Following KATTANA and The Cursed Traveler Saga [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]

Take a leap and fully immerse yourself in the epic journey that the uprising Montreal artist KATTANA is displaying to the world. KATTANA builds a cinematic and mysterious world for everyone to partake in and unravel together as she progresses through the narrative. As the tale unwinds and hidden secrets begin to reveal themselves to the general audience, KATTANA shares something bigger than just the norm with The Cursed Traveler Saga.

Electric Hawk had the opportunity to sit down and listen to the epic origins of the KATTANA story, the development of her rebrand, and what to anticipate as the journey unfolds. Embrace this exclusive interview with KATTANA as we eagerly await her story to flourish!

In Conversation with KATTANA

seradopa: Let’s dive into the remarkable and honestly inspiring origin story of KATTANA for our audience that is not familiar with who you are! So where did it all begin KATTANA? 

KATTANA: I always knew I loved electronic music since my teenage years, which feels like a long time ago. I still remember the first time I saw DJ BL3ND, about 11 years ago, and I was like, “This is what I want to do.” Honestly, I knew it right there, but at the time, I was in a difficult time in my life.

My mom just passed away, and at that time, I remember it was a pretty dark moment. I was working at the dog shelter, and I so badly wanted to leave home that I ended up living there, in the machine room, with my bed on the floor.

And one day, I remember downloading FL Studio, and I was like, “I want to be a DJ.” I was visualizing myself on a stage, but it felt so far and like an impossible dream. Especially when you’re not in the music industry.

So I just had a bunch of other jobs, from being a carpenter, fitness instructor, and then I did graphic design, which I’ve been doing for 10 years. Then I finally had the chance, I had a boyfriend at that time who had a controller, so I started DJing, but I was so anxious! I had performance anxiety so bad I couldn’t imagine playing in front of a crowd. It took a long time!

I first started DJing house music about 8 years ago and ended up being a resident DJ for the Montreal Shuffle Movement. They had workshops with 10 people dancing and practicing together and I was a raver so it was perfect.. I’ve been a heavy dubstep raver for years, and my style just naturally shifted to bass music.

Then COVID happened, and my biggest opportunities were fucked up. I had a lot of self-doubt about this because during COVID, I was starting to get bookings, and then everything crashed. And then two years ago, I had a realization – I was like, You know what? I don’t want to do anything else. I feel depressed doing anything else. At 30 years old, I was like, “I’m doing this. This is my only dream, and I’m going with no plan B.”

So that’s what I’m doing full-time now, and a little painting that’s like my side hustle, but that’s the whole story of how I went into DJing and how it’s my primary thing now!

seradopa: Recently, you’ve gone through a full rebrand with your project. As a creative person like myself, I wanted to learn more about the specifics of the direction you are going with KATTANA. It appears you are very much interested in fantasy & with some sci-fi elements, are there any specific influences through your upbringing that brought you into “The Cursed Traveler” saga? 

KATTANA: There’s a bunch of them! I have been a fan of the fantasy world since I was young. So I’d say my first childhood love was like the Mutant Ninja Turtles, Spider-Man, and also Star Wars!

And I’m also a big gamer, so I’ve been gaming a lot. Halo 2 and 3 were a big part of my life – That was an addiction! I was drawing the characters and just focusing on the world-building and all the easter eggs in the game. While also a huge player of Magic: The Gathering and World of Warcraft. I love the fantasy world and the world-building and how you build your team, power, and the mana.

And lastly, I am a big fantasy reader, so it started with Hunger Games, and then it evolved into the romantic ones like The Fourth Wings or The Serpent in the Wings of Night. All those books, those writers are a big inspiration for me. I love them so much!

And for the movies, The Lord of the Rings, Dune, and Interstellar are my favorite movies. Plus, I love the Witcher series!

So these are all part of what really inspired the KATTANA project!

seradopa: I know there is a bunch to be unfolded about the world-building aspect of this, but what inspired a lot of the names, specifically the name “LUMARRA?”

KATTANA: This is so deep. Each name has a deep meaning, but I won’t get too much into the details.

For LUMARRA, it comes not from Latin, because Latin for light would be Lumen, but Luma is more like a poetic way of talking about light. And LUMARRA is the name of the planet in the story where humans rebuild after Earth’s collapse, and it’s the new planet where they restart everything.

It represents hope for them and humanity. On this new planet, they restart without technology, without nothing, only connection to the earth, and new respect for the environment. It’s like their new way to live is to carry beauty and weigh the name of the planet.

seradopa: Green appears to be a primary color within your brand. Why specifically green for this new direction you are leaning in? 

KATTANA: That’s a good question! Green is the color of growth, rebirth, healing, and nature, and it’s a big part of my rebranding and the new KATTANA story. It’s also the color of the chakra of the heart.

For me, KATTANA is a pretty emotional project, so it was really important to me! To follow your heart and your passion is like the mantra I live by every day. This made this color perfect for this phase of the project.

But with that being said, it’s just the beginning! As the story unfolds, there’s going to be new energy, characters, and colors to reveal.

seradopa: You’ve recently played Rampage and are about to be playing Future Forest later this Summer. How does it feel to be performing your art and vision in these bigger settings?

KATTANA: Honestly, it feels surreal.

