The music at the Spellcaster is always danceable, weird and varied. Everyone dances, no matter who’s playing.
Quintron: I spin a lot of New Orleans Bounce (underground ghetto party music; Juvenile is currently the big star) and Disco Rick from Miami, mixed with Noise and my own stuff. I use a sampler when I DJ so I can throw in some of my own stuff.
Miss Pussycat: I try to dance for every show. I want to have a great time. Sometimes you feel so stupid when you dance, or you don’t dare because nobody else is. I don’t want that to happen here.
Tell us about your DrumBuddy invention.
Quintron: I kept coming back to the idea of a lightactivated instrument. I’d build one, then build a better one. There were maybe seven versions before the final one, and I guess it’s not really done yet. The DrumBuddy has light-sensitive resistors. My goal was to sell a hundred. I sold 44 to people all over the world then stopped. It was too much work. But I feel like I accomplished my goal by putting a new musical instrument out there. A DrumBuddy’s a musical instrument just like a violin, a guitar or a Moog.
What’s does the future hold for your music and puppet act?
Miss Pussycat: I’m working on a new puppet video for local TV about termites (New Orleans is infested with termites, little nasty insects that literally eat houses, and Quintron and Miss Pussycat have not been spared…) and I have a job sewing Mardi Gras costumes. We’ll go on tour in the spring.
Quintron: The tenth album comes out in August, I want to have lots of time recording here at the Spellcaster with no – listen up, tech nerds! – no multitrack machine. Meaning if I want four female back-up vocals, I have to throw a party and get four girls to come over and sing live. I want no obsessing over, “Oh, I wish I’d sung that part differently.” I want that special sound of singing and playing at the same time. Sometimes it might be off and wrong, but I want all of that.
Another word-of-mouth nightlife spot is Pearl. It’s a speakeasy run by MC Tracheotomy, a.k.a. Jay Poggi. He’s a musician/rapper/party promoter closely associated with Quintron. The two have been friends for years and have collaborated on music and ideas for a long time. Pearl is a sprawling space filled with so much stuff that it feels like a junkyard antique shop.
Can you briefly describe the 9th Ward Scene?
MC Tracheotomy: Like all scenes, it has evolved. The 9th Ward is highly communal, in the sense of group support and interaction.
What’s the appeal of New Orleans to you?
MC Tracheotomy: That you can be an adult. No curfews. No last calls. Food at all hours. As an artist, I’m working 9 to 5 – but at night.
