[PREVIEW]: Sleepy Kitty Talks SXSW, Drone Brunches, and Tonight’s Show at the Luminary
August 12, 2014
Tonight, Sleepy Kitty holds court at the Luminary Center for the Arts in the heart of the Cherokee arts and business district. They’ll support DC’s clever “crime rockers” Chain and the Gang, lead by East Coast post-punk pioneer Ian Svenonius. Paige Brubeck of SK answered a few questions as the indie rock duo prepared for the show:
Shervin Lainez
Last time IWTAS caught up with Sleepy Kitty was August of 2013, prior to the release of your second LP, Projection Room. Talk to us about taking P.R. on the road. Where have you been lately and what are some highlights from your travels?
It’s been really fun touring for the last year and getting to see new places and familiar favorite ones. One thing that was great that we got to do was go to Austin for SXSW. We had 6 shows in 3 days. It was pretty crazy! We also had Dave Grelle from The Feed on keys and our friend Gabe Doiron on guitar on a few songs for those shows. It was great to play some of the bigger, more complicated arrangements from the record with those guys. Some of those things can be hard to pull of as a two piece.
In July we had a great time in Detroit at a place called PJ’s Lager House. Detroit is a real cool place and kind of reminds me of St. Louis in a way. We also really liked Dayton, OH where we played with two excellent bands, Bummers and Sleep Fleet. And just last weekend, we played a house show festival in DC. All of the bands were fantastic and all completely different. We played at a thing called the Drone Brunch at this festival, which took place during the afternoon. Basically it went from drone musicians to live bands, all with plenty of omelettes.
You’re playing a St. Louis show on the 12th with DC rockers Chain and the Gang at the Luminary. How’d you end up on that bill? And being enthusiastic denizens of Cherokee Street, talk about what you think the Luminary’s move means to the neighborhood.
Luminary reached out to us about playing the show. It was definitely one we wanted to be at either way. We saw Chain and the Gang at Pig Slop last time they were in town, and we’ve been fans ever since. As for the Luminary on Cherokee Street, I think it’s great to see an art/music establishment setting up in a long term way. Five or six years ago Cherokee was vacant, and west of Jefferson…if it had any reputation, it wasn’t a good one. Now there’s been great buzz around the street and for the last few years property values have gone up and whatnot.
I’m happy to see the development of nightlife on Cherokee, but I was really sad to see places like Pig Slop, and Cranky Yellow, and Globe Drug disappear. The art/weird/diverse places are what made this street attractive to so many people and it would be a shame if all the arts community got replaced by whatever happens next to a neighborhood. You see it happen all over the place, and right now we’re still in that grey zone. It’s a really important time for the identity of the street. Luminary buying on Cherokee seems like a commitment to keeping art in the neighborhood.
What’s new or in the works for you two? What factors make up your decision to go into the studio and the type of product you create (i.e. EP, LP, single, art, etc.)?
Right now, we’ve got quite a few music videos in the works, including one with hand screenprinted animations that we’ve been working on for too long to say. I’m really excited about that one, though. Besides that, whenever we’re in town, we’ve been working on new material. It’s hard to find time to write on the road but it’s easy to find things to write about! New places, people, and stories. Then when we get home, it’s like a waterfall of information that we somehow have to contain.
For more information on the show this evening, head this way. Doors 8p, $12.
