Betty X

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Betty X
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Zoe
Alias = Betty X
Born = Sept 14
Died =
Origin = flagicon|United States Seattle, Washington, United States
Instrument = Vocalist
Genre = Industrial Metal Art rock
Occupation = Performance Artist, Vocalist, Singer/Songwriter, Painter
Years_active = 1995–present
Label = Anti-Social Records
Associated_acts = Salon Betty, Satan in High Heels
URL = www.bettyx.com
Notable_instruments =

Zoe Kaylor (born September 14th in Seattle, Wa) better known by her stage name Betty X is an American-born avant-garde performance artist, vocalist, composer and artist of Irish and Cherokee heritage.

Betty X, is an art rock and industrial metal singer and songwriter, as well as a conceptual and expressionist visual artist. She is best known for mixing performance art and video installations in live events or happenings and rock shows. She is noted for her guerrilla art and outrageous on-stage antics since her Salon Betty days. Her work is often caustic and controversial. Often called a poster child for censorship.She graduated from Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts in 1992 with a BA in Fine Arts.

Biography

Betty X has been making music since the mid-90's, when she formed the controversial art rock band, Salon Betty, which received international attention and positive reviews after Betty sang and recorded "Internet Killed the Video Star" and performed it live at Moe's nightclub via live broadcast. Therefore making immediate internet history.Betty was the first female performer to be broadcast live on the internet in 1995 via i-music (Artist Direct). Betty was also the first Interactive Paper Doll on the internet and first Surreal World Episodical to be featured on imusic. Designed by Scott Blum, founder of i-music and in association with Real World Studios. Both projects received awards and rave reviews.

Though a native of the United States, Betty has previously lived in London and Prague, Czech Republic she credits as being her creative inspiration for the punk-rock/dark cabaret Salon Betty.

After the group disbanded, she decided to pursue a solo career, releasing "Bad Side of Love" in 1999. She worked with music producer, Vincent Saletto in Tampa, Florida, at the now defunct Hotter Than Hell Studios.

Her solo project proved to be much darker and heavier than anything she had previously released. Naturally, this was met with mixed response from her fan-base. While losing some old fans, she also gained many new fans as the project gained momentum. Fans of her cabaret and lounge sound should look for more performances of her other stage persona Satan in High Heels. One Satan in High Heels performance in particular, spawned rave reviews from attendees including The Seattle Sinner last fall in 2007.Satan in High Heels shows are rare and exclusive most have been held at private soirees in the flavor of decadent salons and cabarets of the past.Betty is also extremely exclusive about giving interviews and posing for photo shoots. However, Hate and Betty have worked together on a "Wild One" motorcycle photo shoot in black and white for a gallery show.Most controversial shoot to date was the Pain Junkie photo with Dan Nash that elicited death threats and anger in the feminist community that misunderstood the message.

In 2004, several songs on her second solo release, "Dystopia", found their way onto the soundtrack to independent filmmaker Craig Kovach's sci-fi horror film, "Unearthed", featuring Tom Savini ("Dawn of the Dead", "From Dusk Till Dawn"). Around the same time, she began collaborating with Martin Atkins (Pigface, Ministry, PIL), providing a live guest performance with Pigface and vocal recording for Sheep On Drugs' "Machine Sex".

During the course of her music career, Betty X has shared the stage with many notable performers, including Prong, Patti Smith, Powerman 5000, Machine Head, Pigface, Aiden, Professional Murder Music, Zeke, and Tim Cridland (AKA "The Torture King").

Genre

Betty X's earlier sound with Salon Betty has been described as gothabilly, death lounge, dark cabaret, punk cabaret, new wave, or, most commonly, art rock.Jamie Hook, a reviewer for the "The Stranger" described the music as, "Neu-Wavo Ranchero" and referred to the fans as "Bettephiles."Salon Betty shows had a large cult following, where the fans would dress as Betty or other colorful characters from her songs such as "Courtney Hate" and bring food such as whipped cream, sausages and jello to throw during cues in songs. The shows were three quarter in the round and interactive. Live shows were often compared to My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Rocky Horror Picture Show meets GWAR by reviewers and critics.

