Photograph by Christopher Frankland
They’ve supported the late soul-legend James Brown and played at the opening of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Now Australian group The Cat Empire have embarked on their European tour. Jenny Ross speaks to front-man Felix Reibl.
How would you describe The Cat Empire’s music to someone who hadn’t heard it before?
Honestly, I’d say that they should come to a show and see it because after people have seen the show they don’t feel the need to explain it. They just enjoy it. It’s very lively music, the musicians are very good. A world music band I suppose is the best way to describe it.
How do you go about writing your songs?
I write them pretty traditionally I think. I go out and experience things or read about things or listen to music or practise music and put words to harmonies and form good melodies that work. It’s one of the most wonderful things to be in a band and have people singing your choruses, so that’s something that’s really inspiring to do. So, when I write songs for this band I try and write choruses, but also leave the arrangement open enough for the musicians to do what they do well – improvisation.
Which track do you think sums up The Cat Empire?
I dunno. I think honestly it’s very difficult – people in the band all have different favourite songs. I suppose, for me, The Chariot probably sums it up the best. That’s a song that we will often finish shows with. It’s a sort of song I wrote for the audience and my friends in the audience. It’s an anti-war song.
What are your influences?
I think my ones…for mainly song-writing; Springsteen, Dylan – it’s pretty ‘60s actually. For the band, a lot of world music - Cuban stuff and Hernie Hancock and Thelonius Monk…James Brown. It was a huge honour to tour with James before he died. Marley. Marley was a big influence. And a lot of Australian music…Australia is a big one I think for the band as a whole. I think the album Below the Bassline, in our very very early days, was kind of interesting because it involved very simple phrases, simple melodies with sections you could open up. And also it’s amazing where influences can come for a band. I think cinema’s a huge one: the guys watch a lot of movies and I think cinema music has played a big part on some of the drama of the sections.
Has the tour gone well so far?
Very well. We’ve done four shows so far, it’s been one of the best one’s I remember, actually. We haven’t been on tour for over a year in the UK. It’s been at least 18 months since we’ve been here and in that time we made a live CD, but also took a lot of time off because we’ve just come off a long-term tour. I think that the live album marks the end of this period and we’re going to record another CD at the end of next year. I think it’s going to be a new chapter.
What can we expect from this new CD? Have you written any of the songs already?
Well I have got a lot of ideas. It’s going to be different, that’s all I can say. We’re going to try something really new and ambitious for the band. What it’s going to be I cannot say.
When you’re on tour do you ever request anything strange?
Like all blue M&Ms and stuff? Yeah, Ryan [Monro, bass guitarist] tried that! But we’re actually a pretty easy-going band in terms of requesting things.
Do you find audiences here different to those in Australia?
I think so. I mean, at the moment, because we haven’t been here for such a long time and in Australia the band’s been around for a long time. It makes it quite exciting because people are out discovering the band.
Do you ever wish that you could be a much bigger band in the UK?
Yeah, I wish I was playing at a stadium some nights. But I think that the band’s in a great position really, especially at the moment. I mean, we’re a well-known band and I remember when we started out playing small jazz clubs, just thinking that if 100 people arrived it would be pretty much the best thing ever…it’s all about perspective really. I think in Montreal a few years ago we played to 150,000 people, which was great and we’ve done huge festivals, so seeing oceans of people is wonderful. But in a band like this really it comes down to how fresh everyone’s feeling and how well we’re playing together and you can have an amazing show to 100 people or a great show to 10,000 people. I think the next album is going to do really well over here.
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years time?
I’d like to create an album – the best album we’ve done with the band – that would be great, and see where that takes us.
The Cat Empire will be playing at Glasgow Academy on July 10 2009. More at http://www.thecatempire.com/.
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