Kat NOMAG

INTRODUCTION: There sure are alot of people in L.A. bands hanging out in cemeteries these days. The most popular cemetery is Hollywood Memorial Cemetery, apparently. Psychopaths, slashers, stranglers, and murderers of every sort are of course out on the streets, not lost in thought among the dead and buried. Don't look for any sarcastic comments in this magazine. We're outnumbered and we don't have an opinion on the subject. KAT likes Tyrone Power. "Why don't we go to the cemetery?" she said. "O.K." I said. I was taping the interview over a funny interview with Quentin Crisp that I recorded off the TV the day before, so that's how he got in there, I have no idea what show it was. The 'Bangs' (now Bangles) somehow got in there too. KAT kept turning off the tape recorder, it bothered her.

BY BRUCE KALBERG

KAT: Why do you always have pictures of men masturbating and accident victims?

KAT: All right. When I was 15 there was a guy we went to go see, a friend of ours, and he was O.D.ing, and they were pushing him out of this window in the back of a pickup truck to dump him, and I told them they couldn't do it, you know, so we took him down to the hospital but he was dead. Within an hour they get stiff. Also, you always know when someone's dead because the palms of their hands are totally white. You'll never see a color like that on a person who's just pallid. We had to drag him down the steps and throw him in the back of the car and take him down to the hospital. These guys were just going to throw him in the back of the truck and just dump him because they didn't want to get stuck with the dead body. And there was another time um... I was in a mortuary, and my uncle had died, and they, like, put make-up and crap on him because he was an old guy and they covered his arms because he had been fed intravenously and all that stuff. They put all this make-up on him and had all these blue flickering lights to make him look nice and give him a cheery look, so I touched him. I wanted to see what it was like. It's not the same person you know. It's like there's nothing even there, it's not even a person there, it's just a piece of meat, just like touching a chicken or something, a little stiffer. I was about 11 years old and so I thought, "I'll touch him!".

KAT: Most of the people on the scene within the last 6 years, you don't see them anymore, because it burns you out. Most people I see, within 2 to 3 years they get burned out. And like the kids nowadays, it's a fad for them. God knows how long it will take them, a couple of months maybe. People who are in the scene are in bands or they have a special interest. If you party from when you're 15 all the way to when you're 30, you're party'd out, alot of times. Marlon Brando said that.

NOMAG: How old are you?

KAT: 25.

NOMAG: How young were you when you started?

KAT: Getting into trouble? About 11. I first started stealing cars and I used to drive up to New York with them, and I had a black girlfriend who was about 6 years older than I was... and the (garbled name) brothers.

NOMAG: Who? Am I supposed to have heard of them?

KAT: No. There were two of them. They were really hung guys.

NOMAG: Hung guys? What's that mean?

KAT: They were fun. They were cool. And we used to go up to New York and I used to party and dress up and try to buy liquor, all the time. I mean I never went through school without some sort of hassle. I calmed down once I got away from my family, actually. At least I can think, now, before I do something. I used to act always on impulse. Everything. Sometimes I still do but I have to be really inebriated to do that. If I'm in a good sober mood I usually don't.

Stop. KAT turns off tape recorder. Start.

KAT: When I first started 'Legal Weapon' I had Patricia from the 'Bags' in my band and she didn't want to stay in the band because she didn't like "hardcore" music. She didn't like the scene. She was more into arty type of music. I don't know why she ended up with the 'Gun Club' because that's not very arty actually.

NOMAG: It could get artier. (more arty?)

KAT: I don't know but I enjoyed being in a band with her. I like women alot. I enjoy being around them. In this band I just wound up with 3 other guys.

NOMAG: What did you say about sex?

KAT: ... That I'm not into it and it's a necessity. It's one of those natural releases I guess so you don't get too flipped out. Too many people, especially men, they place a very high perogative on their list for getting off and having sex.

KAT: Penis envy. I get hit up by this alot, because assertive women or women that do for themselves or whatever, you'll get a guy every once in a while, because he doesn't have enough confidence in himself, he'll say, "Oh, you have penis envy."... Penis envy is also when women, because they feel like they have been cheated, they wish they were men... and because guys have put like this big pride on their phallic symbol. You grow up with this maybe when you are about 9 years old. It's a psychological trip. Unfortunately a lot of women I know, they have it now, and it can make them even hostile. Do you know what bums me out... a lot of times, is gay women who assert themselves as men. They have a penis envy trip. They would rather be a man. It's the same thing as a transvestite that would rather be a woman. A transsexual is someone who finally does it. He takes the initiative.

NOMAG: What about Quentin Crisp?

KAT: He's just an old Brit fag. He's a guy that survived.

NOMAG: Let's see what he says here. (punch tape recorder from record to play position)

QUENTIN: I think everyone should commit suicide.

TV INTERVIEWER: Preferably not before this particular program is completed, however.

QUENTIN: It's the stylish death. Suicide is the stylish death.

KAT: Stop at a liquor store. We'll get a bottle of gin. I bet you won't make it to the Roxy tonight.

NOMAG: Do you get inspiration from that cemetery?

KAT: Yeah. I like Tyrone Power. He was a victim. He died at an early age.

NOMAG: What'd he die of?

KAT: I don't know specifically. I'm not much of a movie buff but I've read various things on him and he was supposedly having an affair with Errol Flynn. He was like torn between his sexuality. I always thought he was rather handsome so I like to go and visit him you know. This girlfriend and I, we had a band called the 'Snakewomen' and we became blood sisters, you know, the whole bit, slash your thumbs and touch your thumbs together, and you mix your blood, and we did it on his grave because he was a victim just like she is and just like I am.

NOMAG: Victims of what, homosexuality?

