Interview With Decadence (Metallic Kitty)
By David Kletzel
Alrighty – here we go metal maniacs. please welcome, to metal messiah radio, hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, one of the most inspirational female fronted vocalist of our time, the one and only… the stunning “Metallic” Kitty Saric of Melodic Thrash Metal Band Decadence.
Welcome to the metal meltdown Kitty, thank your for this opportunity. Thank you for your patience, and for the chance to talk with you. This is something i have had on my wish list for a long time 🙂
Thank you for the warm welcoming and for the opportunity to talk DECADENCE with you all!
We are here to talk about your band new offering. Decadence’s 6th release SIX TAPE
We want to learn all we can about this killer new release from you, but first i want to Congratulate on your last offering Undergrounder, the bands 5th release. and I thought this would never happen, being that the bands split up after the Chargepoint release.
I appreciate that thank you! And yes, the SIX TAPE release is just around the corner. It will be out on the 1st of November. Back to UNDERGROUNDER it was a really special time for us as it marked our return after a longer break and it was amazing and so much fun recording and getting back to the scene with a big bang.
Can we discuss what led to the bands decision to split and more importanly, what led to the band reforming to give us more great metal?
Sure, I founded DECADENCE when I was 15 years old and have been managing and playing with the band for 10 years up until that point so it was simply time to rest a bit. I wrote a chronicle on the music industry about a month ago that’s called “Independent Music Does Not Have Souls For Sale” that’s up on our website and Facebook where you can also get some insights in the stuff behind the scenes of an Independent band like Decadence. There’s just a little bit of extra energy that you have to put in to make it all work and it was time to breathe a bit.
http://www.decadence.se/2019/08/26/independent-music-does-not-have-souls-for-sale-a-chronicle-on-the-music-industry-by-metallic-kitty/
Thank you for taking the time to explain and give us all the details and information on this matter
Now lets talk about SIX TAPE….I for one am stoked to have this brand new music from Decadence….
I’m really looking forward to hear all your reactions on SIX TAPE, good and bad ones, we will make good use out of the feedback in any case! We pushed ourselves to all kinds of limits with the previous album that was also our comeback album UNDERGROUNDER and it feels great what we accomplished with it and the new level we took Decadence to. This time around it is as older, hopefully wiser and more determined than ever with what we want to do. We’re standing strong with Underground music ideals after all these years, and for our upcoming album SIX TAPE, all tracks will again be available for free share, as well as a physical album for the die-hard fans.
How did the music and lyrics of SIX TAPE all come together?
Our main message is DIY and Underground. We stand for that anything is possible with the right mindset and that there is pride in creating something from scratch, to be rebels and dare to do things your own way. It is this attitude that is the core of the Decadence Sweden® brand. That is also how we create music and related art to inspire people to do the same. SIX TAPE is a word mash up of mixtape, number six in our discography and erotica in playful double-meanings that is twisted into the lyrics that are praising independence. This will be seen through-out the album, both in the titles and twisted into the sentences. I will share things in the lyrics that are motivating to me, ways of thought to get through situations, how we feel our place is in the scene and what we want to communicate to people. Plus, we are a band with Thrash Metal at heart after all, that means ranting about the ‘system’ here and there too!
The cover art is very colorful, you designed it? and the band logo?
Recently, we shared a story on our Facebook page about the background to the Art of DECADENCE where all designers are women. This time around we worked with a young girl from Georgia in Eastern Europe called Ruso Tsig who did the front cover and I have done the rest of the booklet, inlay and label art. I had a crystal clear image in my head of what I wanted the front cover of SIX TAPE to be. When I first plotted this image back in 2013 actually, the idea behind it was to kill off my character Metallic Kitty which sounds kind of strange today! So I put all my stuff on the ground and took a shot of it. Now, many years later, Ruso helped me do the exact opposite, in the form of an amazing artwork. All my stuff are there in the image, as a statement that DECADENCE is ready to hit the stage again while honoring the genre influences in music that we’ve had through the years through the color and design. The band logo is also slightly refreshed this time around.
Can you tell the metal maniacs who currently makes up the rest of DECADENCE?
Kenneth Lantz on guitar and I have known each other from even before DECADENCE and we have been writing music together for over 18 years. Kenneth and I have always been behind all Decadence song-writing so in that sense our music still grows on its solid base.
Please tell us more about the recording process… What Studio did you record SIX TAPE at? And who mastered, mixed and produced this?
SIX TAPE was recorded at the Frontporch Productions studio of Teddy Möller of Loch Vostok. The mastering was done at The Sunmountain Facilities by Jocke Skog of Clawfinger. Gotta love these studio names! SIX TAPE is produced by us, Decadence. I would say that we have recorded at least 70-80% on our own material during the years and we are still learning.
Six Tape is released on Heavy Dose http://heavydose.se/ This is your own label?
