NATE MILK : Sings, plays acoustic guitar and Microkorg synthesizer and turns your hard earned money into beautiful songs
CHAMPAGNE JAMES ROBERTSON : Plays electric guitar
NIGEL HEBBLEWHITE : Plays bass like a fog horn hooked up to a Pentium 9. He once slap-popped a hole in his own face so he doesn't do that stuff anymore
JAKE OELRICHS : Plays drums, glockenspiel, and works as a part time spirit councilor at a summer camp for fat kids.
Quite possibly the hardest working original rock and roll band in Toronto, Run With The Kittens have played almost three hundred shows in their four year career. Their weekly Tuesday night residency at the historic Cameron House has become a must see event, promising a fresh, entertaining night of great music, week after week. The stories of them rolling into towns throughout Ontario in their big black bus are becoming more commonplace. Winning new fans with each gig is a testament to the contageous energy of the band.
It’s like when you and your friends would put your favorite hits of the day on the hi-fi and rock out on badminton rackets and brooms, with your 'singer' letting loose into a turkey baster. Now imagine you're in the middle of that, and you've magically been transported to the world of grown-ups, arriving with a cement truck's worth of great songs and the tightest performance to be found anywhere. Got it? That's Run With The Kittens. "The best live band I have seen in 20 years." says Terry Brown (engineer for Donovan & Hendrix, Producer for Max Webster and Rush). Terry engineered/mixed and produced the follow up to Run With The Kittens self titled debut, entitled “Condos and Lofts”, released on March 16th, 2007 at the Horse Shoe Tavern. Sometimes comparisons to Beck or Ween or maybe the Pixies pop up from time to time, but they tend to wear off within a few songs. The same "modern" sound and approach is there, though. It's a mash up of 20th century popular music. Bossa Nova, stadium rock, disco, hip-hop, children's songs, lounge jazz and grooving instrumentals all appear in a usual Run With The Kittens set. The real strength of the band is they not only manage to keep the average listener's attention through the changes in a set, they also create such a feeling of passion and enjoyment in their delivery, being dragged along for the laugh-out-loud ride is inevitable. Unless you like your live shows to be a moody, introspective shoe-gazer affair. Then it's a challenge.
With the recent purchase of an old school bus, Run With The Kittens have taken their razor-sharp show on the road, halfway across Canada to Halifax. Their most recent accomplishment is the completion of their third studio album titled 'Bangers and Mash'. Working with the same producer as their second record, Terry Brown, Bangers and Mash offers a punk-neogrunge-heavymetal sound juxtaposed with some dark haunting numbers. This new record was released on the 14th of Sept at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.
"Back upstairs, I came across Run with the Kittens, who are a my pick for the festival's best kept local secret. Four talented musician's with an incredibly dynamic range and a very intense, weird sense of humour, frontman Nate Milk has a commanding, electrifying stage presence, and it's almost impossible to get a clear picture of him due to the constant belly laughter he inspires.
Chatting with their bass player afterwards, I found out that a good chunk of what they do is improvised, and everyone's constantly trying to mess each other up.
RWTK have a regular night every Tuesday at Cameron House (408 Queen W.) through the end of August. I don't use these words lightly, so listen up citizens of Toronto: if you pass up the opportunity to witness this genius spectacle you're making a huge mistake, one that could haunt your until the end of your days. Don't say I didn't warn you."
That was a great set at Holy Joes for NXNE. The only Tool I felt was the buzzsaw energy of the band lighting-up the ceiling-lights with an arsenal of rock and roll fury. Frenetic, highly catchy, and entertaining. The Kittens. Continuously marking their territory.
This latest video is pure genius, which I have come to expect from you guys. I feel lucky that I happened to be on the street while some of that reportage was going down, especially Mark Of Slavery Man, who is one of the strangest and most obnoxious slaves I've ever seen. Anyway, I wish I could be there at Holy Joe's on Saturday but I will be in Ottawa, the town that fun forgot, with The Undesirables. It's gonna remember fun, if only for one night.
Hello kitties. If you are in Toronto June 8th, you really should try to see The Pack A.D. play at Sneaky Dee's. I just saw them tonight, and my mind is blown. Like out of my head.
Thanks for the add! Wishing you all the best! Cheers, The WAC gals We.Are.Canadian Every Thursday from 6-8pm EST on CJLO (www. cjlo. com) & Tuesday from 11pm-1am EST on PUNKRADIOCAST (www. punkradiocast. com)
Hey boys! We're playing NXNE this year in anticipation of the July release of our debut album, "Here". We have 3 tracks from the album up NOW (plus three tracks from the 'vaults'). Hope you can make it to our Toronto showcase on June 13th!..
lejitt.