First of all, for Rampage, it’s been a dream festival, but it was also a venue that was on my bucket list for a long time. For all these years, I was going there to support other friends playing, and I was like, “One day I’m going to be playing on that stage.”  So when I knew I was playing there, I was really excited. And Rampage was also really intense, because it forced me to bring my new branding to the world earlier than was expected. It just felt like the perfect time to start unravelling everything.

One thing that I want to talk about is the line is really thin between going on stage fully in character with the cloak and being seen as cringe and going on and being like, “Oh, that’s sick!” Because if you go to a small club and you’re an opener, and you get there with your cloak, people would be like, “What’s happening?”

Now I felt it was just the perfect time. It made me realize that I could have done it way earlier. Because the people who don’t like it and find it cringe, they just don’t fuck with my branding. And I want to attract people who love the idea, who love the branding, fantasy, cloak, and the story. So it made me realize that at Rampage.

That was the turning point for me!

And Future Forest, I’m just really excited! I’ve never been there, so that’s going to be my first time. I can’t wait to meet the people and the magic. It’s going to be a magical weekend. And I have a bunch of people from New Brunswick that I can’t wait to meet. I have people telling me that they were waiting for me to go play there, whom I’ve never talked to.

It makes me excited every time, and I know it’s going to be a nice festival where I will be able to connect with fans.

seradopa: With your sets, are you specifically trying to tell an overarching story with KATTANA or an emotion that the audience can connect with?

KATTANA: For now, my sets are mostly driven by the energy flow and the music selection, because the KATTANA universe isn’t fully developed or public. So it’s hard to bring them on the KATTANA journey, but that’s the ultimate goal.

It’s a very narrative set, and that’s going to be connected to the story of KATTANA with all the visuals and everything. But for now, I’m not there yet, but that’s like the biggest objective!

seradopa: What overall feels different with the KATTANA project now than when you first started releasing music? 

KATTANA: The thing is that my first release was in February, I’ve released mixes, but not an original song.

I’ve been really hard on myself because I was never satisfied with the result. Also, I’m not coming from a musical background. I have a lot of performance anxiety, so I wanted it to be perfect! So my first release was in February, but it was a Charli xcx remix.

It was not part of the full narrative, but more of a get-down song. BUT I have my first, full narrative song coming out on July 30! It’s going to be the first step of the journey for the song releases. If you’ve known me from the beginning and listened to my mixes, you’ll notice the brand changed. The name KATTANA had a whole different meaning.

My friends were calling me DJ Catastrophe and DJ Catalog. Because my name is Catherine, they were finding anything that started with Kat and adding whatever else at the end. Then someone said, DJ Kattana. And that one clicked!

I’m a huge fan of Mortal Kombat and the Mutant Ninja Turtles. And for years, it has been this ninja theme thing, but I wanted more. I wanted to be more personal, deeper, and everything. I just didn’t want it to be another DJ ninja theme. That’s why we rebranded everything, and that’s where we’re going right now! The whole new story of The Cursed Traveler, who is a time traveler, and the story is unraveling right now. It’s hard because I have to say enough that people are still intrigued, but not too much to confuse them. It’s a thin line we’re working on right now!

seradopa: As you continue to grow as an artist, what values do you hope you still have as you continue to grow the KATTANA brand?

KATTANA: The first one is inclusivity. Everyone deserves to feel like they belong somewhere and that they belong in a group and are accepted. In my life, I’ve been told that I was too much for a long time, and I toned myself down, until I just realized if you don’t like me, don’t like me, and people who love who I am will stick.

I would also say openness. You can learn from anyone. So as the project evolves, I hope I will be able to keep my eyes open and be open to any feedback and any person trying to help me. That’s really important to me.

Also, I want to be honest about my art. I want to keep my creative freedom and don’t want to feel boxed and in the obligation to do something because it is popular. I want to be my full creative self.

seradopa: What do you believe has been changing for the better, and what do you believe needs to be improved/changed immediately in our industry? How could we better build a supportive community within the electronic scene?

KATTANA: The thing that changed positively is the fading of gatekeeping. I remember when I started; if you wanted to learn how to make dubstep, it was pretty much impossible.

There were almost no tutorials, Patreon, YouTube, TikTok, or whatever. And if you know someone who knows how to do a certain thing and you ask, they would say, “Why would I show you what took me five years to learn in five minutes? Try it yourself and learn for yourself.” The gatekeeping of information was really intense. It was way bigger back then, and now the knowledge is more accessible. Everyone can learn. It’s easier for the newcomers, and it also redistributes the knowledge.

This is really good, and artists can get paid for that, and can give another source of income to artists who want to share.

seradopa: To end, is there anything you’d like to share with the community that’s coming up or that you are cooking for to keep our Hawk Eye on?

KATTANA: My first original release with the KATTANA story, “The Cursed Traveler,” will be released on July 30. I’m really excited about this one! It has also been my intro for months in all my shows, and when I played it at Rampage, I knew it was like, “Okay, now it’s a new chapter. Let’s release this one and start fresh.”

I just hope everyone will love this new KATTANA, “The Cursed Traveler” saga, and just stay updated! The new piece of the story will come eventually, and this is so much bigger than what I’m showing. I can’t wait to show everything with all of you!

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BE SURE TO CHECK OUT KATTANA AND HER FIRST OFFICIAL RELEASE, “THE CURSED TRAVELER,” BELOW!

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