in New York. By 15 years old, I won a Full Scholarship to attend the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City as a Violin Student. I became the Concertmaster of the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and won the “Robert Hufstader Scholarship” in Theory at Juilliard. I graduated with Honors from The Juilliard School and began performing, first as a Classical violin soloist at Carnegie Recital Hall as winner of the exclusive “Artists International Competition” and then soloing extensively in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe.

IM: And at what point did the interest in metal occur? In the ‘94 interview I saw on YouTube, you mention that you were fully decked out in rock gear while at Julliard, were you already learning to apply your violin techniques to guitar?

TGK: The Great Kat has ALWAYS been OUTRAGEOUS and CONTROVERSIAL, but it was AFTER graduating from The Juilliard School as a violin virtuoso that I realized that Classical Music was DEAD and desperately needed to be UPDATED for the MASSES!!!! After listening to popular music forms and seeing a Judas Priest music video, I discovered metal and quickly picked up the electric guitar. I simply took my PAGANINI-STYLE violin technique (a special left-hand technique I learned at Juilliard) and transposed it to the guitar. I added VICIOUS STRONG accenting and attacks which is used in BOTH METAL and BEETHOVEN’S MUSIC. Then I began transcribing EXACT Classical Music scores for the guitar and band.

IM: Your disdain for other guitarists, bands, and pretty much any musician/composer NOT from the Classic Period is well-documented, but is there anyone that you would deem worthy of your ear or attention?

TGK: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST BEETHOVEN! MOZART! BACH!

IM: It’s funny, a short while ago I was watching a DVD of one of the Deke Dickerson “Guitar Geek” Festivals, this time featuring Jennifer Batten (as well as Guitar Zack Weisinger, but that’s another story), and I thought to myself: “Where’s The Great Kat?”. Have you ever been approached to appear, and if you were, would you consider it?

TGK: WHO CARES!!!!!!! THE GREAT KAT IS THE ONLY VIOLIN VIRTUOSO/GUITAR GODDESS and MASTER of ALL SHRED GUITAR/THE REINCARNATION OF BEETHOVEN/METAL MESSIAH and SAVIOR OF ALL CLASSICAL AND METAL MUSIC here to SPREAD GENIUS CLASSICAL MUSIC TO THE WORLD THROUGH METAL!!!!!!

IM: Speaking of guitar geek-ery, here are some shop-talk type questions: You seem to mostly be playing Jackson V’s these days, are you endorsed by them, or have you ever been approached by anyone about having a “signature” axe?

TGK: The Great Kat VIRTUOSICALLY SHREDS on a variety of DIFFERENT guitars, amps, acoustic violins, bows, depending on the piece of music I’m performing and the sound it requires. Stay tuned to the Kat web site for news on Kat Signature Shred Guitars!!!!!!!!!!

IM: What does your live rig consist of? Do you consistently change out amps/effects, or are you a more “tried and true” gear user? What about strings and picks, any brand loyalty here??

TGK: The Great Kat’s Live and Recording rig consists of Great Kat Guitar Amps (Modified to meet The Great Kat’s Shred Specs), and a variety of Metal Pedals, Guitar Processors, Delays, Reverbs and Compressions. I also use special Great Kat SHREDDING guitar picks. CHECK OUT THE GREAT KAT LIVE and SEE THE GREAT KAT’S SHRED GUITAR INSANITY SETUP FOR YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM: Do you practice every day, or is it more a matter of working out arrangements and writing new pieces to be recorded and performed?

TGK: The Great Kat practices, composes, arranges, orchestrates, rehearses, records, performs GUITAR and VIOLIN and BRILLIANTLY UPDATES CLASSICAL MUSIC EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM: Moving on to the visual side of your presentation, I’m really impressed by your ability to do it all, especially with regards to moving and still images, are you self-taught in the areas of video and photography?

TGK: The Great Kat’s video and photography images are influenced by RICHARD WAGNER’S CONCEPT of “MUSIC DRAMA”: POWERFUL MUSIC MIXED with  DRAMATIC, PROVOCATIVE IMAGES, OUTRAGEOUS and POLITICALLY INCORRECT VISUAL THEMES!

