Bloodcat Love

FOR THE LOVE, BLOODCAT, FOR THE LOVE
HOW THE BAND JET, A GIRLFRIEND AND JIMMY KIMMEL HELPED FORM BLOODCAT LOVE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON LUCY
By ELI KOORIS

March 3, 2007


Lead singer Myles Hendrik remembers the smell of leather, the feel of air sifting through open car windows, and the place he and Jet drummer Chris Cester were headed when Bloodcat Love inhaled its first breath of life. It was early fall 2005 when rocker-poet Hendrik departed from his New Zealand homeland to start his musical discovery. “I needed to work on my writing,” Hendrik explains. “Looking back on it now, a lot of my songwriting felt somewhat incomplete.”

Moving on, he had relocated to Los Angeles and became immersed in the poetry of Sylvia Plath, Pablo Neruda and the Beat poets. Much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Hendrik decided to concentrate on poetry and writing with a lyrical rhythm. This combination of literary and musical passions is evident in Hendrik’s appearance: tall lanky frame, loose T-shirt and inky hair offset the black suit jacket, fedora and slacks synonymous with William S. Burroughs’ daily attire. In fact, one could argue that Hendrik — whose eyes were first opened by Naked Lunch — is a rock ‘n’ roll version of the infamous Beat writer and poet, minus the heroin addiction and homosexuality.

Over the next three years, Hendrik composed, erased and made false start after false start trying to create a new band. One evening Hendrik ended up at Jimmy Kimmel Live to see his friend Dion Lunadon of the since-defunct New Zealand band The D4. In the green room Hendrik shot pool with some cats who had similar accents — cats who turned out to be members of the band Jet. Soon they were all mates, and since then Hendrik has watched Jet go from a wet-behind-the-ears Aussie garage band to undisputed rock stars.

One afternoon, in the midst of Jet’s metamorphosis, Hendrik popped in a CD of his own music with scratch lyrics at the request of Cester, who had been asking him what he was working on. Cester loved what he heard and even offered to play drums on a couple tracks of what Hendrik had written. “Chris wasn’t saying it just to be a mate,” Hendrik explains. “He’ll call a spade a spade.”

When discussing what gave him the courage to finally share his music, Hendrik credits his girlfriend. He says, “She would watch me sit in my room and toil away at my little songs and never show it to anyone. Finally she asked me how I expected it to go anywhere if nobody heard it. Which sort of raised the question, ‘What the hell was I so afraid of?’” It was great advice.


But how did this BcL evolve from a couple of scratch lyrics and a singer to the band we know today? The name “Bloodcat Love” originated from some particularly lyrical words in a random line of poetry that Hendrik wrote. Through the winter leading into 2006, Hendrik recorded tracks for two of the songs on BcL’s upcoming EP with Cester, Cam Muncey and Mark Wilson, also of Jet fame. They recorded on a 4-track and an M-box with a microphone hanging off a ceiling fan — giving the tunes a rich yet gritty sound. Then the big, famous band went on tour and the small, up-and-coming start-up was left alone to sprout. Now all Hendrik needed was a band of his own.

He found it in front of those who had been there all along. On guitar, the aforementioned Lunadon — who indirectly helped BcL come to fruition — came on tentatively after The D4 went their separate ways. Bassist Nicholas Oja, a Swede who describes himself as “the lovable fuck-up,” had been the only ex-bandmate Hendrik stayed in touch with from his handful of prior false-start bands. And Claudia Rossi of Lowball and Halo Friendlies (local LA rock lore) became the drummer after she heard Hendrik’s demos through a friend. “I’d sort of retired from being a drummer,” Rossi says. “But I always said that if something came along that I loved, I’d start playing again in a heartbeat. This was it.”

By now it was the end of summer 2006 and Jet had returned from their latest tour, this time with a new request of Hendrik: Could his band open for Jet on a couple dates? Even though Bloodcat Love had officially been together for a little more than a month, this was a dream offer. “It’s obviously one of those opportunities you don’t pass up,” Hendrik says. “But we had yet to play a live show together and we were scheduled to open for Jet in a week.”

