C/A/T
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C/A/T, simply pronounced cat, is the Seattle based industrial band created by film and sound engineer and founder of the Crunch Pod music label and distribution, Ben Arp, back in 1998. Originally based in Davis, California, Arp was active in the Northern California electronic music scene, both as a musician and as a DJ. In these early years Arp released a small number of early C/A/T releases on CD-Rs and various compilations (see below for a list of some of these releases), but it was not until he had moved to Seattle that he began to focus more on the band. Kat Clarke joined Arp in live performances in mid 2005 and then in the studio by late 2005. Blending both rhythmic noise and ambient industrial sounds, C/A/T is popular in US West Coast industrial clubs and radio programs.
History
The first two C/A/T albums, Worldwide Totalitarian Control and The Prisoner can be characterized the albums' social and political overtones. Worldwide Totalitarian Control, a 4 track EP, focused on exploring the immediate emotions and reactions in the United States following the 9/11 attacks, by blending (and at times creatively editing) recorded political statements with a range of emotionally driven ambient electronics. The Prisoner continued the expression socio-political themes by incorporating samples from the 1960s television show The Prisoner with more abstract and broken beats.
With the addition of Clarke, C/A/T moved away from political and conspritorial themes and to a more dance club friendly format as the two worked on C/A/T's third full length release, The Rogue Pair. Serious subjects were not completely abandoned by Arp, who incorporated ideas and sounds similar to the first two C/A/T releases into his sideproject Disclosure. However, the distinction between C/A/T and Disclosure still remains blurred as three of the tracks on Disclosure's album Full Disclosure were remixed and included on The Rogue Pair. The less serious side of C/A/T continued with their ATF EP released on June 6, 2006.
C/A/T is working on a new album with a release date set for December 2006.
Influences
Early influences include David Thrussell's Black Lung and Snog. Later influences include many of the bands that C/A/T has toured with across the United States and into Mexico, including Autoclav1.1, Caustic, Glis, Hocico, Manufactura, and This Morn' Omina.C/A/T has been performing live since 1999, where the band participated in California's NorCal NoiseFest '01 and '02. The next major festival C/A/T performed in was the 2005 Providence Industrial Fest IV industrial music festival. C/A/T was invited to perform at the Distorted Music Festival in 2005, however due to last minute work permit issues was able to perform. C/A/T has been confirmed to perform at the 2006 Reverence industrial music festival, to be held July 21st & 22nd, 2006 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Discography
Regular Releases
- Worldwide Totalitarian Control EP Crunch Pod (2004)
- The Prisoner Crunch Pod (2005)
- The Rogue Pair Crunch Pod (2005)
Special Releases
- The Prisoner Limited Edition "Liturgy Mixes" Crunch Pod (2005)
- ATF Crunch Pod (2006) -- limited to 666 copies
Compilation Appearances
- Where's Tom on Lobot Manual (Lobot Music, 1999)
- Final Kitty on Lobot Manual (Lobot Music, 1999)
- Sorry on "Depth Of Beyond" (Troniks, 2000)
- Love Story on "Infinity Paradox" (Fusion Audio Recordings, 2000)
- NormalSim 2 (feat. Sleeping with the Earth) on "Noisefest 2000 Performance Compilation" (Super Art Media, 2000)
- The Five Year Plan on "Battery Sentinel 2" (Crunch Pod, 2000)
- Hoo-ray For Santy Claus on "Merry Christmas" (Zaftig Research, 2000)
- Influx on "Krach Test" (Ad Noiseam, 2001)
- Dying Morality on "Feedback Loop" (Doppler Effect, 2001)
- Triggered Personality on "Unwelcome Or Ignored: Norcal Noisefest 2001 Performance Compilation" (Super Art Media, 2001)
- Christmas 2001 on "Peace On Earth, Good Will To Men" (Zaftig Research, 2001)
- Noizemaker on "Dissonant Structures" (Cranial Fracture Recordings, 2002)
- Dying Morality (rx_loop.rx2 Mix) on "Too Much Information" (Unmediated Productions, 2002)
- The Initial Foothold Of Darkness Is Attained on If Opera's Not Your Thing: 2002 Northern California Noise Festival (Super Art Media, 2002)
- The Christmas Eve Hunt For Turboman on "Anno Domini 2002" (Zaftig Research, 2002)
- First Strike on Dark Pathways Vol. 3 Variant Archive (Crunch Pod, 2003)
- Christmas Evil on "Winter" (Zaftig Research, 2003)
- Cleared Channel on Das Bunker: Fifteen Minutes Into the Future (Das Bunker, 2004)
- Noizemaker (Live Edit) on "Latent Infection" (KDVS, 2004)
- Good Santa on "Silver Bells" (Zaftig Research, 2004)
- Clonacion Epidemica (vs. H.I.V.+) on "A.L.P.H.A." (Geska Records, 2005)
- Seditious Minds v.3 on Distorted '05 (Distorted Music Festival, 2005)
- Home For The Holidays on "A New Star In The Heavens" (Zaftig Research, 2005)
- Liturgy Of The Free (ECC-1:18 Remix by Free Death) on "A Mere Invention Of The Idle Mind" (Mechanismz / Crunch Pod, 2006)
- Smashed on Endzeit Bunkertracks: Act II'' (Alfa Matrix, 2006)
Sideprojects
Ben Arp has had a number of sideprojects. The following is a list of the various sideprojects Arp has been involved in along with any releases from those sideprojects:
- V.S.E.X. [no longer active]
- Xenium / Coverage [no longer active]
- Disclosure [2005 - Present]
- : Full Disclosure Crunch Pod (2005)
Instruments & Equipment
Like many industrial bands, C/A/T makes use of keyboards, synths, and other electronic devices to record and compose live music. Again like many other industrial projects, early C/A/T releases also made heavy use of audio samples. C/A/T uses the following equipment:
- ?
Trivia
- The name C/A/T is simply a reference to cats, and has no significant or hidden meaning.
- C/A/T's early bicycle logo was taken from the British TV series the Prisoner, that same series that was the inspiration for C/A/T's second full length album by the same name.
External links
- [C/A/T's Official Site]
- [C/A/T's Official MySpace Site]
- [Reautomation On-line Interview]
- [Gothronic On-line Band Review]
- [Connexion Bizarre On-line Review]
- [Chain D.L.K. On-line Review]
- [2005 Distorted Festival Artists] (C/A/T was invited, but unable to play due to financial/visa issues)
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