From larrikin Aussie ska to Cuban rhythms recorded in Havana, The Cat Empire have shown they are as much chameleons as they are comfortable in their own skin.
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Now in their 16th year, the festival favourites are making new inroads overseas while keeping the Australian inflection that carried them to success with summer session hits Hello and Days Like These.
The Cat Empire will land in Ballarat next week with fellow festival mainstay, roots singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd.
Fresh off the back of playing some of their biggest overseas gigs yet in Spain, Germany and France, vocalist and percussionist Felix Reibl said the band still had a “really strong” fire burning.
“Music is kind of wonderful because it lasts a lifetime and you keep becoming more and more of a student as you go through it and The Cat Empire has always been incredibly diverse musically and that is only continuing.
“I think real music is listening more than performing. I think most musicians will tell you that - that you listen first and then you start to play.”
Rieble looks back at the band’s break out self-titled album – which showed a flair for plain speaking and a love of sun, rum and women – with a mix of pride and embarrassment.
“You look back at songs we made so long ago and some things feel dated but the energy and the music really ring true.
I think real music is listening more than performing, I think most musicians will tell you that - that you listen first and then you start to play.
- Felix Riebl, The Cat Empire
“It’s the combination of sometimes pride, sometimes embarrassment but a real recognition of that energy and a lot of people still really love that album.”
The Cat Empire’s 2016 release, Rising With The Sun, is the band’s sixth studio album since the release of The Cat Empire in 2013.
At the start Reible said he fixed on “saying it how it is”.
“When it worked it was effective, when it didn’t it was kind of crude,” he said.
“Nowadays when I write songs I’m more excited by not exactly knowing what they’re about but just knowing they’re authentic.
“But a good song is a good song, no matter when you write it.”
The Cat Empire and Xavier Rudd will play North Gardens on Sunday, January 29 with supports Sahara Beck, Ocean Alley and Harts. General admission is $99.