Caroline Herve, aka Miss Kittin, has, in the past year or two, become the sexy and seductive coo of the new sound of Electro. Responsible for what could arguably be called the electroclash anthem, “Frank Sinatra”, with its risque chorus of “suck my dick, lick my ass”, Miss Kittin has perfected being cool, chill, and aloof. Don’t let the sound’s recent surge into mainstream fool you, though: she’s been around for a long time, and as she shows, this Kittin has claws behind her sound.
JIVE: In collaborations with Felix Da Housecat, Golden Boy, The Hacker, etc., in which you take a large role as vocalist/lyricist, how much of a part do you play in the actual production of the track?
MISS KITTIN: It's clear I am involved as far as I can to make my voice fit with the track. It means in arrangement, choice of sounds and rythmics, etc. Dammit, it's my voice!!!
JIVE: What started your interest in electronic dance music, and what attracted you to the electro genre?
MISS KITTIN: As soon as I took my 1st step in a rave party, I realized something fresh and new was going on. Music wasn't part of the landscape anymore, I was INTO the music. It changed my whole perception of it, not only in electronic music. Also it was just completely exciting to be part of the birth of this movement in France coz of course, it started a few years before anywhere else.
JIVE: Where and when was your first DJ gig?
MISS KITTIN: I think it was in an old army fort in the mountains around Grenoble, my hometown, for a party organized by a group of art students from Grenoble Fine Art School I was part of. We did the deco and everything. I played on the small floor with my 1st 20 records carried in a plastic box. One turntable had no pitch-control. That's where the name Miss Kittin appeared the for the first time. It was beginning of 94. But my 1st official gig in a party was in April 94 in Annecy, 100km from Grenoble with Erik Rug and other French DJs. I had no turntables to practice on so I played new records I've only heard while I bought them in the shop.
JIVE: Which side do you prefer-frontwoman/vocalist/diva or DJ?
MISS KITTIN: Front woman? It's not a choice, it's a responsibility. Vocalist is fun but not innocent anymore with the pressure. Diva? What the hell is that? Fuck that. Definitely DJ, it's my real nature, my roots, my truth.
JIVE: Where did you grow up, and what music did you listen to in your youth?
MISS KITTIN: I grew up in Grenoble, South of France. The 1st music I can remember having listening to is the one of my parents: Pink Floyd, Beatles, Supertramp, Genesis, Philadephia Sounds, Vivaldi, La Callas, Stan Getz. Later on I was listening to the Cure, Madonna, Prince, but mainly all the stupid hits on radio. Then I had on tapes Front by Front album of Front 242, Closer from Joy Division and one from the Bollocks Brothers, one from the Clash. Then I got into UK indie pop like House of Love, Happy Mondays, Levitation, Primal Scream. That's all. When I lost the tapes somehow, I never listened to them again. So I wasn't a big trainspotter girl. I always had eclectic tastes, sharp ones, and shit ones.
JIVE: How did the collaboration with Chicks On Speed come about? Your choice
of song [Eurotrash Girl] seems really tongue-in-cheek.
MISS KITTIN: I didn't collaborate on Euro Trash girl. I just met them at this time. I only once performed this song with them in Switzerland a long time ago. We are always in touch especially as I live in Berlin now. I wear their clothes a lot. For their next album, I wrote them lyrics they asked me to sing at the end so we went to the studio together. You'll see.
JIVE: How did you end up hooking up with DJ Hell and the Gigolo crew, and what
has it been like for you being a part of that?
MISS KITTIN: I met Hell in 95 in a rave in South of France where we were both playing, and we went to David Carretta's house for a week. He wanted to start his label, asked me for some stuff if I had some, I called the Hacker again and we did Frank Sinatra and sent it to him on an audio tape. A week later, he burned a dubplate out of it. You know the rest.
We didn't expect such Gigolo success. We thought Hell was cool that's it, but to have been part of it since the beginning and have been consequently actors and witnesses of this hype is definitely what we are the proudest of. Exactly like what I said before: being part of something fresh and new.
JIVE: How many languages do you speak?
MISS KITTIN: I speak French, English, and a bit of Spanish. I must learn German now...
JIVE: Have you, or do you intend to, produce tracks solely on your own?
MISS KITTIN: Of course. If I love to share the creation process with partners, I also now wanna be free to create on my own, take my decisions alone, and make my ideas come true. I start my solo album in October.
JIVE: Is there anyone whom you would like to collaborate that you have not yet worked with?
MISS KITTIN: Yes, there should be many artists I would accept to work with if they asked me, but I don't want to tell names anymore, I prefer to let destiny do it, like it's always been in my life.
JIVE: What are your feelings on the recent rise in popularity of the electro sound? Have you listened to/are you a fan of bands like The Faint who are newcomers to the sound?
MISS KITTIN: I don't care. My fave electro bands aren't popular but they are the ones we will remember in 20 years.
JIVE: If you could point to five classic electro tunes that exemplify why you do what you do, what would they be?
MISS KITTIN:
1. Dopplereffekt - Scientist
2. Drexcyia - The Quest
3. I-F Space Invaders are smoking grass
4. Electronome (I don't know the title) on Interr-Ference records...
5. Kraftwerk- Numbers
Bonus: any Juan Atkins' Cybotron project!
JIVE: Do you consider "Miss Kittin" an image, like Debbie Harry's Blondie, or
is it all a facet of you?
MISS KITTIN: Miss Kittin is not a character it's my artist name. That's bad because if I would have created a character like Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, I would have had more crazy stories to tell to escape from such questions.
Special thanks to Jo at Girlie Action Media and Miss Kittin.
Assistance with questions provided graciously and excitedly by Bethany Johnson @ www.rawkawn.com
