A trumpet. A keyboard. A drum machine. A guitar. A violin. A bass guitar. A slide whistle. Vocals. A melodica. A recorder. A crash cymbal.
You could be forgiven for thinking that this random assortment of musical instruments could form part of a game of ‘categories’ when your mate challenges you to name as many as possible in 30 seconds, despite being a significant number of pints down by this point.
But instead, it is a selection of the instruments played by the members of one of Manchester’s newest – and already most eclectic – bands: Catbandcat.
They are beginning to make waves on the live music scene after making their debut back in September, performing in five more gigs since then – including a joint-headline gig with another Manchester-based band called Tigers & Flies at Fuel – with plenty more to come over the next few months.
Their mixture of psychedelia, rock, acoustic, ambient, folk, and electronic music has made a real impression upon concert-goers, with individual influences ranging from jazz piano and electronic art-pop to Björk also blending seamlessly into their sound.
The band’s beginnings feel very 21st-Century: a message to a group chat.
“We had a bunch of friends who were musicians, and we posted a message asking: ‘Who wants to be in a band?’” says Rory, the band’s principal guitarist.
If that was nice and simple, coming up with a name was anything but.
“I wanted us to be named DORTOK (the surname of the bassist Deniz), but he wasn’t having any of it,” Rory confesses.
Eventually, they decided to base their name on cats, but with both Cat and Catband already used as profile names on Instagram, they settled on Catbandcat, as that username hadn’t been taken up yet.
“Do you think it’s a good name?” they ask, inquisitively. Well, it’s certainly unique.
It seemed only right at this point to ask the eternal question of if they prefer cats over dogs. The response is an unequivocal yes.
They add that one of the members who couldn’t make the interview – violinist Marla – likes canines more than felines, but clearly, it wasn’t a dealbreaker.
Onto a discussion about their sound, and the members admit that they didn’t really have an idea of what it would be when they began life as a group, but that they were excited as to what they could produce.
Once they got to writing music, Mikey, their vocalist – and resident Björk fan – believes that it was “naturally shaped by our instrumentation.
“We still do sound erratic when you listen to our songs, but when you know in your head which instruments to write for, there is inevitably going to be a certain level of cohesion.
“There is also a small amount of improvisation in what we write, but once we have an idea, we don’t switch it up too much.”
It definitely comes across in the live setting, as even though it may seem chaotic on first listen, there is a firm structure and form which allows the music to evolve as the song goes on.
Perhaps because of their novel blends of various genres and ideas, they have been well-received by those who have seen them perform.
But this good reception hasn’t come about by chance.
“The songs we have made suit being played live the most,” Rory explains, “because they are ear-grabbing and hopefully something you haven’t heard before.
“If it sounds nuts and new, then you’re going to remember it because it makes a good impression.”
Mhairi, a multi-instrumentalist whose primary focus is the trumpet, does caveat this by saying: “We are careful who we invite.”
Quotes such as that are clear examples of their charisma, self-awareness, and wit that are present throughout the interview.
Another comes from Mikey when he says: “If people don’t like it, they generally don’t try to talk to you afterwards.” Fair point well made.
Given that it is still early days, Tomas – the band’s keyboardist – acknowledges that they haven’t thought too far ahead in terms of where they want their sound to go just yet, as they are still discovering it at this stage.
However, there is definitely an underlying belief that they are close to reaching that point of knowing what suits them best, aided by what Tomas describes as a “learning experience” in performing live that all the band members are going through.
“Us playing live and hearing what other people say about us affects how we understand ourselves and helps us zero in on something,” believes Rory.
“We’re definitely on a trajectory towards having a sound and sitting in some sort of genre,” Mikey adds.
“Instead of having a collection of very different songs, you could easily say with some of them: ‘Well that’s the same band playing again,’ and that is a nice thing to think about.”
It is little wonder, therefore, that they have such a huge focus on their live sound as opposed to putting anything to record just yet.
Mhairi stresses the importance to them of only releasing the final project when the time is right to do so, to which Mikey agrees, saying that he’d much rather develop their live show than “put something out there just for the sake of it.”
So for the time being, you’ll have to experience the band exclusively at various concert venues across Manchester and beyond.
But make no mistake about it: they are definitely a band to keep an eye – and an ear – out for in the future.
Follow the band on Instagram @catbandcat.
Cover photo credit: @00sugarbumfairy.
