What started as a one-off recording project has turned into a full-blown band. Fantastic Cat is not a group where the band supports one songwriter, rather it’s a group of songwriters and multi-instrumentalists whose collective cuts make up the Fantastic Cat catalog, a catalog loaded with power pop, quirky ballads and anthemic rock ’n’ roll.
Fantastic Cat – Anthony D’Amato, Brian Dunne, Don DiLego and Mike Montali – will return to Durango next week, performing July 16 for the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College’s free concert series in Buckley Park.
Three records in, the latest being “Cat Out of Hell,” has solidified them as a full blown, touring outfit.
“We started this project as kind of like a Traveling Wilburys sort of thing where we would get together and share songs, write songs together and record together and sing harmonies on each other’s tunes, and it was just supposed to be kind of a fun weekend out at Don’s studio,” D’Amato said. “It just kind of spiraled out of control from there, and it’s kind of taken over all of our lives over the last couple years. Now we’re on our third record and endless tour of the U.S. and Europe.”
Individually, band members do the singer-songwriter, Americana and roots-rock thing. However, as a quartet, they can fill a rock ’n’ roll need, as it’s a chance to plug in, turn the amps up and perhaps go out on a musical limb as they give listeners something a bit more revved up than in their other musical offerings.
“This band is always kind of the place for us to go and be a little more adventurous and a little less afraid to fail. We’ll take risks and have fun because you know there’s a little bit of safety or protection that comes with being in the band versus doing the solo thing where it’s your name on the marquee, like this has to be cool or otherwise I’m not cool,” D’Amato said. “You go out with the band, and you’re like, ‘Let’s try it, let’s try this crazy idea,’ and if it crashes and burns I’ve got three other people to go backstage and laugh about it with afterward. What we’ve found is that by holding things a little less tightly and being a little more willing to step out on that high wire, it really connects with people in a in a strong way.”
That high wire the band is willing to walk across also comes with a visual and fun element: With Fantastic Cat, you’re getting a group of musicians who will switch out instruments nonstop through their set. If it’s a D’Amato song, he’ll play guitar and sing, while DiLego may play drums and Montali bass. If Montali sings, D’Amato will pick up the bass, DiLego will play guitar and Dunne will get behind the drum kit. It’s a fun game of “who gets to play what instrument” that’s not only entertaining for the audience, but also for the band. It keeps the vibe light while growing their listener base.
“You’re always being challenged musically, and it just makes things interesting for us. We’re having a blast up there, not taking ourselves too seriously, and I feel like that gives permission for the audience to not take themselves too seriously,” D’Amato said. “The more fun we have with it the more fun people have with it, and every time we come back to a town we’ve been to, everybody who was there brought three friends, and the next time they all brought three friends, and it just keeps growing and growing everywhere we go.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at [email protected].
