Backpackers spread word on Aussie rockers
When Australian band The Cat Empire showed up in Montreal for the first time a decade ago, the group had no idea what to expect. But they certainly didn’t think the crowd would be singing along to every song.
Ten years later, lead singer Felix Reibl still can’t explain the band’s success.
“We had no idea how people knew us, and it turned out some travellers had heard our CDS at house parties, and it developed a cult following for the band. It seems to continue to happen in a strange way, without much commercial assistance,” he said in a phone interview from Australia, a few weeks before heading to Canada on tour.
Travel has sustained The Cat Empire in more ways than one. Touring is a necessary part of any musician’s lifestyle, but The Cat Empire may never have reached ears around the world if it weren’t for backpack-toting travellers, from Canada and elsewhere. The band’s music — a blend of reggae, jazz, Afro-cuban, funk, pop and hip-hop that has become its own unique sound — spread through word of mouth and shared CDS.
Today, the Australian band has a big international audience. The Cat Empire is also beloved in its native Australia, where the band’s debut self-titled album recently went triple platinum.
The Melbourne-based six-piece is celebrating its 10-year anniversary on its current tour. The Canadian dates comprise the final leg of the tour.
Ten years is a milestone, especially considering most of the band members are hovering around 30 years old.
“We were teenagers when we started, and I remember being a teenager, looking at the sky and thinking, ‘If I could do a show like that every night I’d be happy. All I want to do is tour and go away,’ ” Reibl said.
And tour they did, travelling the world at a frenetic pace. The Cat Empire is a band that has built its success on the back of sometimes relentless touring. Reibl said the height of their touring frenzy happened in the middle of the band’s career.
Today, the band has made a conscious effort to make the most of being on the road by limiting their live dates to about three months a year.
“We’ve got a reputation for being that super touring band that works hard, but we’ve moved to a place where this band makes a real choice to go out on the road,” said Reibl. “Now, when we do a tour, we’re really out there for the right reasons.”
Having the time and space to do their own thing means the band members are refreshed by the time a new set of live dates begins.
“We can enjoy it for what it started out as: this collective band that was a bit unexplainable in some ways, that made people dance and enjoy those concerts.” he said.
“We’ve come back into that frame of mind.
“So maybe that’s been the best part of the 10-year celebration, that we’re playing these songs in the best way we have in 10 years and just enjoying them for what they are.”
When the tour wraps up in April, Reibl plans to travel to Argentina to write some new songs and learn a new language.
“I’d like to learn the language and be in a new place and try to write songs again, not just writing songs in the back of a tour bus,” he said.