tintin.ch

interview with
katherine thomas
12/2009

tintin.ch: kat, you are the guitar shredding goddess par excellence and you have a huge following all over the world. when and how did you start your career?

first of all, the great kat is:

after graduating from juilliard as a violin virtuoso, i realized that classical music needed to be updated for the masses. after searching popular music, i found the closest form of popular music to classical was metal, which is raw, vicious and powerful!

i picked up the electric guitar and simply took my “paganini” violin technique (a special left-hand technique i learned at juilliard) and transposed it on the guitar. i then added vicious strong accenting and attacks which is used in both metal and beethoven’s music!! that’s how the great kat guitar shredder was born!!! now bow, peons!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tintin.ch: you did release 2 longplayers and a couple of ep’s which should be part of every well-assorted metal music collection. metal heads all around the world adore you. did you think that your music may attain cult status when you started to make music?

the great kat’s discography is jam-packed with shredding metal and classical genius: “beethoven’s guitar shred” (dvd), “extreme guitar shred” (dvd), “wagner's war” (cd), “rossini's rape” (cd), “bloody vivaldi” (cd), “guitar goddess” (cd), “digital beethoven on cyberspeed” (multimedia cd-rom), “beethoven on speed” (cd), “worship me or die!” (cd), “satan says” (demo)!! the great kat’s unique music is bringing brilliant, powerful, genius classical music to the masses with shred guitar and metal band!!!!

tintin.ch: your music is a unique fusion of classical music and speedmetal. what are your most important influences and which bands and musicians do you take your hat off to?

beethoven!!!!!!!!!!! the great kat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!the great kat is on a life-long, single-handed mission to bring classical music to the masses using metal shred guitar and to wake up the entire civilization to the genius of classical music!!!!!!!!!

tintin.ch: you are best known as one of the ten fastest shredders of all times and violin virtuoso. how many instruments do you call your own and which ones are your most important?

i own a variety of instruments, including many guitars, violins, viola, piano and several other instruments. i prefer my fast, light shredding guitar that has a thin neck and speedy action on the fretboard and also my 18^th century german acoustic violin & wunderlich german violin bow.

tintin.ch: who have you been on tour with and which ones were your most important experiences on stage?

i'm only touring with the great kat!!!! all great kat shows are eccentric, wild, outrageous important shows!!!

tintin.ch: as pick collectors we’re certainly interested in which guitar pick brands you were using in past and present. how many different custom picks (in design, shape and color) do exist from the great kat?

the great kat has several special shredding guitar picks that I use, including stainless steel picks and others. for my guitar fans, i have new great kat “shred on!” and "skull" guitar picks, which are available on the kat store

tintin.ch: which ones are the great kat’s next intentions and what can your fans expect from you in the future?

on the next shred/classical dvd, the great kat will be shredding one of the most technically difficult and demanding violin virtuoso pieces ever written: niccolo paganini’s “moto perpetuo” on the guitar and violin, along with works of beethoven, mozart and original speed metal masterpieces from the great kat!