A
fter a comparatively quiet
2018 the British retro-
rockers are back with
a third album, Daytrip To Narnia,
and a string of live dates. Guitarist
Greg Hart sets the scene.With opening slots for Thunder,
Deep Purple and Status Quo,
2017 was quite a year for the
Cats. Did any of those bands
offer feedback or advice?
All three were very complimentary
and gave us fantastic welcomes.
[Purple’s] Roger Glover and Steve
Morse shook our hands and told us
how amazing we were, and Francis
Rossi [from Quo] stormed off
playfully because we had longer
hair than him. He was great.[Thunder singer] Danny Bowes
used to manage the band. Were
you disappointed when the
arrangement ended?
Yeah, although when I saw
Thunder’s schedule it was
obviously going to happen, he
simply didn’t have the time for us.
But it was very amicable. There
were limited opportunities for us
to perform live in 2018, so we
simply cracked on with making
the album.Daytrip To Narnia didn’t feel
quite as immediate as its
predecessors, though it’s quite
a grower.
Yeah, I agree but hopefully it takes
the listener on a journey. The
albums that take their time in
getting under your skin often turn
out to be the best ones.What possessed you to write
a twenty-seven-minute concept
piece, The Story Of Johnny Rocket?
I did it because I can [laughs].
I know we’ve got our naysayers
and a bunch of mega-fans, but at theend of the day Mick Wilson [of
10cc, who co-wrote much of
the album] and I write for our
own pleasure. Sure, it’s a concept
piece but you can pick out the
individual songs.The jury seems to be out on
Thunder In The Night, thealbum’s faux disco song, with
one online critic claiming it
sounds like “the Village People
on a bad day”.
[Laughs] Well, that person just
needs to shag his wife a bit more,
don’t they? It was mischievous,
I admit, and I knew from the start
that it would divide the camp. But
as Freddie Mercury once said: “It’s
only a fucking record.” I said from
day one that I don’t want to be grey,
let’s be black or white.Mega-fans of The Sweet will
have noticed a nod at the latter’s
Discophony (Dis-Kof-O-Ne).
It’s all about attention to detail.
The work that goes into our songs
is painstaking, and having my hero
Andy Scott [of Sweet] on the
album is such a big honour.There’s a tour with Rock
Goddess and Dirty Thrills- a fairly unusual bill?
I disagree. I’ve loved Rock Goddess
for many years and Dirty Thrills
are a good, young hard rock band.
With us doing our thing, that’s
something for everyone. DL
The tour begins in Bristol on
March 8.“The work that
goes into our
songs is
painstaking.”
Cats In Space
Our melodious feline friends are back with a new album and shows.
104 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM
G
uitarist Charlie Griffith sets the
scene as the critically acclaimed
British prog-metal band approach
their biggest headline tour so far.How did you feel when you heard that
Haken’s fifth studio record, Vector, was
Prog magazine’s writers’ album of 2018?
These days we kind of expect to be in
there somewhere, but topping the list was
a complete surprise because so many
good albums were made last year. Prog
has supported us every step of the way, for
which we’re very grateful.It’s taken the band twelve years to become
regular headliners of venues such as
Islington’s Assembly Hall in London.
Would ‘steady’ be the word to describe
that progress?
Well, we’ve certainly been very patient. We
always believed that if we made the right
music then the rest would follow, overnight
success was definitely not among our goals.Prog-metal is pretty unfashionable even
from within the prog world – a lot of
purists frown upon it. Can that be difficult?
As long as enough people listen to Haken
to keep us viable I don’t really care. But
it would be good if people sometimes
stepped outside of their comfort zones. It
doesn’t make sense that somebody would
like progressive music yet only remain
within one sphere of it.Back in 2017 Haken formed the core of
Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress when
the former Dream Theater drummer
toured his Twelve Steps Suite. What was
the highlight of that experience?
For me, as a complete fanboy from 1990
onwards, the entire thing was unbelievable.
It was like being asked to jam on some
Beatles songs with Ringo Starr.Can you share a secret about Mike?
It’s not really a secret, but he gets a lot
of unfair press. I can tell you that he’s
a generous, kind, down-to-earth guy.Why did you decide to take the Boston-
based art-rock band Bent Knee out on this
tour, playing their first UK dates?
When we played with them on a US tour
they blew us away. They’re the loveliest
people you’ll ever meet, and for the most
part were completely unknown to our fans.
That made them an obvious choice DLThe tour finishes in London on March 16.The British metallers on prog
purists, Portnoy and more.Haken
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