KAT: Uh almost. I wouldn't say I am but she is in a way because she's such a beautiful girl, you know, that even for a woman to love her they would be so lucky to have her. She lets the wrong people get near her which bums me out, like girls that'll use her and she's had guys that are just worthless. But she's like a totally hung sister and I feel safe with her, and you don't have to 'put on' anything with her.

NOMAG: You're gay?

KAT: No I'm not gay.

NOMAG: You're not gay.

KAT: No I'm not gay. I have a lot of gay friends. I'm like one of these non-sexed persons I guess. Maybe it's because I'm a Catholic. I was raised a Catholic. I'm not gay but I don't discredit gay women at all. I can almost understand where they're coming from.

NOMAG: How so?

KAT: If you grow up with an attitude that you're a second class human, like most women are considered, and even my age group was made to believe that, then it's easy to get a good animosity toward men. Do you know what I mean?

NOMAG: Sure, I sympathize 100% (clumsy chuckle).

KAT: I never had any male influences in my life as a child either.

NOMAG: Do you mean art influences, like Picasso?

KAT: No. Male art influences yes, but I never grew up around very many. Male influences (she reflects).... When I was 5 years old, I liked Keith Richards. I never liked the 'Beatles', I liked the 'Rolling Stones'. That was my influence. That was about it you know. I've never idolized a man if that's what you mean. I've liked a lot of them and admired a lot but I've never idolized them particularly.

NOMAG: Have you idolized women?

KAT: To some extent I've idolized them. I thought as a child 'I would love to be her'...I would fantasize about singers and actresses. What do you want, gin?

10 pm. (walk walk walk)...

KAT: There are a lot of toads around here. Want some beer? This is the Russian Orthodox section in here, and they've got a Jewish section over there and the Christians are put over in this area. You really oughtn't step on their headstones you know, it's kind of disrespectful. That's why you should go for the 'Neptune Society', nobody would be doing this.

NOMAG: So how did you all meet each other?

BANGS (now BANGLES): (all together) 'Recycler!'

NOMAG: This is Tyrone Power's thing?

KAT: Thing? Well it's not a mausoleum that's for sure. They cheaped out on the poor guy. They gave him a bench and an urn and a Bible and a Shakespearean quote.

NOMAG: Do you drink a lot? Are you a singer in the Janis Joplin tradition?

KAT: I've been known to, but no. I'm not as depressed as she was. I don't have the problems that she did but I admire her because she had really nothing. She didn't have any kind of family and didn't have any boyfriends, she just had herself and this fabulous voice and this reckless attitude, which is uh... kind of hung.

NOMAG: Are you the leader of the band?

KAT: No. The band is a co-op. It's a socialist entity. We fight really well together. Everybody has a say in the band. This is the best as far as 'Legal Weapon'. This version of it is the best. Almost everything that has been printed about our band has been hearsay. A lot of people are afraid to say anything because they don't know where the band stands. I think that because of having so many different members in it, it's never made a definate strong statement so nobody can say, 'you're shitty!' or this or that. One thing I can never do is wimpy music. I've never liked wimpy music, I hate it. I've never liked pop tunes particularly and everything I do, it's got to be 'HARD'.

Stop. KAT turns off tape recorder. Start.

NOMAG: Shoot. What's your gossip?

KAT: Supposedly the guy who prepared Marilyn Monroe cut her breasts off, who knows, he probably even fucked her. Wouldn't it be great to say he fucked Marilyn Monroe?

NOMAG: How did you hear that?

KAT: Somewhere along the line I read about it. It was a big controversy for a while, do you know what I mean?

NOMAG: Who noticed it?

KAT: I don't know who noticed.

NOMAG: Do you think they're sitting stuffed in someone's living room somewhere?

KAT: No. They're probably in a jar of formaldehyde. Who is the guy in Wisconsin or Minnesota that hacked all those people up and kept parts of them?... I wonder what other stars are buried in here, you know Paramount Studios are right over there. This is the only one I ever cared about.

NOMAG: Why Ty?

KAT: Like I said, he was a victim. He had a sexuality crisis. Maybe I identify with that, I don't know.

NOMAG: Do you have a sexuality crisis?

KAT: I don't think so.

NOMAG: Do you identify with his?

KAT: Yes.

NOMAG: Which Errol Flynn was it?

KAT: The one who did 'Robin Hood'. It was in the 30s. They supposedly had a homosexual affair and Ty was into certain things that good ol' Errol wasn't into. He was more bi-sexual I guess.

NOMAG: How long have you been singing?

KAT: A long time. I've been singing since I was a little kid. I started singing in rock bands when I was 15, and I recorded when I was 15 with some blues people in Michigan. I used to know a lot of blues singers, like Bukka White. Before he died, I recorded with him. I met him through some harmonica player. My feet are freezing. Actually you see there's nothing to fear about dead people you know. If you really think about it, they're not going to hurt you. They're not going to harass you, they're not going to intimidate you or cut you down. They're just going to sit there. I wonder who left the flowers.

NOMAG: Some homo.

KAT: He was married you know. He wasn't all the way gay. He had experienced the other side and he must have liked it too because he did go out with several women.

NOMAG: Would you want to be buried in here?

KAT: I want to be dropped off the back of a boat. That's the only way to go. There's no point in burying people. It wastes space. Just think of all the condominiums that could be built here.

The interview excerpted here appeared in NO MAG #9 in early 1983,
just before the release of Legal Weapon's "Your Weapon" album.
The tabloid-style NO Magazine was published from 1978-1985,
and chronicled the L.A. underground, with a particular emphasis on
some of the more morbid aspects of the Hollywood punk/underground
scene. For this article, No Mag editor/writer Bruce Kalberg spent an evening with KAT which included a visit to Hollywood Memorial Cemetery,
where a portion of this interview took place.