After meeting with collaborator Hate, in 1995, Betty started to experiment with darker themes and more experimental vocalizations to industrialized noises and tribal drumming.The side-project turned into a fulltime pursuit. Her current self-titled solo project is much heavier and darker than previous material; with heavy, loud and grinding guitars, breakneck tempos, apocalyptic distortion and noise, moody sound-scapes and extremely aggressive, distorted vocals, the music is best described as industrial metal.

The newer songs cover a range of genres, however: "Human Disease" has the totalitarian/Orwellian flavor of Marilyn Manson, "Dystopia" is a poppy, bass-driven tune "a la" Nine Inch Nails, "Mons Venus" is a dark and sultry rock piece akin to P.J. Harvey, and most of "Memoirs of a Pain Junkie" could be considered straight-forward alternative metal in the style of Ministry's "Psalm 69".

Albums

"Bad Side of Love"

Betty X's debut solo album, "Bad Side of Love" (2000), was written and co-produced by Betty X with Vincent Saletto (Genitorturers). The album's heavy and dark industrial trip-hop vibe was a drastic change from the campy, light-hearted Salon Betty material. The album did not receive much attention and quickly went out of print.

"Dystopia"

Betty X's second solo release was "Dystopia" (2004), an EP of six tracks plus one bonus track. This album, co-produced by Betty's silent partner, Hate, featured heavier guitar riffs and more violent sonic tones than the debut album. It was fairly successful, gaining some national attention via and an internet cult following, corporate and college radio play and also spawning a national tour. Several of the album's tracks, including "Shoot'em Up" and "Aurora," were featured on the movie soundtrack to "Unearthed", starring Tom Savini.

Behind the Music"Human Disease" and "Two Minutes Hate" were inspired by George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and were the inspiration for the title and concept of the EP .Hidden last track "Mon Venus" is loosely based on Homer's Odyssey and a sleazy strip-club in Tampa and inspired the creation of a Medusa and Kali hybrid demon Mons Venus, who is a reoccurring lyrical character throughout songs in Betty X's lyrics

"Memoirs of a Pain Junkie"

"Memoirs of a Pain Junkie" (2006) is Betty X's third solo release and first full-length album. It is also her heaviest and hardest-hitting material to date. "Memoirs of a Pain Junkie" were based on Betty X's fictional auto-biography. Released in summer of 2006, the album features a new version of "Shoot 'em Up" remixed by Martin Atkins of Pigface and features Chris Siebold of Hate Dept on lead guitar."The Snakepit" is a drug induced frenzy with demonic vocalization and screams in the vein of Diamanda Galas. The character in The "Snakepit" is loosely based on the Odyssey and inspired the creation of a Medusa and Kali hybrid demon Mons Venus, who is a reoccurring lyrical character throughout songs in Betty X's lyrics. She is also mentioned in Nick Cave's song "More News From Nowhere" on his 2008 release "Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!."

"Religious Reich"

Religious Reich will be Betty X's official fourth solo release,slated for 2009.Betty and Hate are currently working in Black Studios on RR.Religious Reich deals with the unholy marriage of Church and State in the US.

Discography

With the inclusion of the her releases with Salon Betty, Betty X's primary releases are:

# Salon Betty - "The Big Hair Sex Circus", 1996 (iMusic)
# Salon Betty - "Arizona", 1997 (self-released EP)
# Betty X - "Bad Side of Love", 2000 (Anti-Social Records)
# Betty X - "Dystopia", 2004 (Anti-Social Records)
# Betty X - "Memoirs of a Pain Junkie", 2006 (Anti-Social Records)

Satan in High Heels http://www.myspace.com/sataninhighheels"' Guest vocals on Sheep on Drugs Sex Machine on the F**CK Album. 2006.

Film

"In The Blood" , 1995

"Psychotopolis", 1995 by Jeffro Brunk

References

Betty X Unmasked Interview by Guitar Doug, The Sinner, June 2008Underground Magazine March 2006Official Betty X WebsiteInterviews with Betty XThe Stranger, 2006External links

* [http://www.bettyx.com www.bettyx.com]
* [http://www.myspace.com/bettyx www.myspace.com/bettyx]
* [http://www.livejournal.com/users/betty_x www.livejournal.com/users/betty_x]
* [http://www.bettyx.com/salonbetty www.bettyx.com/salonbetty]