It sounds like a setup for a reality show: New band has only one week of playing together live to prep for a career-making performance. Yet the members of Bloodcat Love were veteran musicians who knew how to make it work. In that crunch time, they played four shows almost consecutively around Los Angeles — from Safari Sam’s to Cinespace — working out the kinks. When Hendrik took the stage at House of Blues Anaheim the night of the Jet show, he realized it was where he belonged.

“When you step on stage and you have solid musicians all around you,” Hendrik exp - 944 Magazine

L.A. Music '06: Welcome To Indieland

Bloodcat Love

Renowned-about-town DJ and scenester Myles Hendrik knows what gets booties on the dancefloor. The fashionable frontman for Bloodcat Love has isolated those very elements — catchy guitar lines, baritone pop vocals and adhesive retro-soaked melodies — and distilled them into tracks so danceable, they immediately feel like a guilty pleasure. The newly formed quartet has already toured with Australian buzz band Jet, and managed to upstage several local headliners in a recent string of L.A. appearances. Their debut album won’t be out until next year, but it’s highly likely to be a radio-ready release. Dec. 10 at Spaceland; every Wed. in Jan. at Club Moscow at Boardner’s. (Alie Ward)

see whole article: http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/la-music-06-welcome-to-indie-land/15139/%3Cbr%3E/
- LA Weekly

BLOODCAT LOVE SHOWS IT'S CLAWS

"Buoyant as he feels these days, Myles Hendrik was no overnight sensation. The Bloodcat Love frontman moved to L.A. from New Zealand five years ago -- "to pursue the dream," he says, making you feel silly for asking why -- only to take that long to find the right chemistry for his quintet.

"Moving to a different country, you start completely over," he says. Forming a band "is like having four girlfriends. You don't marry the first four girls you sleep with in L.A. You have divorces, you have horrible breakups. Things happen."

Most recently, guitarist Dion Lunadon, formerly of the Kiwi rock band the D4, moved away. But Australian Mitch McIvor (cousin of the Cester brothers of Jet) came aboard, as did drummer Marty Cornish, firming up a lineup that includes guitarist Joshua Mancuso and bassist Nicholas Oja.

Just in time. The band's "Only Dreamers Left Alive" EP is almost ready, and the quintet has a date Friday at the Viper Room before two showcases in New York City as part of the CMJ Music Marathon.

Bloodcat Love's muscular, beer-soaked primitivism stops mercifully short of the clichéd theatrics that sabotage a lot of L.A. garage rockers, and its danceability speaks to Hendrik's years spent as a DJ and promoter. "Subconsciously, you get a feel for what makes people move, and an understanding of what people emote to," he says. "We do make music you can kick your heels to." - KEVIN BRONSON, LA TIMES, CALENDAR WEEKEND - LA WEEKLY

"One of my top 10 new bands in LA" - Dave Conway, Little Radio.
- LA Alternative

It is hard to fully appreciate Bloodcat Love until you have seen them live. Only Dreamers Left Alive is their debut EP and delivers the soundtrack to a high-speed car chase from the era of Kojak. Myles Hendrick (Vocals) is a compelling performer who sweats out his soul on the stage. After a few members shake ups, Bloodcat Love looks primed and ready to take on the world with their dirty martini secret agent rock tunes. The bass drum started to thump followed by a grooving bass line as "Dirty White Fingernails" kicked off their set. The dueling guitars of a Fender Jazzmaster and a Fender Telecaster seared the ears of the audience as Myles was frantically dancing and moving around the stage. "Get Me Out of Here" continued the furious pace as the crowd from the Detroit Bar had started to move in closer to check out all the action. "Yeah Yeah Sweet" starts off as a mid paced number before it burns into overdrive during the fiery chorus. "I Promised You A Lie" was a new tune that they debuted to the crowd that showed they have quite a few musical tricks in their bag. The cowbell never gets old as they bolted through the infectious melodies of "The Fever". I try to make it to a number of different residencies in the course of the month but I need another fix of Bloodcat Love on July 21st with Rumspringa. - Amateur Chemist

