My first impression of Katie was one of a well-mannered, kind, friendly, female, who was extremely introverted and shy, her eyes were obscured by dark shadow due to the cowboy hat that she was wearing.
You used to live in the Lake District, did you have time to take in the scenery?
Katie: Yes, I love walking. That was one of the reasons I went there, why do you ask?
The reason we asked is that the Lake District is a really peaceful, quiet, and is an outstanding place of beauty, It just seems completely opposite to your music which is at times chaotic, vitriolic, angst fuelled rock music. It was quite a surprise...
Katie: I went there after I left the first band. It goes without saying that I was brought up on a boat, I have been around the world and lived in Saudi Arabia in the desert, I love open spaces, I have got an over developed sense of claustrophobia. There's something about being so tiny in an infinte space, it gives you the ultimate freedom to become nothing. Time and your history and everything ceases to matter, it all disappears.
As for the noise I make, for me it's very elemental and it's storms and wind. There is extreme quiet in violent noise- you know it's the eye of the hurricane kind of thing- it can be really a still.
Are you able to transfer what you hear in your head onto cd? As some artistes always claim that no matter how good a song is, it still isn't exactly what they had in their head.
Katie: More yes than no, I do a lot of stuff on my own, which kind of is a lot more emotional, and very instinctive. Which is what I have in my head. Queen Adreena is a four-way merge, which I can't argue with. It's not just me, so I am not going to like everything we do, although we are very stringent on ourselves. A huge amount of stuff gets written and very little of it gets used.
You are currently on Little Indian records, do they have much say in how your songs are produced etc?
Katie: We have been doing this a long time now, so Little Indian let us do our own thing. If you have people having an influence over you its because they are investing huge amounts of money into you, and they think they know better than you. No one is investing a huge amount of money in us.
Queen Adreena are one of those bands that seem to be successful without over publicising themselves? Therefore you are still able to walk down the street without being mobbed. Would you like to be that famous that you aren't able to go out without being recognised?
Katie: We are not going out not to sell records, lets put it that way. No one round here would mind selling some records. I can promise you that. It's just the way it's gone for us.
Without releasing exact figures, Do you make enough to pay your bills?
Katie: No, hell no, fuck no, it's handjobs in the park (laughs)
Your latest single 'F.M Doll' reminds me of Hole, however some people have described you as 'Kate Bush on crack', how would you describe your music and yourself?
Katie: Well I'm going to defer as usual, I can't answer your question about how I perceive myself anyway, in it's worst incarnation, it's so solitary, which means that I am the centre of all things, and I have only myself to refer to, and you're a figment of my imagination, that's a very crude way of putting it, but then I'm the only living thing and therefore I'm God and then I can end up in a psychiatric ward and be with all the other schizophrenics and that's on a bad day, and on a good day I don't care.
'F.M. Doll' is taken from your forthcoming album 'Butcher And The Butterfly' is it going to sound similar to your previous albums 'Drink Me' and 'Taxidermy'?
Katie: It is the next chapter, I can't really comment about my work until years down the line.
Many thanks to Katie Jane Garside for taking time out to speak with us, and many thanks to Crispin (guitarist) for co-ordinating the interview.
Queen Adreena's forthcoming album 'Butcher And The Butterfly' will be released shortly.
article by: Luke Seagrave
published: 21/03/2005 09:41
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.