Here, kitty-kitty-kitty
Let’s hope The Cat Empire doesn’t get lost in Saskatchewan
Jen Zoratti

The 17-hour drive from Winnipeg to Calgary is a lot of Saskatchewan to inflict on anyone, but you have to feel especially bad for Australians making the most boring trek on Earth.

The Cat Empire, the jazz/soul/funk/reggae/Latin culture clash from Down Under, will hit up the Jazz Fest before finishing up its first Canadian tour, and bassist Ryan Monro is marvelling at Canada’s size.
“We only did three cities on our last tour,” Monro says. “But we noticed between Winnipeg and Calgary we’ve got a 17-hour drive ahead of ourselves, which would be fine if we didn’t play Calgary the next day. I guess we have no choice but to see more of Canada.

“Hey, what will the weather be like then?” he asks earnestly. “We end up in Norway on this tour. This tour’s been really hard to pack for.”

Though Ollie McGill (piano, melodic banjo), Felix Riebel (percussion, vocals), Will Hull-Brown (drums), Jamshid (Jumps) Khedival (DJ, percussion), Harry Angus (trumpet, vocals) and Monro have been a band since 2000, The Cat Empire has recently exploded in Australia. Its latest album, Two Shoes, debuted at No. 1, earning it platinum status in Oz. Now the band is working to support a special edition of Two Shoes that was released in North America at the end of May.

The outfit’s hybrid of easy-going, beach-worthy jam rock has also been an insta-hit with Canadians.

“Canada was a surprise,” Monro says. “The first contact we had with Canada was actually in Vermont. About 90 per cent of the crowd were French-Canadians from Montreal, and they knew all the words. They were even singing along to really obscure stuff. So we thought, ‘We better go to Canada.’”

Though it’ll be featured on a few jazz-fest bills in addition to Winnipeg’s, including a night at the Montreal Jazz Fest, The Cat Empire is proof that the genre is becoming more progressive.

“Jazz, to us, is spontaneity in music,” Monro says. “Not just jazz, but any music with an openness to it, we’re influenced by. Jazz, reggae, occasional rock moments. We have a real unique way of playing stuff. With six people in a band, there are a lot of influences.”

The sextet may be famous for its different approach to making infectiously happy music — which includes everything from jazz-swagger trumpets paired with DJ scratching and reggae rhythms offset with hip-hop-style lyrics — but it’s also noticed for having a decidedly different name.

“It comes from a picture that was stuck to the fridge, drawn by Felix’s brother,” Monro says. “There were all these cats with crowns and things, and it said ‘Cat Empire.’ That’s where it comes from.”

Though there’s nothing sinister about the band, global domination could be in the cards for this empire — but it’s not like they haven’t had to work for it.

“When we played the Edinburgh festival we had to play from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. for 15 nights in a row,” Monro laughs. “We came out a better band after that, and it was nice to see. The first night started with 10 people, and by the end of those 15 nights it was packed out.”

Aside from the music and the name, Monro has a different idea about what makes these cats different:

“We’re a six-piece band with no guitars, he laughs. “You never see that.”