You’ve been over in London for a while, how was that? We got back before Big Day Out. London was cold and boring. I don’t love London.
How would you describe your sound? Yacht rock. Electronic yacht rock is how I like to describe our sound.
You often get compared to Empire of the Sun, why do you think that is? Lazy journalism to be honest. I’ve never heard an Empire of the Sun song with piano in it. I think that what they do and what we do is completely different. Maybe because I sing in costume and so does Luke Steele so maybe that’s why, but you know so do The Bee Gees and Abba and so do many other bands.
How was Future Music Festival? It was really cool. We got to meet the MGMT guys and hang with them and also Tame Impala, and that was cool. Because we never really get a chance to hang with other bands so it was an awesome opportunity to party with them.
What is next for you guys? We’ve got Coachella in the States and then a tour nationally around Australia in May. Also with a tour with Kylie Minogue in June.
That’s interesting, are you a fan of Kylie’s? Well you know I’m a bit too young to really remember her…
You don’t remember her on Neighbours then? Nah I don’t, but you know, she’s the queen of pop in the UK and Australia so it’s an amazing opportunity for us to tour with someone like her.
So tell us about Coachella, do you know what day you’re performing? We’re actually performing on the first day, which is cool.
So you can check out the other bands then? Well I think we have to leave the next day, which sucks but we’ve seen all the other bands anyway so yeah you know.
Really? All of them? Well nah but we only really want to see The Strokes and we’ve already seen them because we played with them when they were in Melbourne last year.
Tell me about your debut album, Gilgamesh, what is the meaning of the title? It’s a reference. Gilgamesh was an old kind of mythical, God-like kind of king who was at war with another colony. So he built a wall around his city to protect his people. And so I use it as a metaphor. Because I broke up with my girlfriend, well actually, she dumped me, and that’s what she was doing to me, she was kind of building a wall around me. Lyrically, that’s the inspiration for a lot of the record.
Did you know there’s a bar in Camden called Gilgamesh? Yeah! I had dinner there. We played at Koko’s in Camden and so after we went in there and had this Pan-Asian food that was fucking amazing.
How did you and Lionel meet? We met DJ-ing about four or five years ago and we started making dance music together which was shit, but you know, now we’re doing this.
So who’s the Gypsy and who’s the cat? Ha. We don’t answer that question.
Gypsy & The Cat’s debut album Gilgamesh is out now. They play Adelaide (May 6), Perth (May 7), Melbourne (May 13), Brisbane (May 14), Wollongong (May 19), Sydney (May 20) and Newcastle (May 21). www.moshtix.com.au. They’re also touring with Kylie Minogue around Australia in June.
