BLACK CAT MOAN – interview

Introduce your band, and describe your latest release:

Black Cat Moan was founded in 1989. We released our first album Black Cat Moan in 1991. Due to a number of unfortunate events we had to break up the band in 1993. Many moons later, in 2018, three of the founding members Lars Isaksson on vocals, Bo Åström on drums and Jörgen Lantto on guitars put the band together again, and started to write and record new material. The second album Departure was released in 2023.

In September 2026, the third album Wasteland was released.

What’s the hardest part about being a band in this day and age?

In many ways it’s easier than it was when we formed the band back in the 80’s. Because of digital music production tools it is possible to record and produce new music without having to rent an expensive recording studio and having a record company pay for it. This is why we have released two new albums during the course of the last 3.5 years.

When did you realise that your project had the potential to be much more than just a fun idea?

When we signed our record contract back in 1990 we had great ambitions. Because of the very strong reaction when the record was released in 1991, we started to believe we would make it on a global basis. Unfortunately, that never happened and we had to give up.

The reason for trying again since 2018 is mainly to entertain ourselves, since we love writing and recording. If we can entertain others too, we’re even more happy!

Tell us about your latest release, why should we check it out?

We are very proud of our newest album Wasteland. It contains the usual hard rock tracks with emphasis on rock that perhaps sums up our two first albums. But it also contains some more diverse and maybe darker tracks such as the Wasteland three-piece, which sets it apart from our first two albums. If you like AC/DC, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, chances are that you’d enjoy our music too!

How does a song typically come together for you?

These days, a new song is first born with one of us three remaining people in the band. We first record a rough demo in our studio, where the objective is to see if it makes sense or if it should be thrown into the bin. If it makes sense, which it typically does, we look at the structure of the song, the guy that brought the song most often completes the lyrics, and then we record it again such that it can be included in a future album to be released. Sometimes it still gets canned, but if it continues to sound good, we keep it.

How would you describe your sound to an unfamiliar reader?

We want to sound like the bands sounded when we got hooked on music in the 70’s. The 70’s was the decade when, historically, the best music was released, at least for us. As mentioned, if you like AC/DC, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, somewhere in that mix you may recognize Black Cat Moan.

What do you want listeners to take away from listening to your band?

Music is the most powerful way of turning off other senses and being able to detach yourself from everything else. If we can enable that with our music, we’d be very happy. But we’re equally happy if somebody would listen to us for the first time and just think “hey, I like this track”. If we can do that to people we’ve never met, then we have achieved something good.

Where would you really like to tour that you haven’t done so yet, and why?

Being only three people still in the band, a tour is not on the table at this time. Back in the days when we were touring, we would have loved to play in Japan. That never happened unfortunately, so it remains an unrealized ambition.

How would you say that the sound of your band has progressed over the years?

The core elements of our music remains the same since releasing our first album, but as mentioned on our new album Wasteland, we have experimented a bit more and made it a bit broader in style. We’re very happy with the end result.

How excited are you for 2025, and what can fans expect from you?

Releasing a new album is always a source of great excitement. You’re eager to learn if everyone else loves the new music as much as you do.