Bitchcat
Virus: What is it about Bitchcat that keeps you all going?
Laurie: The dynamic of how we all work together is a main thing.
Sandy: I think it's the chemistry between all of us, musically and personality-wise.
Laurie: ...and we all feed off each other.
Sandy: ...and it's also fun.
Laurie: That too.
Sandy: We have fun during practice, always laughing and cracking jokes, and the live shows are always a good time too.
Virus: What were the differences between recording this time and with the first CD?
Laurie: Well for one, the line-up had changed since then.
Sandy: Yeah, Laurie took over vocals, so for her she had double duty bass and singing.
Laurie: So we needed something that was more current than the last one...I didn't sing on the last recording.
Sandy: For me I just felt more confident, and at ease.
Laurie: And more comfortable as well.
Sandy: We recorded at electric plant studio in Brooklyn, so we knew Vinnie and the way he worked.
Sandy: You know, we recorded that in 12 hours.
Virus: Holy shit!
Sandy: Mixed and everything.
Laurie: Start to finish.
Sandy: Yeah we recorded live.
Laurie: Well we did break it up 6 hours a day.
Virus: That's quite the feat.
Laurie: Too true.
Sandy: The only thing recorded separately were lead vocals and backing vocals and RC's leads. What's even funnier is that the first CD, 11 songs, was also done in about 12 hours!
Virus: What are your plans for promoting the new CD?
Laurie: Well we're trying to get it out to stations and perhaps get outta NY for a few weeks, just to spread the word.
Sandy: Yeah, but it's hard because we do it all ourselves, we sell the CD's at our live shows too.
Laurie: ...as well as the site.
Sandy: And we are in the process of trying to get some out to more zines/magazines etc to get reviewed.
Virus: Are you doing everything yourselves because you have to or because you want to?
Sandy: For me it's a control issue...
Laurie: We love DIY, but at the same time who else is going to do it as well as the band itself?
Sandy: I like to do it myself so i know it's being done right.
Laurie: Precisely.
Virus: (That's why I do it)
Laurie: Excellent, we can relate!
Sandy: It's hard to trust people who don't know the band and what we're about or how we like things, our image etc.
Virus: That's the biggest issue, the image.
Sandy: See? You know May!
Virus: If you have a certain concept in your head, no-one else can see it, not exactly, anyway.
Laurie: Yeah, it's something you got to be way careful about.
Sandy: Right! Who better than yourself to create/maintain the way you are represented?
Virus: Are you looking for label support?
Laurie: We are, but it has to be the right fit, you know?
Sandy: Of course, it would make things easier on a lot of levels.
Laurie: There are few good ones that can give us the support we're looking for.
Sandy: And more people will hear about the band.
Virus: What are you looking for in a label?
Laurie: Well, they have to be in it for the long haul, some labels out there are happy with just a flash in a pan. We'd like to stick around longer than that.
Sandy: You mean grow with us?
Laurie: Exactly.
Sandy: Yeah, I hear you on that.
Virus: What do you hope to achieve within Bitchcat?
Sandy: Personally I've already achieved my goals, now everything else is icing on the cake!
Laurie: Continue writing and recording, get out to different states, play to bigger venues.
Sandy: I always wanted to play NYC clubs, now we do that all the time, I got to play CBGB's on Saturday night with other kick ass NY bands. I can die happy! (Just kidding).
Laurie: Yeah don't die yet!
Sandy: No, I'm not going anywhere, it's addictive. You reach one goal, and then you want to see if you can reach the next one.
Virus: What have been your fave NY clubs to play?
Laurie: Oh, CBGB's and Continental are my two favorites.
Sandy: Yes, I agree with Laurie, CBGB's has all that history.
Laurie: So much fun and you meet the greatest crowds there.
Sandy: And continental is more intimate, but still really fun.
Virus: Who have been your favorite ny bands to play shows with?
Sandy: My fave bands to play with: Harlow, Joker Five Speed, Dirty Mary, The Beautyschool Dropouts, Charm School.
Laurie: Charm School is fun, Joker Five Speed BSD and Motor Betty.
Virus: Changing topics completely here.....you are all strong independent women, are you aiming to bust girls out of those stupid images they see, or is it a by-product?
Laurie: o0o I saw this question coming...
Virus: (Well, I couldn't help it).
Laurie: Heh heh, I know. In my opinion we don't fit that typical female band.
Virus: Not at all, and that's what's so great.
Sandy: I aim to bust MYSELF out of images I've seen and the way I was brought up, being a girl....
Laurie: We're not always happy, we don't appeal to the enormous masses. The image out there now just isn't a proper representation of everyone, you know?
Sandy: Anyway, yeah we're not a "girly" band, and I think that most of us feel that girls, err "women" like us aren't represented in the media/music.
Virus: (I agree)
Laurie: We just take a lot of crowds by surprise.
Sandy: Yeah I can't tell you how many times we've heard : "Wow, we didn't expect THAT sound to come out of you guys".