Q1. Kari, Thank you for granting an interview with Artstrada magazine. We couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming Industrial Fest Aug 29-30th at Scoot Inn. Can you tell us what you will be bringing to the Industrial Fest this year?
- I am always excited to support all industrial shows in anyway I can! This event I was booked to gogo dance both nights (along with some girls from one of my dance troupes The Hell Katz), and I am thrilled to death to perform some fierce metal-grinding for BTK and also Helltrash! I will also scout out more talent and network some!
Q2. Our readers would be most interested in hearing your plans for MachineGun Produktions your company in 2015. What would you want most to happen for you and your company as we enter the new year?
- Events can get booked too fast as I learned last year when I was simply trying to make one show happen one time (Industrial Resserektion Suspension Show), quickly turned into 20 in just a few months across several Austin venues and dipping into San Antonio, so after SXSW the last of my commitments, I took a break from creating events to do fundamentals (a website, logo, medias, etc), perform with more dance troupes and other genres, create liasions, gather resources and plan special themed events thoroughly thought out, so the events will be less often, but much more packed inside of them, I’m very excited for 2015. I hope for new flesh being shocked by dark entertainment and hooked on the industrial music, no matter who’s show, I hope to continue to gain fans for the music and scene as a whole. I hope to inspire anyone who is unsure of their abilities to make things happen, and give a second wind to the people burnt out calling the scene ‘dead;’ it only is what we make of it!
Q3. Kari, how do you feel the industry treats you as a young woman trying to start and grow your own company? Do you feel any resistance? From where does it come from? what or who is your greatest ally in your pursuits for Machine Gun Produktions?
- It is interesting when someone I book who has not met me and is surprised I’m ‘their guy,’ especially if I also book one of my gogo troupes that night and I am in clubwear holding paperwork they need to sign. But I feel wearing multiple hats in the music industry helps a lot! (Aside from my company, I dance with 3 troupes and perform shock entertainment for 3 bands, build sets for 2 staging companies, when I’m off from my regular job, and may or may not have added on another project while answering this interview!) Some assume they don’t need to help advertise events because I can get more people to shows just because I am female, but that is far from true, it seems a women has to do triple the work to prove herself serious. Most of the resistance is not from what I expected. Every band I have had and many coming up, has been easy and wonderful to work with, and often advertise/support my shows they are not even booked at, so I can fairly say the music is my greatest ally! I have not had the same luck with some venues and djs, or most performers, promoters, general public yet. Quite possibly because of a sexist stigma, or just that I work hard in multiple entities, it may be confusing on my intentions until people understand that I’m nothing more than an industrial driven workaholic with a lot of goals to reach with as many things working together (indirectly) as possible so everyone else’s goals are easier reached as well!
Q4. If you could say one thing to every person on earth, what would that be and why?
- “When the tide rises, all the boats float higher, everyone has control over that tide!” A lot of people do more talking than walking, criticizing and complain, and may not realize they can do it their way themselves. If they aren’t willing to do that, they are not better than the problem. In this case, when I moved here, I was sad there wasn’t enough industrial music, entertainment was focused on sleazy easy more than shock, gore, unique talent, and far too often events were not operated with integrity or fairness. So I got to work, remembering the depressing day when goth night weeklies stopped in my hometown Raleigh and there was no longer anything fun to enjoy! Imagine if all of everyone’s complaints were replaced by actions resolving the issue, we’d be on Mars by now!
Q5. Ok, now some fun questions. If Kari Gallo found herself at a Hollywood party in 2015, what Actor, producer, director party would you wish whose party you could attend? why?
- Honestly no one because, referring to the analogy mentioned above, I’d rather produce a party on Mars and talk about spaceships!
Q7. What is your favorite thing about Austin Texas? why did you come here from your home state of North Carolina?
- When I finished school, my best friend was inspired to go back to college in his hometown Houston, TX in 2009 I moved with him and we went our separate ways for a while but he relocated to Austin in his new career and I was visiting (on my way back to NC) in 2011 Elysium which reminded me of Legends Raleigh Goth Night which I missed dearly, however the large music scene and it’s opportunities and ability to create own opportunities kept me here, and that’s my favorite thing about Austin!
Q8. Kari, what is your favorite song in the whole world or the one you are playing the loudest all the time right now?
- My favorite song is Behind a Serrated Grin by Pysclon 9, however right now I am playing Crown of Malice by BTK which will probably be my favorite song ever when it is album ready this fall!
Q9. Kari, if you could throw your own event, what would your dream event be about? who would play there? what town or venue would you want it in? What special or surprise guest would appear in this event? Would you give any money from the event to charity? and if so, what charity would you choose?
- I fully intend on creating my dream events, so I won’t ruin the surprise and just mention an unrealistic one! In this dreamland where I fell in love and got married, I’d plan my wedding into an industrial dance event with intense pyrotechnics and LED audio activated everything and a hot tub full of fake blood. Psyclon Nine and Imperative Reaction would play. No local bands since I perform for many of them and habitually advertise their shows, such an event I’d have to pay more attention to my lover and attendees! ACL live, my favorite venue that I work stage production at, would be amazing to hold this! Though I’d want the place to explode at the end (safely) so I guess I’d have to build my own to ‘use once and destroy.’ Event money always directly goes back into the musicians and performers, which is almost like a charity! During my arm injury this year that has delayed a lot, the people that offered help and checked up on me were almost all musicians and staff from venues I have worked with, so if any of them had an emergency, I will gladly put a charity fund or event together, so I for sure know the funds go directly to the correct cause!
Q10. Thank you Kari, one last question. Technology is fast becoming integrated into our every facet of our lives. Is there anywhere you DO NOT want to see technology grow further involved in? why? What part of life do you want to see technology become a larger partner in? and why? Thank you very much for your interview, we cannot wait to hear the reactions from our readers! thank you -the crüe or Artstrada magazine .
- I am not sure how much I like the social media rapidly expanding; we are all making more connections but less connecting, and while it is humanly impossible to keep up with it all, automated managing apps can “help” us, but it is becoming just bots connecting with bots, robots cannot attend shows! I hope technology evolves in a manner where we are not judged by numbers/likes, and more filters or limited use of technology for non-business use so that cat memes and phone pictures of every meal are not more prevalent than news, events, creativity, science, etc.
by Patrick Labay (the crüe)
