Catcall, Sydney

Current band rollcall? (Members and instruments/roles?)
I'm Catherine Kelleher, the vocalist and songwriter. I collaborate mainly with Crumbs, who is Melbourne-based producer Max Kohane. I've also recently collaborated with Sydney producer Mailer Daemon.
Live, I perform my set with Sleater Brockman and have recently acquired a male back up dancer, "Jack Ass".

Catcall has been around since... January 2007.

Let's play Six Degrees of Catcall - who are some note-worthy musicians you've worked with?
Kiosk (for three years, I played in this punk band).
The Crayon Fields/Sly Hats (my EP was recorded by Geoff O'Connor).
Agents of Abbhorence (my producer plays in this grind band).
Sleater Brockman/Ro Sham Bo (DJs and friends).
Mailer Daemon and Peach (we recently collaborated).

First song ever written? Bodies was the first song I put on my MySpace. It was a downbeat, slow jam with a sparse organ and bassline. I wrote the beat myself, and the vocal was quite soft and breathy.

Music-making for you began when... I first had piano lessons at the age of five. But really it started when I met Jack and Angie and started playing in Kiosk when I was 17, at the end of 2003. We kept pretty busy until mid 2006 when we toured the USA. And then from early 2007, I was drawn towards making pop.

Most unusual sound/instrument you've used in your music? Probably my harmonica.

Strangest gig you've ever played? More bad ones than strange ones, haha. Me and Sleater got heckled at an Annandale show once. By Mogans (Modular-bogans).

Do you pin up images when recording to help inspire your songs? (Or put up other things in the studio for the same effect?) Not really!!! I mainly just listen to the same kinda tracks that are inspiring me at the moment. Right now, it's Neneh Cherry and The Go-Go's.

Unlikeliest thing to influence your music? Party pix photographers.

Most unconventional topic you've covered in your lyrics... Baking!

If you had to offer any of your lyrics as love advice (or life advice), you would offer... Not the best person to give love advice, hahaha!!

Most useful lyrics you've heard in a song? "I don't want the world, I only want what I deserve" - The Gossip.

Do you think where you live in affects your music in any way? Yes. Sydney has made me who I am. I think Catcall is definitely a product of the scene which surrounds DJs and performers like Ro Sham Bo and Hoops.

You would love to record with.... Bangladeshi, Switch, Sinden

Favourite person you have performed with/recorded with... THE GOSSIP.

If record stores had to come up with a new genre name to file your music under, it would be called... Hip pop.

Outside of Catcall, you also... work in film, most recently in independent film distribution. Film is my other great passion, especially arthouse, independent cinema.

Next for you is... Writing my album with Crumbs and collaborating with several other amazing Australian producers. Then touring the country and then the USA with Sleater Brockman.

Five things you currently love

Musically? Kid Cudi, hip hop perfection.
In Print? Lexicon Devil. The bio of Darby Crash and The Germs, my favourite punk band. Really intense life story.
Locally? Cafe Zoe, my actual local!
Visually? Photographs by Sophie Calle, the French artist.
Cinematically? City Of God/The Constant Gardener by Fernando Meirelles. Intense stories told in an incredible way.

Catcall's beat-spiked, ultra-feisty, and slick-yet-DIY-spirited hip hop is sharply and sassily-showcased on her recent EP Anniversary. You can find out more about it, plus details about her gigs and blog by clicking on her home page.