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THE LOUNGE KITTENS REVEAL THEIR SECRETS

ian sutherland
Interview: Ian Sutherland
27th September 2017

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Cheery trio The Lounge Kittens have been putting a smile on Metal fans faces with their mix of great singing and clever rearrangements of well known tunes from Slipknot to Queen for a few years now. MetalTalk caught up with Zan, Jenny and Timia before their first show opening for Bowling For Soup's Jaret Reddick on his UK tour and we thought it was time to learn a little about the women behind the sequins and c-bombs.

What is the first single or album you ever bought?

Jenny: "I tell people the first album I ever bought was 'Up' by Right Said Fred but the ACTUAL first album I bought was the 'Aladdin' soundtrack."

Timia: "Yes of course Right Said Fred is cooler..."

Zan: "When I was little my Dad was a mobile DJ. Every Saturday he would take me down to Woolworths and we would choose a 7 vinyl single. I definitely remember picking out Meat Loaf 'I'd Do Anything For Love'. It was a picture disc so very exciting. Alannis Morissette's 'Jagged Little Pill' is an album I remember clutching to me, that and The Fugees."

Timia: "My first one, well I can't remember which one because they came out really close together, it was 'Do The Bartman' which is the Bart Simpson single, on tape! Also Timmy Mallet and Bombalurina 'Itsy Witsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini'. I remember I had them both at the same time but I can't remember which one was first. My first album was 'Dangerous' by Michael Jackson which my Mum got for me with some Esso points."

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Following up on that, what was the first gig you went to, your first live show?

Timia: "My first one was the Foo Fighters at the Brixton Academy on a Wednesday night, a school night."

Zan: 'The Colour And The Shape' tour was one of my first gigs. The first ones I went to on my own without my parents were all in a row. There was Cast and there was Foo Fighters and there was Bush. Placebo as well, they were all within two weeks of each other."

Timia: "The week I saw the Foo Fighters on the Wednesday I saw Green Day at Wembley on the Friday."

Zan: "So Jen, what was yours?"

Jenny: "Please bear in mind that I'm really Metal now! My first show... well my second show was Incubus..."

Zan: "That wasn't the question..."

Jenny: "My first show was Steps! [cheers from the other Kittens] Supported by Lolly who did the shitty remake of 'Mickey'."

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That gig must have been what turned you towards Metal! Who is your favourite singer or artist now?

Zan: "Me! [laughs] Well, it's not Metal but I really love Foy Vance, an Irish folk singer kind of guy. He's got one of the best voices. His latest album is my go to album at the moment."

Timia: "I'll tell you what I'm binging on at the moment - the Devin Townsend Project. I only started listening to him this year because he was playing at Download and he is in our Download medley and I can't stop, I've just worked through his back catalogue. I listen to them constantly, I love it so much."

Jenny: "I've been doing lots of musical projects for work so I've had to listen to a lot of varied music which has been clogging up my brain quite a bit but I recently had to write an a capella arrangement for my friend's wedding. I've been listening to a couple of a capella groups for inspiration including Pentatonix who are very good, very poppy and another group who are Scandinavian. That stuff can lose all it's meaning if you listen to it too much but I've gone back to it after a coupe of years and it sounds really good."

What's the first song you put on a mix for a party at your house?

Jenny: [sings] "'"Shot through the heart, and you're too blame..."

Zan: "The song I put on at other people's parties is 'You Never Can Tell' by Chuck Berry because it appeals to all ages and every one can dance to it. I recently created what is possibly one of the best party mixes ever based on suggestions from the internet, so many good songs on it. My absolute favourite dancefloor jam is 'I Wanna To Dance With Somebody' by Whitney Houston. I will dance at a wedding on my own to that."

Timia: "My party bangers would be anything by Major Lazer and anything by Sean Paul. Obviously!"

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What's at the top of your bucket list?

Jenny: "Go to Japan! I'm going to go in 2020 when they open up Supermario World in Japan's Universal Studios. I've waited my whole life for something like that to be real and it is, it's happening."

Zan: "So many things. Learn a language. We've ticked so many things off the bucket list already though. I say with our careers we've ticked things off the bucket list I didn't even dare write on my bucket list! Singing at Wembley? Never going to happen. Then it happened!"

Timia: "Mine would be to interact with an elephant. I super, super love elephants and I've never met one. The whole tourist trade around elephants is pretty horrific so I'd want it to be outside of that. I get really emotional talking about or looking at pictures of elephants. I don't know what it is about them but I love them."

The last time we spoke to you was just before you did a three day charity bike ride to the Download Festival before playing there. How did that go?

Zan: "It was amazing!"

Timia: "We got there, all of us! With sore bums and feet and legs and ankles and everything else."

Zan: "It's one of the best things I've ever done."

Jenny: "Same here."

Timia: "Agreed."

Zan: "It was really hard, gruelling. "

Timia: "The camaraderie was unreal and everyone who had done it before was so supportive."

Zan: "We found out recently that the Heavy Metal Truants that we did the cycle with have raised £130,000 this year alone and we were part of that."

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You supported The SAS Band recently, featuring Spike Edney, Queen's keyboard player. What was that like?

Zan: "Poor Jen had the biggest responsibility really, playing keyboards in front of Spike."

Timia: "And we were doing Queen songs as well!"

Zan: "To stand on a stage and play Queen songs in front of a bonafide member of Queen was a little bit intimidating but it went really, really well."

In a few minutes you'll go stage for the first time supporting Jaret Reddick. What can we expect from you on this tour?

Zan: "It's going to be super fun, we have a fun setlist all ready to get people geed up."

Timia: "I think the most fun thing for me will be that we're doing a couple of new songs."

Zan: "Plus we're wearing trainers for these shows and not tottering about on high heels as we didn't want to overdress on a pop punk tour!"

The Kittens went on to play a storming set which featured two new songs plus old favourites like 'Duality' and 'Party Hard' and even had time to slip in their medley of songs by bands who played Download this year.

They were sparkly and very cheery and had loads of fun with the audience who sang along with gusto and clapped when told to in all the right places. The Lounge Kittens in this form are simply irresistible.

Check out more of Ian Sutherland right here.




 
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