Gypsy & The Cat

Gypsy & The Cat were an indie/dream pop duo formed by former Melbourne DJs Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers.[1] Their first live performance was in 2010 in London, where they were based for much of that year.[2] They released their debut album in November 2010, "Gilgamesh", played in UK and Australia, and have received significant airplay including on Triple J, Nova[3] and Fox during 2011. Gypsy & The Cat were an Unearthed J Award nominee in 2010[4] and finished the year with three hit songs on the station's Top 100 for the Year, their highest being "Jona Vark" at 64. The duo were booked to play Coachella, but pulled out the last minute due to issues with their label, Sony Music.

Gypsy & The Cat
Gypsy & The Cat in Sweden.
Background information
OriginMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
GenresIndie pop, dream pop
Years active2008–2016
LabelsSony, Alsatian Music
Websitewww.gypsyandthecat.com
MembersXavier Bacash
Lionel Towers

During 2010–2012, they extensively toured Australia, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Hong Kong and performed further concerts in the UK. Their first album, Gilgamesh, was awarded a gold record in Australia which has since been certified platinum.[5]

In October 2012 Gypsy & The Cat started their own record label Alsatian Music. They independently released their second album, The Late Blue. Produced by the band themselves and mixed by Dave Fridman (MGMT, Flaming Lips, Tame Impala), they also collaborated with director Krozm for the first single "Sorry", with artist Mark Alsweiler providing the album artwork. The second single from The Late Blue, "Bloom", was used for Europe Canon's Power to Your Next Step campaign and in Australia as the feature in the Big M Kakao. In 2013 the band took the album across Australia and the US on headline tours as well as playing Future Music Festival, joining the line-up with bands such as the Stone Roses and Bloc Party.

The band completed recording of their third album Virtual Islands in mid-2016, which was scheduled for a global digital release on 5 August 2016. The first single from the album, "Inside Your Mind", was released in February 2016 on iTunes and Spotify and was largely met with positive reception. Also met with positive reception was the second single "I Just Wanna Be Somebody Else", which was released in April 2016 and achieved number 1 on the Hypem Charts, accompanied by a two-part video shot in Tokyo encompassing both singles.

Kylie Minogue

In June 2011 Gypsy and the Cat performed across Australia as the support band on Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite Tour. Their opening night was at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

The Late Blue (2012)

The Late Blue was released in Australia on 19 October 2012 and on 15 November 2012 on iTunes worldwide. Towers and Bacash worked on this record at a farm studio. On 20 September, Gypsy & The Cat released the dates for their Australian tour, which commenced after the release of the album.[6] In an interview with music journalist Nick Milligan for the Maitland Mercury, Towers said: "It's [the new record] probably a bit more 'summery'. There's a little bit of world [music] influence in it. It's definitely different to the first album in many ways - there's lots more major chords. With Gilgamesh there were more minor chords. We're just doing what we want to do, like we always have. On the next album we might do something even different, but I think [on this album] we needed to do something a little more 'left' than the first album." The album was released independently, rather than with a major label.

Virtual Islands (2016)

Gypsy & The Cat's third album was released on 5 August 2016. According to an article written in The Music online publication, the band have been influenced by their travels to Japan for the album. "According to Bacash, the cultural and environmental upheaval (in Japan) was just what the doctor ordered for the band's head-space in making this record." The album features mixing assistance by Dave Fridmann and Tony Espie (Avalanches, Cut Copy) and mastering by Mike Marsh (Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx) and John Davis (Led Zeppelin Re-masters, Foals).

Life after Gypsy and the Cat (2016)

After the release of Virtual Islands the duo decided to split ending the band on a high note. They made an announcement on Facebook on 14 July 2016 that they were going split after the final tour. 'We feel like it is even clearer to us that we should move on, on a high and both focus on other projects we have been working on. Lionel is going to be moving into the world of film scoring and I have a solo project under an alias with music coming soon.'[7][8]

Discography

Studio albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions[9]
AUS GER SWI
[10]
2010 Gilgamesh[11][12] 14 43 54
2012 The Late Blue
  • Released: 19 October 2012
  • Label: Alsatian Music
 23 — —
2016 Virtual Islands
  • Released: 5 August 2016
  • Label: Alsatian Music
 — — —

Singles
  • "Time to Wander"[13] No. 46 Germany[14]
  • "The Piper's Song"
  • "Jona Vark" No. 22 Germany, No. 45 Austria, No. 61, Switzerland
  • "Running Romeo"[15]
  • "Sorry"
  • "Bloom"
  • "Inside Your Mind"
  • "I Just Wanna Be Somebody Else"

Gilgamesh track listing
  1. "Time to Wander"
  2. "The Piper's Song"
  3. "Jona Vark"
  4. "Gilgamesh"
  5. "Sight of a Tear"
  6. "Human Desire"
  7. "Parallel Universe"
  8. "Breakaway"
  9. "Watching Me, Watching You"
  10. "Running Romeo"
  11. "A Perfect 2"

The Late Blue track listing
  1. "Only in December"
  2. "Bloom"
  3. "Broken Kites"
  4. "The Late Blue"
  5. "It's a Fine Line"
  6. "Sorry"
  7. "Valleys of Kashmir"
  8. "Soul Kiss"
  9. "Zombie World"
  10. "When Micky Came In"

Virtual Islands track listing
  1. "I Took a Wrong Turn"
  2. "Give & Take"
  3. "I Just Wanna Be Somebody Else"
  4. "Paris"
  5. "Life"
  6. "Inside Your Mind"
  7. "Odyssey of the Streets"
  8. "Tragedies of a Love Song"
  9. "Leaving Home"
  10. "Naomi"

References
  1. Lau, Kristie (26 September 2010), "Cat's scratching", Sun Herald
  2. McCabe, Kathy (19 November 2010), "Hip cats get UK cream", The Daily Telegraph
  3. Browne, Sally (14 November 2010), "Making a feline for fame", The Sunday Mail
  4. "Gypsy & The Cat. Unearthed nomination". ABC. 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  5. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  6. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=526461214035192&set=a.134326889915295.24631.128755200472464&type=1&theater
  7. http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2016/07/15/gypsy-and-the-cat-to-split-after-album-tour/
  8. https://www.facebook.com/gypsyandthecat/posts/1346548798693092
  9. "australian-charts.com - Gypsy & The Cat - Gilgamesh". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  10. statistic at acharts.us
  11. Johnston, Chris (26 November 2010), "Gilgamesh review", The Age
  12. "Gilgamesh review", Hobart Mercury, 20 November 2010
  13. "Time To Wander review", Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph, 24 June 2010
  14. weekly news of media control Germany, 20 December 2011 (German)
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