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August 23, 2025 10 mins
Kat Von D and Sammi Doll join Kevin Powell to talk about their first big tour supporting In This Moment, creating their dark electronic sound, and why leaving Hollywood for a small town changed everything.
 
They also share upcoming plans for a Mexico run, a third album, and a major collaboration project. Plus, Kat and Sammy give real advice for aspiring musicians about touring, adaptability, and doing everything with conviction.
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Looking for your new favorite band, Tune into the Kevin
Powell Podcast, hosted by me Kevin Palell on iHeartRadio. Discover rock,
metal and alternative bands with exclusive interviews every week. Hey,
welcome back to another episode of the podcast. We got
Kat Vaughan d and and we're here and wheeling and

(00:21):
you guys are on the In This Moment tour. Is
this the first big tour? What's going on with this?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh? I mean it's the first time we've opened up
for a bigger act. Okay, so we've done our own
headlining tours, not through this town. But yeah, so we're excited.
We really feel good about supporting in this moment. They've
been great to us.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
I was gonna say, I've seen scrolling through socials you
had your own headlining stuff, but yeah, I didn't know
if it was anything along these lines with In This
Moment or not. But pretty good first experience, right, Yeah. Yeah,
So you guys have your own experience on the road,
of course, But have you learned anything from being on
this tour specifically as of yet? Anything new? Anything surprising?

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I mean, you know, I think it's always an honor
when you're asked to open up for somebody like this
because you know, obviously in this moment can pick whoever
they want to go on tour with them. And I
felt like, you know, I started noticing Maria was following
me on Instagram and commenting on some of my posts,

(01:21):
especially after I did a collaboration with Alisa from Arch Enemy.
We did a song together, and so obviously you know,
she's in the metal world, so I think there's a
connection there. And so, you know, one thing I've learned
about Maria, I feel like she is very intentional about
the choices she makes. Obviously there's so much details for
her show, so theatrical and amazing. That's she's going to

(01:42):
be particular about who she chooses to go on.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
The road with her.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
So that's why every night I always make sure to
thank her because it is an honor and a privilege
for us to be able to support her.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
You know, it's great now for someone that doesn't really
know who you guys are, you walk into a venue
and see this on the tour, where are we walking
into when you guys at the stage.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I think a lot of people are probably confused about
what we do. I mean, you know, I have an
existing reputation from my past careers, and so people know me,
whether it's through tattooing or through my old makeup line,
and not everybody knows that I make music. And Sammy
Dall and I have been creating a very unique sound
for you know, quite some time now. And so it's

(02:28):
it's interesting going on this tour because it's you know,
it's not the typical music we play.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
We make like you know, electronic music.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
We like analog synthesizers and sounds that are nostalgic from
the eighties and stuff like that. So but it's still
on the darker side. There's some industrial elements to some
of the stuff. And but yeah, I don't know, what
do you think.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
I think there's a really good cross contamination of both
of the fan bases. There's something that they can take
from us, and there's something that you know, we can
our fan base is able to take from in this moment.
And I'll let the other people on tour with us.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Now, I'm sure you walked out and saw people going
and then they're like, Okay, this is good. It's definitely different.
But that's also on tours, you don't want the same
band every single Yeah, you don't want in this moment
times five.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
You want exactly.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
You want a little variety, which is great. And speaking
of variety, you guys have this electronic and dark sound
like you mentioned, and then I love it. It's almost
like you're listening or it's almost like you're watching The
Blade movies.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Compliment.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Yeah, So after this tour, what can fans expect?

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Well, we're actually already we've already started writing a third
album and then we'll we do have some a few
dates for a small Mexico run that we're going to
be doing, which will be the first time we played
in Mexico. That's the country I was born in, so
we have a lot of fans there and we've never
played there before, so I'm extra excited about that. But

(03:55):
after that, we'll be releasing new music. I'm doing a
collaboration album with a lot of exciting people. Are people
to get excited about wonderful.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
So I have two final questions for you, and ask
every band these questions.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
Make them good.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
Pressure's on. Now if you had to give any advice
to bands are just starting.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
A musicians why because it's like, all.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Right, I'll change up my whole format now I'll tell.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
You why, because it's always like okay, like don't give up.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
You know, I've heard that.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
Every case is different.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
I think it's for me, I've always and you can
say your side, Sammy, But for me, I feel very
ill equipped to give anybody advice. You know, we're I'm
too busy trying to keep my side of the street
clean and you know, do whatever it is, you know,
for my career in the way that that we do
things that might not be the same for somebody else,

(04:43):
you know, exactly, so I can tell you, you know, oh,
you know, be nice, stick your guns, yeah, you know,
have integrity. I don't know, you know, but I suck
at that.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
You see, every band has a different.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Positive one here.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
See, every band has own different answer for this.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
I would say you for bands that are starting out
or for bands that want to start out and touring
and baby perhaps get some kind of support slot to
grow their career. It is something you just have to
be very good at your craft and you have to
be very adaptable. Like touring is not for everybody. And
there are a lot of people that come out and
they think like this is going to be their lifestyle,
but it's just such a it's so different from what

(05:24):
I think people glamorize. Yeah, so you know, so it's side.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
People love it. I love it.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
I like, I don't mind roughing it. I think it's exciting.
I love seeing places like this town. I mean it's
you know, and some people are turned off by the
inconvenience of a tour bus, you know, yeah, or living.

