Interview with Ryan
Forum regular Anonymity Man managed to line up an interview with the band. As they prepared for their Newcastle gig, he was given a last-minute interview with the bassist, Ryan Munro. The phone interview yielded some interesting answers to some interesting questions!
Who am I talking to?
It’s Ryan.
Cool. Have you ever been to the ‘Cat Alley Forums’?
Yeah, it’s amazing. You guys have more info on us than us.
First up, can I grab a date of birth off you?
26th of July 1981
So, what kind of music did you listen to as a kid?
Funny. I was just thinking about that today. All sorts of stuff. I used to watch Rage and Video Hits as a kid and I was pretty much into anything they played. But I was thinking about that today and maybe they’ve changed or I’m just the wrong age group, but the music charts seem to be just crap now. Then in high school I got into jazz. In year nine I started playing guitar then moved onto bass and then double bass.
We’ve been told you can play every bass line from a pop song ever – have you been challenged and failed?
Similar to Carlo from the horns said he could play every sax line from a pop song and got stumped on ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ by INXS. He wasn’t happy about that. I can’t do every bass line ever, my radar hasn’t really been on commercial radio for the last five years, but I can play anything I am into.
What other bands have you been in other than The Cat Empire?
Mostly just playing jazz gigs in Melbourne. People don’t really play in a band with the same people playing the same stuff. Some do. The Cat Empire is one of those bands that do. Have you heard of The Jazz Cats?
Yep
Some of the guys played in that before The Cat Empire.
Do you have a favourite club in Melbourne?
Something about the Night Cat was amazing. I used to see bands there before The Cat Empire. Also the Forum. We’ve played there twice. The stage is in the middle of the room surrounded by the audience.
We’ve seen you lie down on stage with the bass – Are you the Lazy Cat?
No, not really. I sometimes lie down in tribute to the recording of that song. It was recorded really late at night and half the band wanted to go home and half the band wanted to stay and finish recording. So I just got down on the floor and lay the bass on top of me, and I only played stuff I could play with one hand.
Do you have any part in the song-writing process?
Not really. Harry and Felix write most of the songs and bring them to us with either a rough structure or a clear idea of what they want.
Do you have a favourite Cat Empire song?
Well there is a new song we are working on at the moment.
Can you tell me what it is, or are you going to keep it a secret?
I’m going to keep it a secret, but apart from that, I like ‘Two Shoes’. That’s been given new life for us recently.
Two shoes is a great song. I’ve got the ‘Tapes, Breaks and Out-takes’ version.
That’s a great version.
Do you think your music will go down well in the U.S. considering the government has ‘discouraged’ radio stations from playing other songs with anti-war lyrics?
It’s pretty ridiculous. They shouldn’t do that. It’s stupid. Anyone who sees us play just gets into it.
[ed: Note the lines from The Chariot:
Then our allies grew
wherever we would roam
see whenever we’re together
every stranger feel at home]
It went down well last time we played in the States.
Do your politics agree with the songs'?
We’ve never been fierce political campaigners. Yeah, we’re not too proud of our leaders at the moment. We played a gig last weekend against logging in Tasmania. It turns out 85% of Australians, don’t want the trees cut down. It’s a lot of responsibility.
What do you think of the line ‘everyone wants to pass as cats’ in the song ‘Mr. Jones’ by the Counting Crows?
Never thought about that line. Wait (sings) I want to be a lion/Everyone wants to pass as cats/We all want to be big stars/But we got no reason for that. I think it’s that he wants to be more than he is while everyone else happy being who they are. I think that’s more about him than the Cat Empire.
Are you a cat person?
No. The funny thing about being in a band with cat in the title is I’ve never had a cat. Probably because my mum was terrified of them. I’m more a dog person.
Have you ever thought of covering the Josie and the Pussycats theme?
No. We haven’t thought of that. We don’t really focus much on the cat side of things. The press does though. Especially with their headlines. A lot of people think they are being clever using words like jazz and cat. Makes you want to vomit sometimes.
Some of the fans at the Cat Alley are worried about the band's health. Are you guys suffering from exhaustion due to constant gigging?
Yeah, it happens at the end of every tour. Everyone gets sick. Ross from the horns asked if I had ‘Tour Bowel’. Yeah, but we’re all well and just taking it easy.
What do you think of people writing in alternating capitals on the Internet?
I don’t know. It seems like a lot of effort going to waste. All that shift and un-shift. It’s a lot of work. In SMS’s aren’t caps used when you are shouting? Does that mean they are alternating between shouting and whispering in the same word? It just seems strange.
Do you think you could arrange for the words “Cat Alley” to be incorporated into a future song?
Well it’s almost in
Manifesto. There is a line about cats in the alley (sings)
We believe in the ace up the sleeve/and we shine our gold teeth/at the cats in the alley. Yeah that could easily be changed to say Cat Alley when being performed live.
I think that’s it. Thanks for your time. Thanks for the interview.
Great work on the site. It’s amazing what stuff you guys find. You guys have more stuff up there than we do.
I’ll be working off my notes so I’ll try my best not to misrepresent you. I won’t say your mum is terrified of cats because of an incident involving Josie and the Pussycats.
That happens sometimes.
Yeah, well I’ll do my best, and I won’t put words in your mouth. Bye.
Bye.
Thanks again to Ryan and the band for their time, and Anonymity Man for conducting the interview.
Posted by Casey at June 13, 2004 02:38 PM
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