The Bands That Kat Von D Has on Heavy Rotation

Kat Von D has a handful of bands that are on heavy rotation within her personal playlists.

The artist’s sophomore album My Side of the Mountain arrives Sept. 20, and during a new conversation with Rock Feed, she said she’s been preparing for her upcoming tour by listening to a mix of electronic and industrial music while she exercises.

“Everything from Ministry to Perturbator — Perturbator is one of my favorite synth wave bands, I just love the darkness and darker elements. I hear a lot of metal within that production that I love,” she said.

Perturbator and Johannes Persson, ‘Final Light’

Von D also cited Gunship as another one of her favorite synth wave artists, adding that she collaborated with them for the song “Black Blood Red Kiss” on their 2018 album Dark All Day.

“I just love everything about them because they’re such pioneers in that world, and to think of a genre that’s inspired by an era in filmmaking is so cool to me,” she praised.

Gunship, ‘Black Blood Red Kiss’ (feat. Kat Von D)

Another group the artist mentioned is Kent, who were from Sweden. They released 12 studio albums between 1995 and 2016, but are no longer active.

READ MORE: Perturbation’s Five Dark Electronic Albums Every Metalhead Should Listen To

“They have a romantic approach to their songs,” Von D described. “It’s always these certain chord progressions that I respond to in music, I really love the melancholy, romantic-ness of it.”

Kent, ‘Den sista sangen’

Von D also touched on her own musical journey, explaining that although she’s from the metal world and enjoys black metal and other heavy music, she’s also a fan of groups such as Depeche Mode and The Cure, and she felt inspired to make music more similar to the them than metal.

“That’s where my heart tends to gravitate, so it made sense to me that our music would be more in that realm,” she said. “I love electronic music and the nostalgic sounds of the ’80s, so a lot of our sounds are designed with analog synths and all that nerdy stuff.”

You can pre-order My Side of the Mountain at this location now.