Cat Milk Craze
Photo Credit: Miss Kittin
Miss Kittin doesn’t have an identity issue. She just wants to keep the feline persona separate from Caroline Hervé, and sing pop tunes.
By J. Daniel Duran
Caroline Hervé was the queen of the electroclash movement. Her bored-as-hell, monotone half-sung/half-spoken vocals epitomized excess and glamour – I am so rich and beautiful that the world around me is unimportant. It was a precursor to the Paris Hilton-era of wasted excess we’ve found ourselves in. Caroline sang about sex in limousines, ordered us to dance in a Soviet Russia kind of way and declared herself Madame Hollywood. You probably know her best as Miss Kittin. Meow.
Despite gaining popularity as a DJ in the ‘90s, Miss Kittin, the French artist by-way-of Berlin rose to the top as a songstress through collaboration records with Golden Boy and Felix Da Housecat, and a full-length album with the Hacker - aptly named First Album. She has also released numerous mix albums as well as her first truly solo I Com album in 2004. However, she has come a long way from being that ice-cold electro queen we once knew.
Photo Credit: Alex Gnädinger / Photo Credit: Chris Davison
With I Com she left her electroclash persona behind, but it was still undeniably Miss Kittin. She was warmer and happier; delving more into bastard pop’s irresistible allure of melodic tunes and catchy hooks. However, she admits she never meant to become electroclash’s iconic figure. “I simply stand as Miss Kittin and never pretended to be anything else.” Purr.
She confesses that most of the songs created by the Hacker and her were just an experiment in bringing pop and obscure electronic music together. That experiment lead to the monumental tracks like “1982” and “Life on MTV,” and of course the electroclash anthem “Frank Sinatra”: “To be famous is so nice…In limousines we have sex/
Every night with my famous friends.”
I could write a song about this interview, about the electroclash survivor, about journalists asking about Kittin or Caroline, about Miami, about tea with milk, all together in a puzzle.
She continued to represent the newly named genre by appearing in tracks like “Rippin’ Kittin” for Golden Boy, “Madame Hollywood” and “Silver Screen (Shower Scene)” for Felix Da Housecat. She inspired a slew of imitators, most notably Kelly Osbourne. However, she says she is happy to have been a source of inspiration to others.
“It’s always very rewarding when people get inspired from you, it means you really touched them, and maybe you helped them in finding their own style,” she explains. “I don’t think talent is something you own. It’s a gift; you must share it, nothing to be scared of.”
Photo Credit: Miss Kittin
With I Com, Miss Kittin let go her previous persona by introducing more varied beats. “I have no real conflicts with my different sides. I am just bored if I repeat myself. I always need to go forward. I just think I am good [at] writing pop songs; better than making minimal tracks,” she affirms. “With experience I just got better in songwriting and singing, [but my roots] and dark side remain.”
Most people think Miss Kittin herself is a persona. Rather, it’s a way to keep her private life separate from her professional one. Otherwise, she claims to be the same person. “I don’t have this schizophrenic need to create myself a persona, even if the public likes to believe so, which I respect and understand.” She admits that she wants people to recognize her and her talents, but at the same time hates dealing with the notoriety Miss Kittin brings her. “I am glad they keep their fantasy and me my intimacy.”
The memorable sets are the ones with a magic touch, when you feel like you’re a puppet from heaven, playing the right thing at the right time. When you’re intellect gives up and you’re in another level of consciousness.
Even with the switch in genres and persona confusion, Miss Kittin is still all about the music, whether performing live as an artist or as a DJ on the crowded club and festival circuit. “I don’t know why I make music, I never even thought I would do that one day,” she remarks. As an artist, she describes music as her best tool. “I could write a song about this interview, about the electroclash survivor, about journalists asking about Kittin or Caroline, about Miami, about tea with milk, all together in a puzzle.”
Photo Credit: Miss Kittin
When creating music, Miss Kittin keeps it simple with pen and paper for lyrics and a microphone to record the melodies, followed by a quick session in her mini-studio and plugging one or two synths – a Jupiter 6, the Korg Microkorg or the Korg Electribe for drums, for example. She admits to still using an old version of Cubase to arrange her songs on her computer. However, despite everything she uses, she admittedly doesn’t need music in order to create music. “The only piece of equipment I really need to make music is my voice after all - and a microphone.”
As DJ Miss Kittin, she says her sets are something you live and admits to never knowing what she will play, or when. “The memorable sets are the ones with a magic touch, when you feel like you’re a puppet from heaven, playing the right thing at the right time. When you’re intellect gives up and you’re in another level of consciousness. Sounds like hippie spiritual shit but it is!” When she takes the stage Day 1 of Ultra Music Festival in Miami, she says you can expect a mixture of both Miss Kittin the artist and Miss Kittin the DJ. “To me it’s a DJ set, but for people, as I have a microphone, it’s live.”
Photo Credit: Thierry Van Dort / Photo Credit: Alex Gnädinger
Nonetheless, Miss Kitten is notoriously a good live performer. Proof of that has been documented on her live mix compilations, such as 2003’s Radio Caroline Volume 1 and 2006’s A Bugged Out Mix. She doesn’t plan to release a new mix this year since she is wrapping up her new full-length. The album, recorded in London, will be released in Europe in September followed possibly by a live tour.
http://www.myspace.com/kittinmusic