IM: As you are probably aware, this is a genre film-specific website for the most part, and as such, your aesthetic fits right in with the interests of our readership, especially with what could be described as horror film-like imagery. Do you have any interest or love for the horror genre, and if so, any specific films, stars, directors, or countries of origin that float your boat?

TGK: “THE SHINING” – SICK, TWISTED, INSANE, and BLOODY!!!!!!“A CLOCKWORK ORANGE” – CLASSICAL MUSIC and “ULTRA-VIOLENCE”!!!

IM: Inversely, some of your work is in direct response to 9/11 and the Iraq war, especially the 2004 Nick Berg decapitation video referenced in “ISLAMOFASCISTS”, is this something you felt a burning need to create, and what has been the reaction from both fans and critics?


TGK: THE GREAT KAT’S “ISLAMOFASCISTS” Music Video is my RESPONSE after watching the ACTUAL FOOTAGE OF INNOCENT AMERICANS, LIKE NICK BERG, GETTING THEIR HEADS CHOPPED OFF BY ISLAMOFASCISTS!!!

IM: Speaking of fans, your accessibility to your audience through the website and hotline is pretty unique even in today’s atmosphere of “social networking”, what do you feel have been the greatest benefits of this availability? The greatest drawbacks?


TGK: The Great Kat Web Site is JAM-PACKED with HOT KAT PHOTOS, MUSIC VIDEO CLIPS, SHRED/CLASSICAL MUSIC, GENIUS BIOGRAPHIES (Houdini, Poe, Twain, Galileo, Van Gogh and more) CLASSICAL GENIUS COMPOSERS (Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi), SHRED BLOG, ARTICLES, REVIEWS, and MUCH MORE KAT-POSSESSED INSANITY! Also, INTERACT with THE QUEEN OF SPEED on FACEBOOK and TWITTER!

IM: Do you feel that you have inspired a new generation of females to seriously dedicate themselves to aggressive guitar virtuosity? There have to be more following your lead now than at any time previous.

TGK: THE GREAT KAT’S HIGHLY-TRAINED GUITAR/VIOLIN VIRTUOSITY INFLUENCES BOTH FEMALES AND MALES!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW go hear The Great Kat’s SHRED/CLASSICAL MUSIC and GET GENIUSIZED

IM: What about young people digging on classic composers, do you feel that you have had an impact in this area?

TGK: The Great Kat is EDUCATING EVERYONE with the COMPLEX, TECHNICAL BRILLIANCE of CLASSICAL MUSIC through my SHORTENED, CONDENSED and EXCITING SHRED CLASSICAL/METAL ARRANGEMENTS using EXACT NOTE-FOR NOTE SCORES from the MASTERS!!!! Then you can go and LISTEN to the ORIGINAL Classical music from the composers and hear the entire versions for yourselves and COMPARE!

IM: It is very refreshing to see an artist so tuned in to the business and self-promotion end of things, an area where many are deficient, did this come easy to you, or was it simply a matter of smacking people in the face until they noticed?


TGK: THE GREAT KAT KICKS, SCREAMS, PUNCHES AND FORCES YOU TO WAKE UP WITH GENIUS MUSIC!!!!!!!!! NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY AND LET ME GET TO WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM: And finally, what is next for The Great Kat? More touring, recording and DVD’s, I hope!

TGK: The Great Kat’s NEXT Shred/Classical DVD will feature Shred versions of MOZART, BEETHOVEN and THE COMPLEX VIRTUOSO VIOLIN PIECE PAGANINI’S “MOTO PERPETUO” on GUITAR, plus MORE POLITICALLY INCORRECT, INSULTING and ABUSIVE GREAT KAT ORIGINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stay tuned to the Kat web site for DVD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE GREAT KAT IS GOD!!!!THE GREAT KAT IS THE REINCARNATION OF BEETHOVEN!!!!!! SHRED ON!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM: Well, it’s been a pleasure to talk to you, and I thank you for taking time out of your day that would surely devastate a mere mortal in order to answer these questions. Shred on!

If you didn’t already, worship at the alter of The Great Kat by checking out her homepage here!

-Special thanks to Good Ian Jane and Thomas Public Relations for setting this up, and most of all, The Great Kat herself!!!

Richard Harrah, who recently directed The Canyon, now on DVD from Magnet and Magnolia Films, took some time out to talk to us about his latest film and his career in general.  Here’s the results…

-Ian Jane

The Canyon is your feature debut as a director, but before this you worked on both of the Anaconda films and a few other pictures. How did you make the transition into directing?

