Q&A With I HATE KATE

There she goes with the pancakes again, Christa discusses gas, brothels, and yes…pancakes! Zebrahead turned I Hate Kate frontman Justin Mauriello.

SM: How are you?
JM: I’m doing great! I really appreciate you taking the time to interview me!

SM: No problem! I’m very excited. To start us off, I was wondering what made you start I Hate Kate after leaving the band, Zebrahead?
JM: Well, I have been wanting to do it for a while and when I took a permanent break from Zebrahead, I knew it was the right time. I met the right people and it all fell into place. I mean 10 years with the same people, you start to venture out to play with others and create new music. I like to refer to it as being with the same girlfriend for 10 years with the same sex positions. Your like, wow, when something new comes along. It’s so exciting.

SM: How did you form I Hate Kate?
JM: I’d known these guys for a while. Mike our drummer and Bryce our guitarist, I knew from friend and Knox was referred to me when I was looking for a bass player. You know, bass players, good bass players, are really hard to find. I met up with him in Dana Point, tried out a couple riffs and he was awesome!

SM: I Hate Kate, now that’s a very strong name for a band. Did someone have a fight with someone named Kate?
JM: Actually a friend of mine dated a girl named Kate. She was the devil. I hated her from the first moment I met her. Hell was lonely because she was here. She was an evil person and I just said one day that I hate Kate. It just kinda stuck. I wrote it on t-shirts with sharpies to wear in front of her and it stuck.

SM: On another note, how is your current tour going?
JM: Well, I’m home now for a little while. We’ll be heading off to Orangevale, Ca for a show coming up. Then our CD release party on the 10th up in Sparks, Nv. I’ve gotta say, there’s something in the blood in Nevada. All of the shows I’ve played there are awesome. I’ve had great shows in Reno, Sparks, Vegas, and this place called Elko. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it but that was a good show.

SM: Anything exciting happen while on tour?
JM: We ran out of gas. We were on this lonely highway and we happened to run out of gas in front of a brothel. I think it was a sign from God. It was called the Cottontail Ranch I think.

SM: And did you go in?
JM: Well we had to so we can use their phone. Of course we had no service on our cell phones, we were in the middle of nowhere! We didn’t get anything from the girls though, just some beers while we waited for someone to come. Meanwhile, a couple of the guys found some mushrooms and started shrooming and drank whiskey on top of our vehicle, while I flagged down a cop. They were all up in the stars when the cop came over to call someone to bring us gas. It was a fun little evening.

SM: Do you have a favorite venue to play at? Why?
JM: The House of Blues. Any House of Blues. They have the nicest catering. Their monitors are great too. Vegas’ HOB has the best showers, by far. I also like the New Oasis in Sparks, Nv, that’s great. Soma in San Diego, Ca is great too.

SM: Describe a typical I Hate Kate show.
JM: We get out there and play a shit load of songs. This band is about the music! Some shows we just go up there and play our whole set, usually ten to eleven songs. We don’t have that many right now, probably fourteen songs. The crowd’s reaction is what really gets you. It’s really important to have crowd participation. Once you get the crowd going, you know it’s going to be an awesome show. Most bands just get on stage, play their shit then get off. I get so mad at those bands. I mean, if I wanted to see a band just play their songs, I could have just bought their CD and played it really loud. We’re not like that, we put on a damn god show.

SM: Is there anything about touring that bothers you?
JM: Not showering and the longs drives. I hate long drives. There are certain parts of the country where I can’t stand it. Why do people even live in these parts? There’s nothing there! Don’t they know there are other parts of the country to live in? Another part of touring that bothers me would be not seeing all of my friends and family. It gets lonely on the road and not seeing those close to you is kinda tough. But when you do see them, you remember why you left. (Laughs)

SM: What’s the best part of a live performance?
JM: The whole experience. It’s the number one reason why I play music. Recording is cool and meeting people on the road is neat but the live performance it what it’s all about.

SM: If you could pick any tour or festival to play, past or future, what would it be? Why?
JM: I have never played the Reading or Leeds festivals in Europe. I would love to do that. I’ve played Supersonic in Japan before, that was cool. Honestly, any tour, and not necessarily a good tour with a shit load of kids. Large audiences are sometimes good, same with small audiences. A lot of bands like to play small venues just for that purpose, to have an intimate show with the audience, but I would rather have the larger venue, personally.

