By Keith Walsh
Gilles Snowcat is always full of surprises, and has taught me a thing or two about music. For example, I had never heard of the Australian band Cold Chisel until he name dropped them in a song, “Sleep In Closet” from 2020’s You’ve Been Unboxing Gilles Snowcat.
Earlier this year he released a cover of Cold Chisel’s, “Just How Many Times” and now he’s got a groovy new single, “Someday,” a reggae-styled reimagining of their rock and roll tune with backing vocals by Adriana Dath. And as luck would have it, The Cat made himself available for a little Q and A.
Synthbeat: How did you come to imagine the tune from a hard rocker to your reggae version?
Gilles Snowcat: I didn’t think too much. There’s always a natural swing in Cold Chisel’s song that calls for some groovy playing. I started to work on it with the drum machine that had a strong swing, so all the swaying came naturally.
Synthbeat:It fits your voice well. Is it a challenge to find the sweet spot for your voice?
Gilles Snowcat: Less and less. Some songs, even my own compositions, seem out of my league when I start working on them, but after a few warm-ups it fits well. For “Someday”, I just transposed half a tone lower to give me more space, vocally speaking. I know that when I’ll perform the song live, I’ll get back to its original tone though to allow me to use more strength, more power.
Synthbeat: How did you find your three collaborators?
Gilles Snowcat: Ian Rigillo (guitar) and Nicolas NikoZark Leroy (bass) are now regular collaborators, almost veterans, and I met the co-vocalist Adriana Dath while doing volunteer work at a cat shelter. Cats attract musicians like honey attracts bears.
Synthbeat: Is that a drum machine? What are the drums?
Gilles Snowcat: It’s a drum machine that I originally programmed to give the drummer a guide, but the machine sounded so good that I didn’t hire anyone on the drums. I’m a living nightmare for drummers, since when I find a cool drum machine pattern, I tend to want to keep it.
Synthbeat: It’s a cool song. Any lessons that Cold Chisel taught you?
Gilles Snowcat: I rank Don Walker amongst the best songwriters ever, along with Bob Dylan for his sharp and in-your-face observation of society. Co-writer Jimmy Barnes also has a great sense of writing lyrics. I don’t know if they taught me actual lessons, but I feel a strong connection with many of Cold Chisel’s songs. “Someday” has some cynical mood, it matches Barnes’ image quite well, a mix of blunt sincerity and uncontrollable craze. That’s what makes this song so special, compared with millions of love songs talking about the same theme of becoming a better man for the lady.
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