What happens when classical meets classic rock? This.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
San Francisco, CA – USA
How did you meet?
We met through a mutual musician friend. When another drummer I had lined up for a recording cancelled on me, Mike was recommended to fill in. We were strangers but played so naturally together it freaked us both out. The rest is history.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We started in 2010 – so eight years so far.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
It’s actually making fun of me. This was the first project I’ve been in where I play sitting down. I found myself thrashing around and my friend poked fun at me: “Sit, Kitty! Sit! Good kitty.” And the name was born.
What are your influences?
Mike grew up on classic rock like Rush and Zeppelin. I grew up studying mostly classical music – Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. And it shows for both of us!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our instrumentation typically makes us stand out – no guitars! Our setup is pretty simple. Piano, vocals and drums. But we play hard, and we play loud. Many people don’t seem to expect that level of energy from a duo without guitars.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Overall our lyrics lean toward the dark side. I’m goth on the inside for sure. I like using a lot of imagery and because of my religious upbringing there tends to be reoccurring themes around Christian dogma as well.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Our live shows are intense – we expend a lot of energy. There’s lots of head-banging and feet flying and Mike standing up and smashing the drums. We’ve been performing since 2010 so we’ve done hundreds of shows all over the world – it’s our very favourite thing.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Once a mosh pit crowd ended up smacking the boom mic right into my mouth during a show and I was bleeding for the rest of the show. They felt bad about it though because I had so many whisky shots next to my chair by the time the show was over there was no way I could have possibly drank them all without dying.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
I tend to keep it pretty simple when we’re on the road. I play a Korg SP 170s. It’s lightweight and has a great piano tone and key touch. Mike plays a John Bonham model Ludwig maple kit with silver sparkle wrap.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Our 4th album, Tectonic, came out in May of this year. We branched out a little with this one and tried some new styles and experimented with songwriting. We’ve got several new music videos out as well for songs off this album “Paper Doll”, “What Doesn’t Kill You” and “Burst” so far.
What are your plans for 2018?
We’re playing as much as possible around the US and lining up a new creative project for fall of 2019. I’m also launching a new solo project that will happen alongside Sit Kitty Sit. We have more music videos coming up as well with our ultimate focus on an international tour starting in 2020.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We’d be opening for Juliette and the Licks and our opener would be The Go Ahead – another California based band we share the stage with pretty often!
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