Bluesfest 2022 was the stage for the tip of an period for The Cat Empire. Two of the unique three founding members of the group, Felix Riebl and Ollie McGill will proceed their legacy and have created a recent, new period for the band. With boundless artistic prospects, a collaborative course of, and musical curiosity, the brand new undertaking will showcase an exquisite collective of rotating musicians who will nonetheless keep the musical DNA of The Cat Empire.
The band shall be on an enormous Euro tour simply earlier than Easter and can step off stage in Manchester on the Friday and onto a Byron stage on Monday.
Seven had a chat with Felix Riebl on the finish of a month of recording a brand new album, about what the brand new Empire will appear to be.
Hey Felix, what’s new?
It’s a totally new chapter. We’ve been saying a number of the new musicians who’re going to be a part of the tour – Grace Barbé is a tremendous lady from the Seychelles who performs bass and sings and is a hell of a performer in her personal proper; Lazaro Numa is a Cuban trumpet participant and an important percussionist, he’s going to be enjoying with us as nicely; Neda Rahmani is an Iranian Australian percussionist, who’s simply superb and bringing rather a lot to the stage.
There’ll be a whole lot of acquainted faces as nicely, like Ollie on the horns. It’s going to be a dynamite present. We’ve been actually stepping into rehearsals and the preparations for it [as well as] engaged on a brand new album.
From Europe to Byron in 4 days – how does that really feel?
We’re enjoying in Spain, within the UK and Netherlands and a bunch of different locations by way of Europe. It’ll be a enjoyable tour, and as a band, to have a month’s price of reveals tends to actually get that nice pageant confidence up.
I suppose you’ve spent the previous few months busily writing?
Yeah, continuous. We’re engaged on a really exuberant album. It’s nice, for example, to be working with these superb feminine voices and issues like that. It’s very, very festive. It’s very punchy, and daring, however it’s received a whole lot of tropical flavour in there, and, some basic Cuban/ Latin emotions in there too. We’ve type of gone all out – like, some songs we’re beginning with a Brazilian percussion, roving band factor – it’s not at all times simply the basic rhythm part. There are songs which might be beginning with musicians from Ghana, after which an enormous percussive power being constructed round that. Additionally, some songs that can really feel pretty basic Cat Empire I believe, by way of how I’ve approached them.
Coming to Bluesfest I’m at all times very curious to know who individuals are considering seeing…
I like this pageant. I like Nathaniel Rateliff. We toured quite a bit collectively within the States and Canada by way of a parallel pageant run. Elvis Costello is superb. Femi Kuti… it’s a tremendous lineup. Lucinda Williams – she’ll be superb. And Mavis Staples!
What do you wish to punters to learn about your present?
The band goes to be dynamite. It truly is shaping up. And the stage goes to be very very full. The brand new undertaking is something however simply me and Ollie – the stage goes to be bursting and we’ve received a whole lot of actually superb music, musical concepts and songs constructing and we actually plan on bringing the stage to a brand new degree.
The Cat Empire play Bluesfest on Monday 10 April.
For more information on Bluesfest 2023, go to:
www.bluesfest.com.au
