Dead Cat in a Bag
Dead Cat in a Bag
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Cesare Basile
About Dead Cat in a Bag
“What’s that you got?” “Dead cat.” “Lemme see him, Huck. My, he’s pretty stiff. Where’d you get him ?” “Bought him off’n a boy.” “What did you give?” “I give a blue ticket and a bladder that I got at the slaughter-house.” Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, chapter V. Something about the name, for the very last time. We do love cats. Our living cats. And our dead and buried cats too. There is no threat in our name. Please imagine a fair-haired little girl dressed in a ragged gown sitting on the damaged, cracked stairs of a deserted Victorian hotel, holding a bag adorned maybe by little flowers of blood, as a circus parade walks marching through… Alas, that’s too gothic and old-fashioned, but that’s a good starting point. A dead cat in a bag is someone you were supposed to take care of. It’s something gone you’re still loving. A dead cat in a bag is a mystery on your way. A horrible, yet funny funeral in your childhood. And a memento mori for your future, indeed. A dead cat in a bag is the face on every fear… like your secrets and shames, and the skeletons in the closet… how does your cat in the bag look? What does it look like? It’s a burden you have to carry on. Wearing the willow and learning to hide the tears. Someday you’ll have to put it down, meanwhile… keep on whistling that sad tune. Furthermore, when you say: the cat’s in the bag, you can think you have made it — but probably, if the cat’s still, the cat’s dead: you can’t get what you want so easily, this side of heaven. And often you happen to kill the ones you’d like to keep with you… well, maybe not physically. Then, hell, a cat is also an old prostitute in the vulgar tongue, isn’t it? A really lascivious woman – only troubles from her. Stuff her in the bag, quickly, and don’t trust her if she plays dead. When the cat’s out the bag, your trick is disclosed. Here, the ‘cat’ referred to is the cat o’ nine tails, which was used to flog ill-disciplined sailors… And the bandits on your path will probably say they’re just carrying a dead cat in their bags, before let their knives shine in the moonlight. Oh, that’s far too bookish… Sorry, forget it. In the brokers slang, a dead cat bounce is when shares crashes, then rise but fail to recover to anything near their previous values. Quite bluesy, isn’t it? Is there any need to talk about Schrödinger’s cat, his experiment and his reflection about? Is our cat really dead? Yes. As dead as a dead cat can be. Rest in peace. Otherwise, we are dead set on living. And playing. Finally, Dead Cat in a Bag is a funny, creepy, good-sounding name. Only a name, since a name was needed. Music’s far more than this. Musically, we (un)peacefully rest on the road on ol’ singsongwriting. Modern singsongwriting. Yes, you know the names. Critics know the names and the sounds. They can tell about our story and History. Sometimes we stumble on something that sounds kind of new. Sometimes something personal is also peculiar. We play an old music our way, or our music in a old way, looking for something true, that’s all. In the bag you can find some sands from Mexico, some snow from Russia, a French perfume, a country & western waltz, a gipsy bandana (or is it a pirate’s one?) and, sure, a dead cat. The band starts its activity in 2011 with the album Lost Bags (Viceversa records), soon sold out and currently waiting for a reissue. The second album, Late For A Song is published in 2014 by the same label. Both the records are promoted with solo shows in clubs and festivals like Strade Blu and Collision and gigs on radio broadcasts for Radio 2 (national channel) and Swiss Radio. Dead Cat in a Bag play also as opening band for Hugo Race, Bonnie Prince Billy, Dad Horse Experience. The line-up is everchanging from a trio (banjo, violin, accordion and electronics) to a wider formation, with horns and more strings. Amid the contributors, you can find Enrico Farnedi (Marc Ribot, Goodfellas), Mattia Barbieri (Richard Galliano, Mau Mau), Carlo Barbagallo (Suzanne’s Silver), Liam McKahey (Cousteau, The Boidies), Alberto Stevanato (Grimoon), Fabrizio Rat (La Machina), Francesco Valtieri (Fatalists, Sacri Cuori). Other songs are included in compilations by 42 Records, Viceversa, Sonofmarketing. Swanz, founder and frontman of the band, also writes soundtracks for theatre show and works, as a musician and actor, with Balletto Civile, Teatro di Dioniso, Kulturscio’k, Cie La Bagarre, Egribianco Danza, in national and international tours. As Swanz The Lonely Cat recorded Covers On My Bed, Stones On My Pillow (Desvelos, 2017). He plays as a sideman, both in studio and on stage, with Silent Carnival, Gentless 3, Federico Sirianni, Guignol, Thomas Guiducci. Multi-instrumentalist Scardanelli has a solo project by his name and wrote the score for Alice Rohrwacher’s movie Le meraviglie (Cannes Grand Prix 2014). Violin player André (Andrea Bertola) works as a videomaker and director for advertisement agencies and takes care of the visual part of the band.
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