Dear readers, it is our pleasure to offer you in this article an interview with a Heavy Rock band with Blues tinges from Melbourne, Australia whose latest album was re-released on vinyl on July 12, 2024. Please welcome Whoopie Cat.
Hi, how are you?
“Hey! I’m dan from whoopie cat. I sing and play guitar, Im feeling great“
The band name Whoopie Cat is very special, what does it mean to you?
“Whoopie cat was a misheard lyric from misty Mountain hop (led zeppelin). Robert plant sais “would we care”. Me and Jesse had been looking for a band name for some time and thought that it would be a dope name for a band“
You offer a heavy rock sound with blues traits, how did your passion for this sound come about?
“Originally when me and Jesse Started jamming again after our previous band had disbanded i had gotten out of punk which i had been heavily into and just entered my phase of getting super into blues, so originally i wanted to make a pure blues band sort of white stripes esk. I brought this idea to jesse and jman, jaks and jo became involved pretty fast, which evolved into what whoopie is as everyone had their own interests (metal/prog/punk/indie/pop). In whoopie we did our best at the time to keep things explorative and unanimous amongst all members, which sort of blended these sounds or gave diversity between tracks“
Your latest album “Weight in Gold” released in 2023, was released on vinyl in April 2024 via Kozmik Artifactz, what do we find different from the previous version?
“Just that’s its in vinyl format, which I’ve been told makes the music in higher quality. there’s also a
thankyou to fans insert with a collage of photos of the band.“
Both the music and the vocals are intense and sophisticated, what themes do the album’s lyrics deal with?
“Love, loss, gnostocism, pharaceutical intervention vs psychology/spirituality and social/economical divide and the ruling class“
Elaborate and engaging music at the same time, how does the creative process of your tracks take place?
“Usually it will start with the bones of a track that one of the members has written and then it will be brought to the rest of the band where we will start to add, subtract and refine elements until we’re happy, which can be fast or take alot of time to deliberate a 5 way agreement of how the song should sound or if it needs more or less. Some songs are hyper conceptualised and others are more subconscious flow gererated pieces. I personally think our music tends to work best when we blend these processes.“
This is your third album since 2016, how did you evoiluto your sound over time?
“We just progressed as musicians and falling into each other’s rhythms better id say. We each bring ideas that are unique so it can take tracks to places i never expected which i love. This process can take time but seems to generate a better result than rushing a song to be complete.“
A genre of yours that lends itself to live performances, do you have plans in this regard for the near future?
“No plans as of yet. We have not played together in a good while. And do not catch up very often. Everyone has been busy with life and getting older. Buying houses, having children and working alot to fund these paths.“
What advice would you give to young artists approaching music in a genre like yours?
“Make as much content as possible. Dont turn down any oppurtunities and play as much as you can. That being said just have fun, its why your Making the making the music in the first place right?“
The music market is constantly changing, how do you see the current scene in your country and more generally in your genre?
“I don’t think i can give the best opinion on auatralias music scene. I haven’t been out to local shows in a long time and our genre was neische. The scene i remember was nice, you would see a band and it would be a very social occasion.“
Do you have any other activities or artistic passions outside of music?
“Were all very artistic people, at the moment i have been more focused on making art than music when i have spare time as it fits better with my life, im still writing music but don’t get alot of time to play it. jman (bass) is a ridiculous artist, he designed all our album covers and has done work for reddit as a graphic designer making collectibles and last i spoke to him was working on graphics for an independent video game. Jesse makes cool art aswell, trippy stuff.“
I thank Whoopie Cat for the interview, wishing them all the best for the for the continuation of their artistic career.
“Thanks for the interview! Peace and love!“