My little 8-year-old brother drew a picture of three cats and he wrote 'Cat Empire' under them. When we were looking for a name, I saw that drawing and it stuck with us. |
We already knew that any soul and jazz band has to go through James Brown. He didn't impart any wisdom -- he mumbled a lot when we talked to him -- but we learned a lot from his performance. |
We do a lot of improvisation. There's definitely an element in the music that is well-suited to that scene. |
We were jazz musicians in the early days. But as soon as we brought in the DJ, the shows turned from people sitting down to dancing. |
We're from Melbourne. And Melbourne has a scene where anything goes. |
We're quite comfortable playing to anyone. Our music adapts to the situation. |