I went to film school. I thought I would never be a director at the current trajectory which was behind a desk so I went back to school, made some student films and realized I could do this. I’ve always wanted to make movies, even as a little kid, that or a comic book illustrator. They’er kind of the same really.

Where did the inspiration for the picture come from, was it just something that seemed like a good idea or is there a specific event that helped plant the seed for the script?

I can’t take credit. That credit goes to Mark Williams. He has the ability to put a business model around a particular film idea that he know he can execute and he’s really creative on top of it. He has writers who he represents and they follow through on pitches that Mark might have. It’s brilliant really, he has built his own cottage industry of talent that is at his disposal. He saw my student thesis which I shot in Monument Valley.  I guess  he saw potential and the Canyon was a perfect fit. I loved working with those guys, they took such great care of a first timer like myself. Thanks you guess if you are reading this.

A lot of the film looks like it was shot on location and I’d imagine getting all of the gear that a feature film requires down into the Grand Canyon could be tricky. Any interesting stories about shooting down there?

It was very guerilla style film making in the Grand Canyon which I confess very little of the film was shot there. There was one scene that actually was sanctioned by the Park Service and it was such a windy day we didn’t end up using the footage. Yvonne who plays lori was going into mild hyperthermia and in one take a 60 MPH gust literally picked her up like a kite and would have blown her right off the edge but for a heroic save by a camera guy.

The behind the scenes footage on the DVD makes your main stars, Yvonne Strahovski and Eion Bailey, look like real troopers. They seem to have been pretty good sports about all of the physicality their roles required. How were they to work with?

They are very physical actors and are young and fit so they excelled out there. They were great troopers and the work was physically and emotionally exhausting in incredibly hard terrain in wildly fluctuating temperatures and It was a blast.

As you and the team were putting this project together, did you have anyone specific in mind for any of the parts?

You always have a type in mind but you are open to whom ever comes your way which is always the case anyway unless your Martin Scorsese. There is so much talent in Hollywood that someone wonderful will fall into your lap if you are open to it.

The film has a really gritty look to it that works well given the storyline. Did you guys always intend for the film to have that hot, dirty, sweaty feel to it or did it just sort of come out that way because of the shooting conditions?

Everything is intentional or at least it should be, there’s always the happy accident but in a  medium like film where you have  limited space and time to make your point everything is intentional, they call that mis a sin in film school. It sounds incredibly pretentious but once I truly understood the meaning of mis en sin, that limitation of the screen was liberating. You control that image, you are the story teller, you make the call. Directing is all about making choices. So in a long winded reply to the question, yes it was always intended but thank you for noticing.

The scenes with the wolves are pretty intense – where there any problems working with the animals on the shoot? How were these scenes handled?

Oh boy! First let me say they were wonderful and they had a good team of wranglers who were really fun to work with, but a wolf is not a dog. A dog will look at you and say what do want me to do? you want me to get the paper, roll over and play dead, fetch the ball what? I’ll cook you dinner if it weren’t for the no thumb thing. Dogs are brilliant communicators compared to a wolf. A wolf will do no of that, but he/she will hit their marks every time so that’s how we worked.

Where there any ideas or scenes you wanted to include in the film that for whatever reason had to be cut out of the picture?

A few actually. I wanted to do something quasi mystical or hallucinogenic. For example, Nick deranged from his wounds dreams he is on a beach but the dream turns to nightmare when he sees the damage to his leg and a massive wolf  coming in through the waves with a dark menacing cloud forming in the background. Another example is a dream sequence Lori has  where Henry comes back from the dead and they speak Hopi to one another He warns her of a tragic ending just as she awakes to battle the wolves. I remember learning a little Hopi with Yvonne and Will, I wished I had used that scene but the movie ultimately dictates what belongs or doesn’t and my film was finding a very classic linear tone and the other stuff felt contrived so I axed it.

What’s next on your plate now that this film is finished?

A thriller possibly about an Honest Thief, or possibly a horror film about WWll, Nazis and the occult. I would love to make my Cowboys and Aliens film Mexican Hat into a feature before someone else does. Or just be open to what the universe throws my way next.