Speaker 4 (05:43):
Out of a suitcase, or not knowing when to do laundry.
It's just that there's all these nitty gritty things that
you don't think about. But when it comes to the
band aspect, it's like, just be really good at what
you do and believe in what you do.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
If there was one memory or instance or piece of
advice that was given to you that's stuck with you
these years, what was it same?

Speaker 4 (06:02):
I think the same thing that I'm saying again is
just whatever you do, do it with conviction. Don't have asset.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yeah that's nice.

Speaker 4 (06:09):
Yeah, I like to like to pay that one forward.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
I've met a lot of disingenuine people, like I just
got incarceration fest and you you meet a lot of
fake people, and it's like I can I can see
right through you. And like you said, you gotta stick,
you gotta get be a good person. But we've all
heard that before. But what do you want to say
to fans? I want to say, yeah, anything that's like sorry,
I'm never this nervous. I never get stared down by two.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
Goffee girls.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yes, it's a dream come true now. But basically, any
last words you want to say to fans, you got
that new album coming out soon, right, and any other
tours made.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
It's I mean, I'm not I'm also not one to
shamelessly promote myself. I think that one thing that I'm
proud of that we've done is that everything has been organic.
You know, we don't have a record label. Everything we
do we do authentically ourselves. We do work hard, and
so when I see like tonight, I saw you know,
kids in the front road dancing and singing along it,

(07:12):
that is the dream come true for me. You know,
it's not so much about you know, being the headliner
and playing the biggest I mean, that's that's fun and all,
but like to me, it's like that connection that you
have with people. I just know, as a kid that
felt like an outcast all my life, I felt a
form of salvation from reading a lyric that somebody wrote

(07:33):
on the other side of the planet that made me
feel a little bit less alone. And so I think
when you're able to do that, it's like, oh man,
that is just it's the I mean, it's an honor
and privilege, you.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Know, wonderfulness. I said, what was the big difference from moving?
You had a big move right over in the Indiana
So you were over in the west side, West Coast.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah, it was in Hollywood.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
It lives in Hollywood for a good part of my life.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
And and then we decided to pack up and leave
the city life for a very small town.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
How small is this town, by.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
The way, Yeah, it's pretty small. I mean, what's the
population this is? I'm not that this used to be
the state capitol back in the Yeah, I see.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
So you had governor statues that are really beautiful.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
So it's small. But there's a lot of outskirt towns
directly to the side that are like that. So it
kind of makes up.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
The town we live in is twelve hundred people, so
it's much smart.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
It's not that small.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, and so yeah, so I have an appreciation for
small towns of America because I do believe that that
is the backbone of this country. And and so sometimes
when you live in the big city, it's and I'm
guilty of this, is like you you you kind of
assume that the rest of the world is on the.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
Same page, and they really aren't, you know.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
And I think that once you step outside of that bubble,
and that's something that's that that is a lovely thing
that you learn on tour. I think is like visiting
cities and towns you would never visit before, and you
have a better understanding of this country.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
I personally love being surrounded by the working class.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
I love being in a very small town where people
kind of leave you alone, you know, but but there's
a neighborly love that's much more sincere than I've ever
felt when a big.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
City grown what it's called.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, you like, they'll they'll back.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
You up, but they'll there, they'll leave you alone. I mean,
there's definitely a big gossip mill, but.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Like that's everywhere.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
We find that in la as well.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
So yeah, I appreciate that, you know, I think there's
pros and cons to both sides of it. You know,
like there's not as much mosquitoes or ticks in the city. Yeah,
but we also don't have traffic, so it's you know,
it's a win win.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
So yeah, I love it. I'm I'm a huge fan
of rural America.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
Wonderful dream to anybody in the world. I want to
answer from both of you. Let's see whether your headlining
or not.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
I mean, it's funny because I have all the stuff
I like is very obscure and that's fine. But then
I like pop stuff, which I don't know if I
would ever be a good mix for that.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
So what are you.

Speaker 4 (09:56):
I'm gonna go with Metric and I love Metric, I
love Pelissa. I think that would be an amazing bill.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
I mean there's tons of I mean, I love Peter Murphy,
I love Ministry, I love Okay, but I also love
Ellie Goulding.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
So so it's just like.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
The Ministry caf Ondy and Ellie Goulden tour. Oh you
would go, right, I mean, yeah, if you need a photographer, no,
I mean, regardless, I'll go. It'll be just small town
shows only though.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
Oh yeah, that actually would be cool.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
One fun thing. And this is the last thing I
want to say. One fun thing I like to do
when I travel is just like, imagine how people grew
up in those small towns compared to all right, you
come from the West Coast, or if you come from
New York or wherever, you can have a little bit
of a difference. Sometimes all you got is Dollar General
and the high school. So like, heck, yeah, brother, we
have one stops on.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
You guys are way ahead of us.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
So I appreciate you guys stopping in today. Sammy Right, So,
Sammy Kat, thank you so much for joining me and
I love the set. I can't wait to show you
the photos. Thanks for stopping by, and hope you have
a great rest of your tour.
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