Bio

The foundation for Wellington-based band What Noisy Cats was formed in 2010 with the pairing of Luke Marlow (vocals, guitar) and Vincent Waide (bass, vocals), with the goal of forming a band with an indie/folk/country feel complemented by a noisy edge. Luke and Vince played together as a duo while searching for others to complete the band, and shortly teamed up with Thomas McArthur (guitar/ keys/ production) with whom there was an instant click, with Tom’s inventive guitar lines and sage musical wisdom helping to add the perfect feel to the songs.

Even at this early stage Tom’s penchant for recording meant that the band started working on their debut EP, while continuing to search for the ever elusive drummer. Fortuitously, Patrick Whatman (drums, keys, vocals) stumbled onto the scene, completing the line-up in time to add some full-band songs to the EP, to complement the more acoustic-based songs that had already been completed. The EP (simply titled ‘What Noisy Cats’) was released in late 2010 at a rousing barnstormer of a gig at the now defunct Ruby Lounge.

No sooner had the band been born however, than they lost Thomas to the lures of Dunedin, where he moved to pursue studies in audio-engineering. The band continued briefly as a three-piece before being fortunate enough to secure Jake Walwyn on guitar duties in 2011. The interesting guitar stylings that Jake has brought to the band have had a huge part in shaping the unique sound that What Noisy Cats have today.

Over the next couple of years, What Noisy Cats worked hard on writing new material and developing a sound that would become uniquely theirs – while they never lost their basis of writing music which is strong on melody and hooks, the more experimental elements became even stronger and brought the edge that was one of their original intents for the band.

In mid-2013 the band were at a point where they had a clear enough vision for the band and the songs that it was time to embark on recording their debut album. The album was recorded over the next 2 years with producer Warwick Donald at Warwick’s studio, Building M with extra sessions completed at the Surgery. Mxing was also done by Warwick and mastering completed by Mike Gibson at Munki Studios.

The album, titled A Different Ocean was released in September 2015. It features song-writing contributions from 3 of the 4 members and is a varied yet cohesive set of 11 songs which promises to serve as a great document of the band that What Noisy Cats have become since their formation 5 years ago.

Band Members:
Luke Marlow
Vincent Waide
Jake Walwyn
Patrick Whatman
Thomas McArthur (past member)

Links

• Facebook Page
• Bandcamp Page