Raw, Rock n’ Roll 2-piece, HELLCATS, are taking the scene by storm with their massive 70’s classic rock sound. Despite consisting of only drums and one guitar, these guys dominate the live circuit and are one of the MUST-SEE acts of 2016. See what they had to say ahead of their performance at A Place In The Sun.

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to chat to us!

We are stoked to see you guys on a large festival stage once again. How would you say your festival performances differ to those on a smaller club stage?

Thanks very much, we’re pretty stoked to be on a festival stage again, especially one as talked about as A Place in the Sun. I think this is going to be a special one, for bands and fans alike. I don’t really know if our performance changes specifically between festivals and club gigs. We always use every venue and crowd as fuel for our show. We could be playing to an intimate 50 people and they could be losing their shit, lost in the music, which we feed off and feed back. Or we could be playing to 1000 plus at a festival to people who have never even heard of us, so we’re exposing them to something new which evokes something different in us. I will say that there’s a lot more space on stage and off at festivals for me to run around and do weird shit, I don’t stand still when I play.

What are the pro’s and con’s of being a 2-piece in terms of writing and live performance?13668876_1038881202899328_1662152716214498731_o

Writing music in a two piece is the most natural, easiest and gratifying experience I’ve certainly ever had while writing music. Alessandro and I have a great musical connection, we’re cut from the same cloth and we have a no bullshit approach to writing. If something isn’t working, we move the fuck on and generally write something better- that’s usually harder in a 4 piece because you have 4 different opinions and ego’s to satisfy- its fucking exhausting. Our writing process is simple: Write the rad rif, add the pounding drums and sing the best vocal melodies, then fucking move on. We write our songs quickly, so if they sound like they were slapped together, it’s because they were. Sometimes its messy, but its always honest.

 

Playing live in a two piece is the most fun too. Because Al’ does all the singing I get to pound my guitar all over the stage like it’s wronged my family. The two of us feed off each others energy. There’s only two of us that wrote this mass of noise and we are totally into that and I think that comes through when we play live.

So you guys are heavily influenced by 60’s-70’s Rock n Roll, do you ever feel like you were born too late?

Yussis- bad! We both grew up on 70’s rock n roll, its what our fathers passed onto us. Al and I believe we must have been 13920355_1038881169565998_7298011324635176743_omaking music in huge bands in the 70’s and then died and got reincarnated in this life to start Hellcats.

What do you think the future holds for the raw, bare-knuckle rock n’ roll scene? How has it changed, and where do you think it is going?

Shit man, there is such a beautiful budding rock n roll scene in SA at the moment. You watch bands like Black Math and Sol Gems play and you believe there is a future for music in general, nevermind SA. People have gotten gatvol of cookie cutter bull shit that’s been played on radio over the last 10 years, and they’re yearning for something real and pure. The scene at the moment and going forward is just going to feed that hunger and get bigger and better.

You guys have just collaborated with the Ts & Cs on a new track, tell us a bit about that?

My God, we did something quite filthy with that song. It’s a perfect mixture of The Ts and Cs and Hellcats and neither band compromised on their own distinct sound and the mixture of the two is fucking dope. It was a real natural process for us, making the song- It involved whisky and good times, an excellent combination for writing a rock n roll song. Its beautiful!

The Ts & Cs are also on the festival lineup, will there be a live collaboration at all?13920156_1038881322899316_7939569020103146532_o

Probably not because we got too drunk on the night to remember what we played. That being said, maybe we get so drunk at A place in the sun that it all comes running back to us.

A Place In The Sun is four solid days of partying, what advice would you give festival-goers who want to maintain their party stamina?

Naps in between drinking binges. Redbull. Swimming. And DON’T FORGET TO EAT!!!

What would you like to see/see more of at South African festivals?

HELLCATS, boobs and more people that give a fuck about local music.

 

YOU CAN CATCH HELLCATS AT A PLACE IN THE SUN, 17-20 NOVEMBER 2016

 

 

***COMPETITION TIME*** 

Stand a chance to win yourself a ticket to see HELLCATS and many more at A Place In The Sun 2016

All you have to do is:

Share this interview on Facebook with the hashtag #APITS2016

Tell us your favourite HELLCATS song

Tag The Metalist za in your post

COMPETITION CLOSES THURSDAY 10 Novemebr at 15:00

 

 

 

 

 

 

Festival details:

17 – 20 November 2016

 

Tickets:

R400 –  Full Weekend Pass

R120 – Sunday Funday

Tickets available from: http://aplaceinthesun.nutickets.co.za/

 

Full Festival lineup:

http://www.aplaceinthesun.co.za/

 

 

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1352134561468204/

 

 

Interviewed by: Sammy SF (More from Sammy)

Shots fired by: Sammy SF (More From Sammy)

Date: 9 November 2016

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