Wenn die Nächte länger werden und Halloween näher rückt, erwacht Luvcat so richtig zum Leben. Die Künstlerin aus Liverpool, die sich selbst als Vampir im Herzen bezeichnet, verbindet düstere Romantik mit einer guten Portion Rock’n’Roll. Auf dem Sziget Festival plaudert sie mit uns im Interview über ihre gothischen Kindheitsträume, wilde Tour-Erlebnisse und warum ein kleines schwarzes Kätzchen das perfekte Tour-Must-have wäre. Außerdem verrät sie, warum Halloween der einzig wahre Release-Tag ist.
Frontstage Magazine: For everyone reading this interview, can you introduce yourself really quickly?
Luvcat: I’m Luvcat and I’m from Liverpool in the UK and I now live in London.
Frontstage Magazine: You originally made music under your personal name, but then you changed it to Luvcat. How did the transition change your music style or did it stay the same?
Luvcat: I think I kind of returned back to my gothic childhood roots. My dream as a child was to be a vampire and I was obsessed with vampire films and the Addams Family and all of the dark, sexy literature and film. And then I guess that came back to me when I decided to be Luvcat.
Frontstage Magazine: If your music had a secret ingredient, what would that be?
Luvcat: Umm, a secret ingredient? I think it would be lipstick.
Frontstage Magazine: Your new album comes out on Halloween this year. I have a feeling I kind of know the answer, but any reason why you selected that date specifically?
Luvcat: Well, because a lot of my songs are written about strange and surreal and dark experiences of mine and I feel like Halloween is the day of the year where I feel most myself. And I wanted to release it, as soon as I found out it was a Friday and that it was possible to release the album then. That’s what we decided to do.
Frontstage Magazine: What do you usually do on Halloween? Are you a party person?
Luvcat: Well, last Halloween was my favourite so far. We were on tour with The Last Dinner Party and we were playing in Amsterdam and I got the whole band to dress up as the Addams Family. I was Morticia and our drummer was Cousin Itt with all the hair. That was probably my favourite Halloween so far and it’s going to be really difficult to beat that this year, but we’re going to do it.
Frontstage Magazine: Is there a track on the album that you’re dying to play live?
Luvcat: Yeah, there is. I’ve held back a few songs from the album just to surprise the fans that have been with me from the beginning. As soon as the album comes out, we’re going to start playing them in the set. One of them is called „Emma Dilemma“ and it’s about my mum’s best friend. She is crazy, a total man eater. She eats men for breakfast and she’s full of mischief and fun and magic.
Frontstage Magazine: Does she know you’ve wrote a song about her?
Luvcat: Yeah, and I sampled her voice. She loves it.
Frontstage Magazine: Is there a song in your set that you’re playing that you wish people knew more of the backstory to?
Luvcat: There’s a song called “Blushing“ I would love people to know. It’s got a deep, long story. It was the first song I wrote for Luvcat, but the last song I finished, I wrote the bridge for that song very recently. I wrote it to summarise the past few years of my life and everything that’s changed. We’ve gone from playing pubs to playing in Japan and playing festivals all over the world. I was falling in love at the time with my bass player and it was a very magical, beautiful experience to be young, in love and making music and making a name for ourselves finally after so many years of struggle.
Frontstage Magazine: What’s something about performing at a festival like SZIGET or any other big festival that’s different to doing your own headlining shows?
Luvcat: Well, I guess you have to try and win the crowd over. Not everyone knows the music and you never know if you’re going to walk out and there’s going to be three people there. It’s definitely a lot more scary.
Frontstage-Magazine: I think SZIGET is a just a great festival because the crowd seems to just love every artist playing.
Luvcat: Yeah, they were very kind to us too.
Frontstage Magazine: What kind of environment brings out your best performance?
Luvcat: I love playing in smoky old jazz clubs. I love being with the boys and being free to run with whatever is happening at the moment. Obviously, rock and roll shows have to have a bit more structure and polish but I love playing. Everything can come undone a little bit more in a jazz club.
Frontstage Magazine: What is something small that keeps you grounded during the chaos of tour and festivals?
Luvcat: I think being with the same group of lads since I was 17. I’ve been with the same boys in the band and we’ve all grown together and made mistakes together. It’s a family. It’s like being on a school trip.
Frontstage Magazine: What’s the weirdest thing on your rider?
Luvcat: We don’t have a crazy rider yet but as soon as I can I will.
Frontstage-Magazine: What would you put on it?
Luvcat: What would I put on it? I would just love to have like a kitten.
Frontstage-Magazine: So you just have kitten everywhere?
Luvcat: A little black kitten or something to calm me down before I go insane. Maybe not quite fair on the cat.
Frontstage Magazine: Without giving too much away, what can we expect from your upcoming album? Apart from what has already been released.
Luvcat: It’s definitely the second half of the album which is all the newer songs. It’s definitely a lot darker and some weird twisted stories on there. It’s quite theatrical and mischievous and playful. I think it’s diving deeper into the themes that I’ve already been exploring. I feel like I’m only just getting started. I have so many more stories to tell.
Fotocredits: Laura Keimel
