Platinum Chilling with Ben Katzman’s DeGreaser

By Ladies Night

Have you ever shred so hard you went into a rock induced coma and could only find your way back to this astral plane by answering random trivia questions about KISS? Neither have we, but we bet Ben Katzman has. The DeGreasers are a three piece band from Miami who have made the Winterland Presents stage their shred base the past 3 years. Ladies Night Zines was able to catch up with the band before their set. We recommend listening to ‘Kindness Is Hot’ while you read. Then follow @benkatzman69 to assert your alliance to the axe gods.

What’s going on with The DeGreasers?

 Life is chill, living in Miami, life has taken some crazy turns in a good, been teaching
student rock bands at music school. It’s been pretty lit.

Who are these two?
*gestures to those two*

Max Trilanky on the bass, this is Christian Ositfito on the drums. Life is sick.

Any new music coming soon?

Yes, we have an astrology album about to come out soon. There’s a song for every sign and they’re all different genres. Everyone’s gonna have a favorite song unless you’re a cusp then you’ll have two. Guess what my sign is. (He’s an Aries) Max is a Libra Virgo cusp and Christian is a full on Cancer. Sensitive in the best ways. Sensitive in a crew way, he’s the band mom. We are announcing a new album pretty soon. 

What’s your process in making the shred stick work?

I don’t know, I like to just sit at home and play my guitar all day and sit and call my friends and spill the tea and spread the shred. Lately I’ve been going to the gym and hitting the shredmill. Sometimes songs come to, my family has an astrologer. Her name is &@#(*(&$^)*@#. Most families go to the doctor and dentist, part of our cycle was going to the astrologer. She’s why I play music. My astrologer noticed a lot of frustration in my third house which I believe is communication. So she signed me up for piano lessons but I was diggin’ that and then I found my dad’s shred stick in the closet. 

*Someone steps in to take our photo*

Okay, what is your ideal ladies night?

I don’t know, we watch Mean Girls drink long island iced teas. It would be an all inclusive shred fest with a theme, maybe like Lindsay Lohan’s weird comeback show where they hired all those random people. We could watch Grease 2. I look like a party animal, but I’m really like a platinum chiller.