Wildkatz is Sam Katz. Born in Denver, reared in NYC, Wildkatz wanders, makes stuff, and is allergic to dairy.
Wildkatz will be at Berlin in Chicago performing as part of Total Therapy on February 26.
Can you share one of the best or worst reactions you have gotten as a result of your music? One time I was playing my cousin some stuff from this metal band I used to be in called Cut Your Teeth aka The Greatest Band Ever, and his (at the time) infant daughter started bawling her eyes out. Considering the situation and the band itself, I can’t really tell if that was the best reaction or the worst, so it was probably both.
Most embarrassing moment on stage? Embarrassing might not be the word, but there have definitely been more than a few times I’ve gotten, how you say, a little to “turnt” before trying to perform (trying being the operative word there). I’ve definitely puked, tripped, kicked out power chords, hit the wrong button, mumbled some really weird shit into a microphone, tried to crowd surf with an audience of like five people, fucked up cue or whatever while DJing for Cakes Da Killa… you know…the usual… It’s always been about having fun and cracking yourself up to me at the end of the day though, so I wouldn’t say they were embarrassing moments… which means I’m sure everyone else was annoyed/embarrassed for me…
Who would you ideally like to collaborate with? Chaka Kahn. And/or all my friends. I’ve never been good at collaborating with people I don’t know/like on a personal/friendship level, so I tend to keep it in the family. Obvi Chaka would be the exception… if I wasn’t too intimidated/in a puddle on the floor, which would absolutely be the case so…
What other musicians/bands are you interested in right now? I’ve been relapsing pretty heavily into my 14 year old self lately so a lot of like The Bled, The Blood Brothers, Fear Before the March of Flames. You know…the classics… Other than that, a lot of Erykah Badu (always), Bill Evans Trio, weird old deep house records, and anything stoner metal/power violence. I’m basically a black void of musical taste though (clearly), so really, I’m into everything at all times.
What are some recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on? Oh boy. So many. I think I might actually drop a lil Wildkatz EP next month or so, just cause and for some reason I haven’t yet… I have like 5,000 songs just floating around doing nothing that could totally be on it, so might as well right? And then as far as me alone in my mom’s basement kinda stuff goes, I’ve been slowly plugging away at a new solo project which I think I’m gonna call Fat Nek (s/o Cakes Da Killa for the inside jokes/inspo), which I have no idea how I’d describe but it involves a lot of Wurlitzer and falsetto vocals…whatever that sounds like… Then me and my bff Milo McBride (who is basically my favorite producer/human being, definitely check him out) have been working on this EP that we are SO CLOSE to finishing, which I couldn’t be more excited about. It’s like if For Emma, Forever Ago was a deep house/r&b record… which makes no sense, but that should be dropping next fall. Other than that just a bunch of collabos/working on/helping out with the albums for the baes Cakes Da Killa, LA, Wati Heru, Kashaka … who am I forgetting…someone I’m sure… OH and I’ll hopefully be recording some new stuff with two old bands of mine Young Set Club and Ratfuck. Not sure the timeline for most of this as I’m about to start an attempt at a Masters degree, but I’m not really in any rush, and it’s all for fun/to keep me sane sooooooooooooo yeah.
How long have you lived in NYC and what brought you there? I’ve been pretty nomadic for the past two-ish years, bouncing between NYC, Denver, Oakland and countless other places on tour and stuff. I guess I’ve always gotten anxious being tied down to a location, and I really really hate paying rent so I figure since I don’t really have any responsibilities or like a job/life right now and I have the best friends/family in the world, might as well bounce around/sleep on couches and floors as much as I can for now and scrape by with what little money comes in from shows and whatever. Again, that’s about to change pretty soon here with going back to school and stuff, but I think no matter where I am my heart’s in Colorado and my head’s daydreaming about anywhere but where I am.
How has living in NYC affected your music? I’ve historically been all over the map as far as influence/sound goes so I’d say if anything not living any where has exasperated that for sure. It definitely makes it kinda hard to finish stuff, just cause I’ll be in one place and in one mood one week, then a completely different the next. Make a lot of beats on airplanes…you know… I always feel like I have a thousand projects floating in the ether above my head waiting to be released, but I think that’s just more me being the neurotic human I tend to be… Idk I guess I haven’t really thought about it… but it’s definitely like if I’m in Berlin I just wanna make house, if I’m in NYC I just wanna do hip-hop or punk, or if I’m in Oakland I just wanna make slaps/stoner metal. It’s all super cliche and everything, but I definitely feel like those sounds exist because of the location’s vibes, and I definitely catch influence from that.
What were you like in high school? Emo kid/stoner/honor roll/thespian? So really, just as confused of an individual as I am now…
If you were a drink, what drink would you be? Hmmmmmmmm. Maybe like an acid spiked slurpee… or I guess since at this point my blood stream is comprised almost entirely of vodka tonics we’ll go with that.
What’s your absolute favorite place in the city/the world to be? On a couch watching Star Trek: Next Gen with my cat.
insta/twitter: @killwildkatz