The Cat Empire have had a huge 2010. In addition to releasing their new record 'Cinema', the group have been touring extensively throughout Australia and the United States, culminating in an appearance at the 2010 Reggaetown World Music Festival, which takes place in Queensland on the 10th of September.. Liveguide caught up with CE drummer Will Hull-Brown to see how the year has panned out from the band's point of view.
Liveguide: How has 2010 treated the Cat Empire so far?
Will Hull-Brown: 2010 is a big year for us! It’s all about the new album ‘Cinema’ at the moment. Earlier in the year we were doing full time rehearsing and pre-production to get ready for the recording. The recording was a great experience, and it was nice to do it all in Melbourne this time!
We just got back from a successful tour in North America through July, playing festivals and clubs, and now it’s straight into a tour around Australia to promote Cinema. Gigs, gigs...and more gigs!
There was a pretty big gap between studio albums for The Cat Empire. Why did it take so long for Cinema to be released?
A few years ago we all felt that we needed a bit of time away from The Cat Empire. The music wasn’t flowing the way it should on stage, and things were just getting a bit stale in the band. You never want the music to be compromised by things like this, so we decided that some time off would allow everyone to do their own thing for a while, and come back to the band with renewed energy, and that’s just what happened!
Should fans expect a similar gap between ‘Cinema’ and another record?
No idea, too soon to tell ! All i know is that the music’s feeling really good right now, and i’m sure we can play the tracks from Cinema for a while yet before we feel like we need new material.
What is ‘Cinema’ about? Why the album title?
Steve Schram (producer) kept talking about making a record that conjured ‘images’ and creating a ‘cinematic’ sound. He wanted the moods and textures to be not unlike that in a movie. So, ‘Cinema’ seemed to fit the mood of the album well.
How has the album been received in America so far? Will you be touring this album there as well?
We just returned from a month long tour through Canada and a bit of the USA. Every time we go back there our audience has grown, and we’re able to move to bigger venues in some cities. Canada feels like a second home, we do really well there, especially in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. We also moved up to some bigger venues in New York which is a good feeling!
The new record has been well received by critics, though how are audiences responding to the new tracks live?
When we play new songs to an audience, i always like to watch people’s faces in the crowd and see if they’re mouthing the words or not, and in North America I was pretty stoked to see plenty of people singing along and getting into the new stuff. It’s a load of your shoulders if the new stuff is received well. There have been times in the past where it’s taken a bit longer for people to get into it after hearing a song for the first time.
The Cat Empire are notorious for mixing styles up a bit, but where do you feel more comfortable: at an indie rock festival or a reggae festival?
Well, I don’t think about it like that, I don’t think it matters either way. Having said that, of course we wouldn’t be comfortable playing at a metal festival, and we’d have to duck from getting stuff thrown at us! Anyway, we don’t change what we do depending on what festival we’re at, we just do our thing and if we sound different to all the other bands at that festival, then that’s a good thing and it’s all about providing good energy and winning over new fans!
Are there any stylistic elements you’d like to mix in the Cat Empire? Ever thought about a black metal crossover song?
Ha ha...metal...I think we’d have to start with me increasing the size of my drumkit and getting a double pedal, and some guitars to start with!!! I like some metal bands, and Ryan (bass player) and I saw Megadeth and Slayer in Toronto and really enjoyed it. Could be a big ask though...he he.
What is your favourite song from the new record, and why?
At the moment i’m really enjoying ‘The Heart is a Cannibal’. I love the chord progression and the melody, and it’s fun to play live and gets everyone bouncing in the crowd!
For details on the Cat Empire's current Australian tour, click here.
For details on the Reggaetown World Music festival, click here.
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