BLOODCAT LOVE
“. . . a good deal of toe tapping and a decent shimmy”

HOW THEY ROCK: After a flurry of dates over the summer and fall, including a support slot on Jet’s tour, the retro-tinged dark-pop-rock outfit is now preparing its much-anticipated EP. Tracks like “Viva Modula,” full of catchy riffs and near-guilt-inducing danceability, and the glibly titled “Yeah Yeah Sweet,” which boasts surfy guitar layered over relentlessly groovy bass lines, have already broken through and gotten heavy airplay on Indie 103. Live, their appeal is immediate: Drums thunder with just enough power to inspire booty-shaking, guitar hooks weasel instantly into memory, and vocals are low and sexy in that singer-who-can-pull-off-wearing-a-neckerchief kind of way.


CHECK OUT THE BIG BRAIN ON BLOODCAT: They cite the Beat poets, Bukowski, Serge Gainsbourg and the Velvet Underground as both musical and style heroes.


BUT WHO ARE THEY? Native New Zealander Myles Hendrik — who built a reputation spinning at the (recently defunct) hipster dance mecca Pash! — has lived in the U.S. “just long enough to know this country makes lousy chocolate.” The foursome is rounded out by a flock o’ chums: bassist Nicholas Oja, guitarist Dion Lunadon, and Claudia Rossi on drums. Hendrik says their union felt intuitive and “immediate,” but it’s incomplete: The band is looking to adopt a guitarist before blazing into Texas for SXSW.


BOOTIE 101: Has his DJ work affected his rock? Hendrik says yes: “Deejaying gives you insight into what commands people’s attention. What makes them move, what makes them sing . . . It may not be a conscious thing, but I definitely like writing tunes that induce a good deal of toe tapping and a decent shimmy.”


WHAT’S WITH THE NAME? “The ‘Bloodcat’ part came from a poem I had written, and I tacked on the word ‘Love’ because it’s so universal and empowering,” says Hendrik. “I’m all about the sounds and the meter of words creating a multitude of images . . . It has a few [meanings] for me,” he adds coyly, “but that’s only for me to know.”


PRESHOW RITUALS? “We just make sure that we’re not wearing the same clothes as each other. Oh, that, and a few stiff shots of hard liquor. Top shelf, mind.”
- LA Weekly

I forgot who said it, but it definitely is true that rock and roll can soothe the soul. And, if you need any proof, you just need these two words: Bloodcat Love. Channeling the likes of Tom Petty and Lenny Kravitz, Bloodcat Love knows how to rock, and they rock hard. But, the band doesn't rock so hard that they alienate listeners - Bloodcat Love knows how to serve up suave rock anthems with class. It's all the simple formula of guitar, bass, drums and vocals, but the band mixes that old school rock with the new school rock (circa the Strokes and Libertines) so well that they make music that even your Dad will like. They may be classified as Indie, but there is nothing that should stop this band from going mainstream.

Review of 'Yeah Yeah Sweet' by Michelle Castillo - URB Magazine

"Bloodcat Love was next and the show finally hit the freeway quickly dodging in and out of traffic. The last time I caught Bloodcat Love was during some of their first couple shows at Cinespace and opening for Jet at the House of Blues in Anaheim. Myles Hendrik (Vocals) is a dynamic performer shaking and shimming throughout the set backed by his dirty garage rock band that magically makes your foot tap without knowing it. The secret weapon for the band is Claudia Rossi (Drums) killing her drum set in the background. Myles worked the crowd and climbed the scaffolding of the El Rey to the crowds delight. They have a new EP coming out called "Only Dreamers Left Alive". If you like your rock dirty and sleazy with a knifefight sense of urgency check out Bloodcat Love." - Amateur Chemist

[full article with photos: http://amateurchemist.blogspot.com/2007/06/horrors-at-el-rey-theatre.html ] - Amateur Chemist