Issue 515

Gypsy & The Cat According to Xavier Bacash, former DJ and one half of Melbourne melodic rock band Gyspy And The Cat, there are a lot of misinformed publicists around who are making the duo's journey to popularity seem a lot easier than it actually was. "It took a long time for us to get a record deal," he states. "It took about eight months and I know that's not particularly long as some bands take years and years but I think we have, in a way, coined a new way of doing things." Bacash is referring to the seemingly backwards way that the pair went about securing said deal. "A lot of bands play lots of local gigs and tour for a while, and then they get signed, and then their record label puts them in a studio with a really good producer and manager with everything all organised and easy for them." Instead, Bacash and fellow DJ Lionel Towers rented a recording studio and crafted their own album from scratch, with no outside help. "Thankfully, the songs just came out and they worked. I think our struggle was that I worked in a factory for two years and Lionel was at University getting paid a scholarship fee which is basically nothing, so renting the studio and doing it all ourselves was really hard." The duo only started playing live gigs after securing a record deal in London, with Parklife, Splendour In The Grass and Big Day Out amongst some of their first performances. "It was so intimidating, we were chucked in the deep end," Bacash laughs. "Thankfully our first couple of shows were in England where no one knew us and it was a really good way of teaching us to play live. We learnt that it's not just about playing your instruments the right way or singing in tune, there are so many other facets to consider. If you can't write songs, it doesn't matter how good you are live. Bands can be amazing live, but if there was no vibe at the show, if it was robotic and stagnant, then fans will walk away unhappy." Their sound has been compared to that of many different artists, from Jeff Buckley to Empire Of The Sun, a fact that the boys don't mind at all. "We have so many influences and it comes across in every song, so the album is kind of like a greatest hits of our influences," Bacash explains. "The sound and style changes throughout the album, but fundamentally it's soft rock- easy listening melodic soft rock. I'm hoping that we bring back the classic style of song writing, the big hooky choruses and get rid of that auto tune stuff which is so fake,' he adds. 'We're trying to bring a bit of genuineness, sincerity and a bit of dagginess to the music scene. Everyone right now is trying to be too cool." Gypsy And The Cat are now based in London after signing a record contract with UK label RCA, which Bacash feels is for the best. "If we do break in Australia this year, then we've already got a label and a partnership overseas so it will get carried on. Sadly, for a lot of artists, they get signed in Australia in a worldwide deal but they've got to go overseas and convince their other record label to put them out." Regardless, local audiences have embraced the band with open arms this summer, and the band's recent late edition to the Future Music line up is testament to their broad appeal pulling power after their festival debut at Big Day Out just last month. Bacash is particularly excited to finally meet Mark Ronson as part of the tour, after the producer previously featured the band on his radio show. "We haven't been able to catch up with him in the flesh yet, so we're looking forward to meeting him, and hopefully figure some stuff out for the future. We'd also really love to meet MGMT and the Tame Impala guys. " Gypsy & The Cat will play the Future Music Festival on Mon 14 Mar at Rundle & Rymill Park. By Mercedes Whibley