Besides creating music, Decadence does what large record companies and distributors do, on a smaller scale but independently; recordings, pressing, marketing, selling, distributing and managing. HEAVY DOSE is my company, that changed name since the comeback, known as HTI Records in the past. I left out the ‘Records’ part of it as I don’t see it as a record label, rather a music company. So I re-named it after the first song DECADENCE ever made, as a reminder for us to keep our focus on where we come from. It wasn’t enough to ‘just be a band’ and try to market our music that way. A company and management was needed and I was not willing to sign away any rights to our creations for that. So, HEAVY DOSE is how we could license our music to other labels in the past, but for UNDERGROUNDER and SIX TAPE we-re doing it alone, solely with Heavy Dose, as it looks for now at least. There will be a lyrical line explaining this mindset on SIX TAPE so keep your eyes and ears open… The good part about being an underground band is that you can do whatever you want whenever you want.
With the nature of underground metal, Decadence has always been independent, In your experience, do you find this your best choice, or are you seeking other avenues such as a major contract with a big label?
DECADENCE chose the alternative path by choice. Our philosophy was to give everything we have got and go where it would lead us, even if it meant remaining as a non-commercialized Underground band. You simply have to set your goals from the start to know where you are heading. Our passion is in creating our own music and everything around it. If you have that same passion, it does not matter if you become world-famous or not. I often hear that DECADENCE is ‘the most underrated band in Metal’. When I hear that my thought on it is; we decided not to go big, as a consequence we remained Underground. But, we stayed true to our ideology and that for us is what success is.
Where is the best place for DECADENCE fans to get the cd and other Merch to support the band?
The best source for DECADENCE CDs and merch is the Deca Shop decadence.se/decashop. That way your support financially goes straight to the band so that we can keep creating music for you.
What sort of Merch do you have currently available to your fans?
You will find t-shirts, patches, picks, badges in the Deca Shop and we’re constantly on the lookout for new ideas and wishes from our fans.
http://www.decadence.se/decashop/ – has all things relating to DECADENCE https://www.facebook.com/decadencesweden/ lets give your you tube page https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMetallicKitty
Are there plans to make official music or lyric videos for ‘SIX TAPE’
Yes, there will be lyric videos for all nine tracks! On Facebook you will also be able to follow more discussions about the lyrics in the coming weeks after the release on the 1st of November. Facebook is definitely the quickest and best source of Deca news: facebook.com/decadencesweden
Would you like to mention any of your live shows from the recent past… If I understand correctly, Decadence is no longer performing, but is there any chance that you would have any future tours lining up?
All our promotion is pushed by fans for fans through street teams, fan clubs and Metalheads from all over the world. In addition to amazing fan driven concerts, one memorable concert is when we visited Venezuela to co-headline with HIRAX, a show that became the summing up of the 10 years together with DECADENCE and the Venezuelan fans still celebrate anniversaries from that show every year on that date since!
Well, I’m happy to say that we are open to book shows again, so we’re back!
What are among your proudest moments being in Decadence?
I’m so impressed with Decadence fans. They are really what has made this band and what has brought us back to doing this again. I’m so grateful for that and want to make sure everyone knows who made this band, and that’s not me or Kenneth, it’s all of you fans out there. In the chorus of the UNDERGROUNDER-track MANIFESTO there is a line that goes: “The one who is many”. That is referring to DECADENCE and all the fans around us carrying the band forward. That is our biggest accomplishment.
Or an you share some interesting or extraordinary stories with us
I was a teenager when we started, everything was new and anything was possible. That also reflected on the vision and goal for DECADENCE. It required deep and burning passion and guts to make it happen and something did happen – we’re still here today. DECADENCE has been inspiring to be part of for all these years. The greatest feeling of all is that we’ve done it alone. That means without ever being signed to any label. We’ve released five full-length albums and the sixth on its way, two of which were released within one year, and a garage bootleg. And now we are back to continue spreading the message. The message is to be independent and do what you believe in without relying on anyone or anything. There is pride in creating something from scratch, acting rebellious and dare to do things your own way because you believe in them. This is what we stand for.
Btw, would you like to talk about what you do when you arent doing DECADENCE?
Kitty is into Fitness~
CRM Officer at Gymgrossisten.com
CEO at Heavy Dose
I’m working at the Nordics biggest Sports Nutrition company with IT. And for those of you who follow me on Facebook you’ll see I’m much into weight lifting myself. Generally I live an active lifestyle. A fun fact is that I recorded an entrance song to a young female Muay Thai fighter around the time UNDERGROUNDER was released as we trained at the same fighting club!
thank you for spending time with us on the metal meltdown on metal messiah radio tonight.
Thank you, it’s been a pleasure!
Kitty, is there anything you wish to discuss that we have yet to talk about?
Melodic Thrash Metal is what we call our genre. You will hear an interesting synergy of Thrash Metal elements mixed with Death Metal elements in a way that will remind you of the good old days with some energizing new touches!
Before we go, is there anyting you would like to say to your loyal fans tuning in tonight?
Thank you, Metal Messiah Radio and all you Metal maniacs listen for supporting DECADENCE. Keep fighting for what you believe in, because if there’s a will, there’s a way. Something, I keep telling myself after all these years.
Thank you so much again Kitty, for joining me on the Metal Meltdown tonight!!! I wish you and all in DECADENCE a great whats left of 2019, as well as a wonderful 2020 and may you reach your goals and have the best of success \m/ cheeers and please knw that you welcome back any time 😀
Same to you Dave, I hope you all will get a real adrenalin rush after blasting SIX TAPE!
MHF Magazine/David Kletzel