SM: Do you have any strong feelings about playing locally in LA versus playing put of state?
JM: I hate playing LA. I absolutely hate it. It’s the worst show to play. It’s like the LA people that go to shows have something to prove or that they are cool because they live in LA. I like to consider myself part of Orange County, not LA. Just for that very reason. But yeah, playing out of state is so much better. Even playing in Orange County at the Chain Reaction or the House of Blues. Anywhere but LA.

SM: After the tour, what is next for I Hate Kate?
JM: Touring. With the EP coming out, we will be touring as much as possible. We’re constantly writing new stuff, I’m about half way written into our next EP, not too far off.

SM: How would you describe I Hate Kate’s sound to someone that hasn’t heard your music before?
JM: We’re a rock band. With a little bit of retro, groove, bad ass rock. You can say we’re bad ass rock with hooks galore!

SM: What would you say is your band’s main influence in your music?
JM: These are tough questions! Geez! You’re digging deep here. Let’s see…there are so many. A lot of uh, uhm, Elvis Costello and The Cure. That’s it. I was listening to them a lot when writing the songs for the EP and obviously, listening to another persons music while writing influences yours. Throw U2 in there as well.

SM: What have you been listening to lately?
JM: The new 50 Cent album is great. I’ve been listening to that like crazy. Some new bands too like, Panic! At the Disco. They are really good. I listen to shit from the 1800’s with Indians banging sticks together, to the new shit now. I get a lot of those Fueled by Ramon Compellations, there are always a lot of good bands on those. Death Cab for Cutie as well. They’re old CD is good but the new one is great! His lyrics are amazing. The lead singer kinda reminds me of a new Paul Simon. I’ve always like Muse too. They are great.

SM: What were some of your favorite bands growing up?
JM: Van Halen…Metallica…fuck…uh…Depeche Mode. I went through a metal phase, punk phase, just like everyone else. I loved The Beatles too. I remember listening to them with my Dad on the way to church every Sunday and singing “Love me do.”

SM: How does living in LA or the OC as you like to claim, influence your music?
JM: Well a lot of shit goes on here and that’s shit that you write about. It’s part of my environment. I do take a lot of it’s vibe and culture into my music. Wherever you live, influences your music, so you always have a lot to write about. A lot of great bands come out of LA. And I know that LA has influenced them.

SM: What are your feelings about the new EP, “Act One?”
JM: Awesome. I love it. It’s an EP with seven songs. It’s quick and to the point. I wish I had half a million dollars to spend on recording a full length record but this works. It’s not going to be $20 in stores either. It will be a cheap $10. It’s just something to listen to so that you can spread the word of I Hate Kate.

SM: Do you have a favorite track? Why?
JM: One Minute More, #6. It’s lyrical content is what gets me. It’s an amazing song. I also like Bed of Black Roses. Both have great lyrics and great production went into them.

SM: What was the most challenging song to write for the album?
JM: Minute More. There was just a lot of feeling that went into that song. Sociopath, was a really hard song to write. It took a long time to get that done.

SM: What was your recording process?
JM: It varies. I get the shit written before I get in there , lay down a rhythm, lay down guitar, bass and drums. Sing, go over it, then layer. Get the meat and potatoes on there and you’re done!

SM: Did all of the members of I Hate Kate contribute to writing lyrics for “Act One?”
JM: I wrote most of the songs. But when someone comes up with something great like Knox did this one time with a bass line that was really catchy, we’ll work it in somehow. Picture Perfect and One Minute More have some great bass lines from Knox.

SM: What is your lyric strategy?
JM: I have an idea in my head and I put lyrics to it or music to it, whichever it needs. Some times I sing fake words just to get the gist of it, then it goes!

SM: What advice can you give to aspiring musicians?
JM: Run for the hills! Just kidding. Keep playing. Time is the best thing. Play shows, the more kids you get going to your shows the better. A lot of kids just want record deals, right away. You have to work at it. Play hard, play lots of shows, shit will fall into place when it‘s time. Stick to the gun.

SM: What is your favorite kind of pancake?
JM: Banana! Oh, I love banana. My mom used to make them back home all the time. Those are bad ass pancakes. Whenever we’re at a restaurant or something and I see banana pancakes, I look no further on the menu and order that. I know that that’s what I want. You’re making me want one now actually by asking me this.

SM: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
JM: Uhm, no. Just that you have some damn good questions! Usually it’s all the same questions and it gets really boring but your interview was a lot of fun. You did your homework for these questions.

SM: Well thank you Justin for taking the time to do this with me. Take Care.
JM: You too.