“Initially, it was our lead singer, Cat Named Joe, who got the ball rolling,” he explains. “They were playing for around six months before I joined. Small shows, but then we did this warehouse gig and it was great. We obviously work a little better at a themed night, where people are already in a certain mindset for what you’re doing. Everybody is already planning on dressing up, you know, things like that. We’re always well-received, especially because we do have these notable songs that a lot of people recognise, so it’s a good way to immediately get their attention. But also there’s the attitude people get from the stage. Nobody is having a better time than us. It’s always a party, which is great because people really get into it.”
The moment you learn there’s a band out there dedicated to the music of Quentin Tarantino, you’re instantly amazed that nobody has run with the idea before. His oeuvre is brimming with quotes and references that have seeped into everyday culture, and his celebrated soundtracks are the stuff of cinematic legend. There are really few other director’s whose influences are so varied, which makes a tribute band all the more exciting. That said, the world is poorer for not having a Spielberg Family Jug Band.
“It was always going to be Tarantino, on the strengths of the soundtracks alone. They’re spread across nearly every genre. Rock, blues, soul, country, Spaghetti Western. You cross every border of music, and it gives us something interesting to learn every time we go to learn a new song. There’s a lot of iconography in their as well. The suits are recognisable, and anything from Kill Bill people will instantly get. You can even throw a line of dialogue out and people know where it’s from. We have dialogue interspersed through the whole set, and with just a single line you see this response in the audience, ‘Oh, of course,’ and then you get the follow-up song. It makes a bit of a narrative in a way.”
With so many genres to choose from, catering a unique show has become something of a band strength. Plots begin to bleed into each other, while certain themes can spark unexpected directions. Add a splash of blood-dappled theatricality, and you have a gig no one is going to forget in a hurry.
“We’ve had set lists where one song will thematically lead into the next one, rather than sticking to how they’re used in the films. But we’ve also done shows set in the Titty Twister [From Dusk Till Dawn] with a full vampire theme. By the end of the night, we were completely covered in blood and gore, it was great. We’ve had a couple of bloody gigs now where we’ve all been shot up by the end, blood all over the stage. Generally speaking, nothing’s off the table. We have almost 50 songs now to keep things varied. If the gig has started to get a little dancey and we’re playing, say, Never Can Tell from Pulp Fiction, we might break out something like Angry Cockroaches from Dusk till Dawn. We’re always finding ways to keep the party going.”
BY ADAM NORRIS
