Katastrophy Wife was an American rock band formed by Kat Bjelland and her former husband Glen Mattson in 1998. Bjelland also fronted the punk rock band Babes in Toyland between 1987 and 2001. The band currently consists of Bjelland on lead vocals and guitar and her boyfriend, Adrian Johnson, on drums.MissB, ''Katastrophy Wife's Kat Bjelland gets her Heart-On on FasterLouder.com.au'' http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/8900/Katastrophy_Wifes_Kat_Bjelland_gets_her_HeartOn Fasterlouder.com Retrieved on June 12, 2010. The band released two albums, ''Amusia'' (2001) and ''All Kneel'' (2004). A third album was due for release in 2008, but was later cancelled. In May 2014, a 10th anniversary reissue of ''All Kneel'' was released as part of

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

. In 2015 Kat Bjelland joined fellow Babes in Toyland band member Lori Barbero and new bass player, Clara Salyer in a reunion tour.

History

Formation and early years (1999–2001)

Kat Bjelland and her then-husband Glen Mattson formed Katastrophy Wife in 1998, during the time in which Bjelland was still in Babes in Toyland. Seeing as Babes in Toyland were not performing much shows - and were unofficially defunct after bassist

Maureen Herman Maureen Herman (born July 25, 1966) is an American musician and writer. She rose to prominence as the second bassist of the alternative rock band Babes in Toyland, which she joined in 1992, replacing original bassist Michelle Leon. After Herman ...

left in 1996 - Katastrophy Wife soon became Bjelland's main musical output. The band's first production was the soundtrack for the comic ''

Witchblade ''Witchblade'' is an American comic book Ongoing series, series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint (trade name), imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owne ...

'' on DreamWorks. The soundtrack featured other artists such as

Buzz Osborne Roger "Buzz" Osborne (born March 25, 1964), also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and golfer. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas (band), Fantômas and Venomous Concept. Biog ...

of the

Melvins Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...

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Cibo Matto Cibo Matto (, Italian language, Italian for "crazy food") was an American alternative rock band formed by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori in New York City in 1994. Their first album, ''Viva! La Woman'' (1996), had lyrics primarily concerned with food. ...

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and

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.Bjelland, Kat
''RiSH Publicity : Katastrophy Wife Biography''
Retrieved on June 12, 2010. In 2000, the band recorded their debut album ''

Amusia Amusia is a musical disorder that appears mainly as a defect in processing pitch but also encompasses musical memory and recognition. Two main classifications of amusia exist: acquired amusia, which occurs as a result of brain damage, and co ...

'' and released it in 2001. Featuring original bassist Keith St. Louis, the album achieved considerable indie success, even acquiring the band a slot at the infamous

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...

in 2002 and a headline spot on the UK leg of the United States' Ladyfest in 2001.'LOOK OUT FOR THE LADIES!'
''NME'' Retrieved on June 12, 2010. Their first single, and opening track from the album, "Gone Away", was released in 2001. After the performance at the Reading Festival, Glen Mattson and Keith St. Louis departed from the band, with Andrew Parker and Darren Donovan replacing them, respectively. Vanessa White, former guitarist of Twist, also joined the band.

Name issues, Bastard, and ''All Kneel'' (2002–2004)

During Katastrophy Wife's short tour of Europe in 2002, Kat Bjelland used the title of her old band Babes in Toyland. However, after facing legal problems from former band members, Bjelland reconsidered and reverted the name back to Katastrophy Wife. Around this time, Bjelland's friend

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

announced her new, short-lived punk band, Bastard, which she asked Bjelland to join.Weston, Colin
'Courtney Told To Stick Bastard Up Her Hole'
. ''Drownedinsound.com''. 2001. Bjelland denied Love's offer stating that:

"It seemed too conceptualised, like she'd spent too much time thinking about how a band should be ..Courtney and I make great music together, there's a good spark there, but let's say our personalities would not have been a great mix at that time."

Katastrophy Wife's second studio album, '' All Kneel'', was released in June 2004 to favourable reviews. Three singles were released from the album, '' Liberty Belle'', ''Money Shot'' and ''Blue Valient'' with UK singer-songwriter

Carina Round Carina Round (born 20 April 1979) is an English singer-songwriter from Wolverhampton. Career In the summer of 1996, following a gig in a basement acoustic club in Wolverhampton, Round was given a three-night support at Ronnie Scott's club i ...

, a song originally written and recorded during the sessions for ''Witchblade''.

Reissue and current status (2005–2010)

Parker, Donovan and White left the group in 2006, leaving Bjelland and Johnson the remaining band members. After their bandmates' departures, both Bjelland and Johnson continued to record under the name Katastrophy Wife. They began recording again and in May 2007 released '' Heart-On'', their first single in three years from the later cancelled album ''

Pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

''. ''Pregnant'' was initially planned for released in 2008 but was cancelled for undisclosed reasons. Bjelland reported that in 2007 she suffered a

schizophrenic Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

breakdown and was receiving treatment. A further release date was announced for 2009, however, this did not follow through either. The band's

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

page has been inactive since December 2010.Katastrophy Wife on MySpace Music
Retrieved on June 12, 2010."

Members

Final Lineup

* Kat Bjelland -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(1998–2010) *Adrian Johnson -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2007–2010)

Former members

*Andrew Parker - bass (2002–2004) *Darren Donovan - drums (2002–2005) *Vanessa White - guitars (2004–2006) *Glen Mattson - drums (1999–2001) *Keith St Louis - bass (1999–2001) *Brendon Parkes - guitars (2004–2005) *Oliver James - bass (2004–2005)

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (2001) *'' All Kneel'' (2004) *''Dysrhythmia'' (Compilation Album) (2016)

Album Reissues

*''All Kneel: 10th Anniversary'' (2014)

Singles/EPs

*''Gone Away'' (2001) Top UK Indie Singles #14 *'' Liberty Belle'' (2003) Top UK Singles peak position #145 *''Money Shot'' (2003) *''Blue Valiant'' (feat.

) (2004) *''Heart On'' (2007)

References

External links

{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from Minnesota Musical groups established in 1998 1998 establishments in Minnesota