March 23, 1999

BUT 2 OUT OF 3 AIN'T BAD

     Congratulations are in order because Hepcat was recently awarded two Los Angeles Music Awards (aka Bammies) for "Outstanding Ska Band" and also for "Outstanding Independent Album" for "Right On Time." Hepcat was nominated for three awards in total, losing out in the California statewide award for best punk/ska album.

     As part of the Bammies, Hepcat also took park in the Southern California Awards show held in late January. Thanks to DeeDee for sending us a review of it, we can present to everyone a brief account of what took place that night. Tickets were only $8, included many local bands and Hepcat played 12 songs for close to one hour and as DeeDee describes it, "They tried mixing old and new songs to introduce the crowd to the songs. It was mostly an industry crowd, many had never heard of them before, let alone seen them at shows. The crowd really liked them though." Thanks again to DeeDee for sharing this information with us!

HEPCAT KEEPS ON KEEPIN' ON

     After Hepcat's short tour of the east coast of the US, Hepcat is going back into the studio to start recording a brand new album! We don't have any of the details yet, but it surely will be yet another Hepcat classic!

     If you simply can't wait to hear new material from Hepcat before their new album comes out, have no fear! Alex Desert is featured on some of the tracks off of Jump With Joey's newest album on Will Records, entitled "Swingin' Ska Goes South Of The Border." The album is supposed to be out in stores on March 23rd, so look for this new one by Joey Altruda and the rest of the gang!

     Thanks to another Hepcat fan Rijk van Kooij, we have more information on the new David Hillyard and the Rocksteady Seven album. David was of course once a saxophonist for Hepcat, but then left to join such acts as The Slackers, and now he's branched off into a solo project. The new album entitled "Playtime," features Greg Lee on vocals on "The Fool" and Alex Desert on vocals on "Angry Lady." Also Hillyard does a remake of "Skavez", the song he wrote for Hepcat's first album "Out Of Nowhere." The album should be out now everywhere and is on Hellcat Records.

HEPCAT AROUND THE WORLD

     If you haven't seen it already, be sure to check out the "pictures" section for more live Hepcat photos. We've just added photos from January 10, 1998 in Barcelona, Spain taken by Rudith and some from February 26, 1999 in Den Bosch, Netherlands, taken by Joris van Drunen Littel. Joris also let us know that Hepcat was featured on a Dutch television show a while back playing "Monkey Ska" live in Amsterdam. He also said that there were some interviews and more live footage shown as well. If only US television would catch on and show things like this! Be sure to visit Joris' UB40 site as well.

     There are also two new interviews in the "press" section, both with Greg Lee. The first was conducted by Katy Lady and was for her October 1998 issue of The Corporate Zine. If you would like to order a copy of Corporate Records' The Corporate Zine, send $1 to:

Corporate Records
the corporate zine
9826 NE19
Bellevue, WA 98004

     The second Greg Lee interview was conducted by Rudith in January 1998. Be sure to check everything out!

     We really appreciate people sending us photos, reviews or whatever else you may have regarding Hepcat, even if it's just a comment or question!