THE BEAT - Turbo Gatto: Purr-fectly Good Mewsic

By Emily Moffitt

Kevin Jennings and Gina Ercolini are Turbo Gatto - photo by The Wolf

Ever heard of “Cat Rock”? The creativity of guitarist Kevin Jennings and drummer Gina Ercolini, under the band name Turbo Gatto, originally invented the genre to adapt the lyrics of Motorhead songs to be about cats. 

“It was a blast and a lot of laughs for a second, but it led us to discover our own idea,” she adds, “Original garage rock/punk music with lyrics about anything related to cats.”

It has been an entertaining formula, and with musical inspiration from the Cramps on the two-person band’s new album “Bad Mewsic For Bad Cats” they have built upon the original foundation of Stooges power, AC/DC riffs, and Ramones frenzy that have informed the project from the start. It’s all about the riff, Ercolini admits. “A good riff is almost always our starting point; we trust each other to follow where the music takes us from there.” 

They are fully invested in the genre they’ve pioneered, utilizing the self-proclaimed “cat life and love of rock and roll” to not only build their sound, but engage audiences. Their most devoted fans can be seen at shows sporting their best sets of cat ears, willing to play along with the feline frenzy happening on stage. Playing for the fun of it is one of the guiding principles of Turbo Gatto, and it offers Jennings and Ercolini a respite from their other bands, which include MNRVA, and a way to spend more time together making music–they’ve also been a married couple since 2016.  

“We met at karaoke at Art Bar and somehow decided that we had all we needed to start a band,” Ercolini recalls. “We held our first practice three days later and have been inseparable ever since.” 

Turbo Gatto purrs loudest in a live setting, and Jennings and Ercolini are both happy to be back in that environment. 

“Our live shows are always a bit chaotic and teetering on the brink,” Ercolini says. “It takes a certain kind of energy and focus in the moment to hold everything together–it’s both exciting and terrifying.” 

Over the pandemic months, the bandmates used the down time from live shows to write as much new music as they could, and experiment with different influences, but they found that their basic methods of working, and recording, didn’t change much. When it came time to record the new material for a proper album, they also chose not to change anything there. 

“We record everything with Jay Matheson at the Jam Room Recording Studio,” Ercolini says. “He’s spectacular in guiding us to produce the best record we can in a matter of only two days spent in the studio.” The results, she adds, are meant to be fun, no matter how good the playing or the recording process makes them sound.

“One thing you cannot do when playing in a cat rock band is take yourself too seriously,” she concludes. “This is the kind of record you can listen to while driving around town or jumping up and down on the bed eating pizza.”            

The album release for “Bad Mewsic for Bad Cats” will be held at Art Bar on Saturday, February 12th at 7 PM. Also, on the bill in addition to Turbo Gatto are The Transonics, The Buzzards of Fuzz, Warfare Check, and the Black Stare of Soledad Miranda.

THE BEAT is a rotating lineup of music coverage under the direction of Jasper Magazine music editor, Kevin Oliver, that includes local album reviews, in-depth artist interviews and profiles, live show reviews, and all things related to local music in the greater SC midlands area arts community. If you have story ideas, or you’re a local musician, band, or involved with a local project that you think deserves some attention, drop Kevin a line at kevingoliver@gmail.com. 

Back to Rockafellas' - This Weekend

 

Jasper Magazine wanted to know what the deal was with this weekend's big Jam Room fundraiser at Rockafellas', so we pulled aside Jay Matheson, owner of the Jam Room Recording Studio and asked him. Here's what Jay had to say:

Jasper: So what are we calling this very cool fundraising event and how did you come up with the concept?

Jay:  When I met the new owners of Jake's I could tell that they wanted to embrace the musical legacy of the bar, where the previous owners seemed to want to distance themselves from the building's heritage. I’m constantly coming up with crazy ideas, but this one just seemed to actually be good enough to put into operation. It’s called Back to Rockafellas' because we all finally get to go back, not to reminisce but to actually re-experience it. And hopefully, we'll raise some funds for this year's FREE Jam Room Music Festival, so we can bring Columbia the best show possible.

Jasper:  What’s the line-up look like?

Jay:  Since it’s a benefit for the Jam Room Music Festival we had to keep budget in mind, but I think it’s going to be a great gig and I think the bands will be glad that they played it. We got a strong bill together and we’re very happy with it. The first night has a Rock ‘n’ Roll theme with a country-ish opener. The second night more indie, and the punk matinee and acoustic Sunday evening speak for themselves. It’s basically an exact copy of the format of a normal weekend from the heyday of the old Rockafellas'.

Steve Gibson, the original owner of the bar said that he preferred to have fresh, current new bands, rather than trying to have defunct bands reform. I agreed and feel that Steve’s input is essential in doing the most appropriate event that we can. This show was designed to appeal to younger people, but also to be something that the older Rockafellas' crowd will like.

Jasper:  What do you think is going to be most surprising to folks attending?

The most surprising thing will be the vibe that the place still has and the sense of camaraderie and community.

Jasper:  How are things going with plans for this year’s Jam Room Festival – can you give us a little preview of what’s in store?

Jay:  We're already working hard on planning the event for September 21st. We'll have two stages set up at Main Street and Hampton Street, with an eclectic mix of  bands, just like last year. We're planning on bigger and better, and we're talking to a number of great artists but no specific details are  available just yet.

Jasper:  Anything else you want to share with Jasper’s readers?

Jay:  The Jam Room Music Festival is always looking for volunteers and sponsors so I’d like to encourage anyone with interest to contact us through our website or through Facebook. I really hope that both this fundraiser and the Jam Room Music Festival will inspire some other people to get off the sidelines and get involved with creating some new music events or even improve our current music venue variety. We’re hoping to help put Cola back on the map as an important music city

Jasper:  Finally, what dates should we mark on our calendars for both the Rockafellas' Fundraising event and this year’s festival? 

Jay:  Back To Rockafellas' is the weekend of May 17 -19. We have a number of other fundraising events coming up later this summer. One is a Ladies of  Country Music show at Trustus Theater on Sept. 6th. The others will be at the Whig and at Jake's, with more details to come on those later on. The Jam Room Music Festival happens on Sept. 21st on Columbia's Main Street.