Las Vegas Weekly

October 17, 2008 · 12:50 PM

“Shake your bum” downtown with Bloodcat Love

By Allison Duck

Photo: Jason Lee Parry

With the economy in the crapper, who can afford to go see Jet perform in Australia? Don’t worry -- you can get a taste of internationally flavored indie rock by going downtown this Saturday to catch Los Angeles-based Bloodcat Love performing live at Beauty Bar.

The band has toured with the likes of Jet and OK Go. Lead singer Myles Hendrik, of New Zealand, got his start in the American music scene when he befriended Chris Cester of Jet. Hendrik and a fellow musician, Nicolas Oja, of Sweden, got together with the crew from Jet to record a few of their original tracks. They scored a tour with Jet once their lineup was secure.

The current incarnation of Bloodcat Love includes Joshua Mancuso, Marty Cornish and Justin Silva.

So if you’re looking for a fun place to come “shake your bum” this Saturday, head to Beauty Bar where you can increase your indie IQ with some intellectual tunes from Bloodcat Love and also catch The Voom Blooms, who are performing along with local favorites, Black Camaro.

Las Vegas Weekly caught up with Bloodcat Love frontman, Myles Hendrik to talk about the band’s relationship with Jet and his thoughts on Saturday’s gig in Vegas.

Las Vegas Weekly: Can you tell me a little about your relationship with Jet?

Myles Hendrik: The Jet guys arrived in LA around the same time I did, and with all of us being transplanted antipodeans, we kind of gravitated toward each other and became the best of friends. I had been working on some songs with the intention of getting a full band together, but was struggling with finding the right lineup. Nicholas Oja and I were the only real players after several incarnations (of the band) over the years. We had the tunes; we just needed a band. After the Jet lads helped record a few tunes, it gave Nicholas and me the belief and the impetus to finish the other ones ourselves and the band just fell into place in a matter of a month.

Las Vegas Weekly: I hear that you like to mingle with the crowd during shows. What is that like -- do you hop down and dance with ladies at your shows?

Myles Hendrik: I grew up listening to The Stooges and Richard Hell, was inspired by them and later by the likes of Nirvana. They all knew how to put on a rock show, how to deliver something more than just a recital of their tunes. And that's not what you want when you pay good money to see a band. You want to be moved, transported even ... and not just by the music. It has to be foremost about the music, but without some form of a show you're just a jukebox -- and who wants that? And yes, sometimes I do like to get amongst it, if the atmosphere is right. It's not something I consciously think about, it just happens. And I don't discriminate ... I dance with the men, too.

Las Vegas Weekly: How do you feel about having the label "intellectual indie" applied to your music?

Myles Hendrik: I'm flattered. Thank you. I try hard to have some depth and poetry in the lyrical component of the songs. Tunes that are fun and designed to make you dance shouldn't necessarily have to have lyrics that are frivolous. I would always read the lyrics off the albums sleeves growing up and the likes of Lou Reed, John Lennon, Dylan … Cohen influenced me quite a bit. And also writers like Kerouac, Burroughs ... Sorry if that made me sound like a pretentious tosser.

Las Vegas Weekly: What can the crowd look forward to about your show?

Myles Hendrik: Our set is designed to make you essentially shake your bum. We all have quite different personalities on stage, but all with the intention of having a blast, a decent shimmy so to speak, and I think that translates into a reciprocal situation with our audience. And I'm always into jumping amongst it for gentle encouragement.

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