Interview Luvcat: “Strangers have been so welcoming and the fans have been screaming every word”

Hello Luvcat! How’re you doing and what’ve you been up to recently?
I’m wonderful, thank you! I’ve been making new music on the weekdays and playing festivals at the weekends. The dream scenario really.

A couple of weeks ago, you released your new EP ‘Lovebites’; what inspired you to pull together these tracks as somewhat of a companion piece to your debut? How do you think the EP has helped to expand upon your creative universe? 
I was dying to make a murder ballad EP. I’ve been obsessed with them since I was a kid and I saw the video for ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue on MTV. ‘Lovebites’ is a more macabre and melancholy older sister of the record. 

On the EP, you collaborated with both Peter Doherty and Dr John Cooper Clarke. How did those collaborations come about? 
I met Peter when we supported The Libertines in Europe and then he invited us on tour with him across France. He’d always watch our set and stroll on stage in his hat and suit to sing this song with me. Dr John, I met at the Northern Music Awards and he was very sweet to me. Then I rang him on his house phone while he was making dinner for his family and asked him to duet with me - and to play a corpse in the music video, haha!

What do you think John, in particular, brought to the re-release of ‘He’s My Man’? Why was that the right track to be given a new (admittedly, even darker) lease of life?
He took it very seriously and read the medical encyclopedia, so he could understand just how arsenic poisoning felt. I love his weary, weathered delivery in his strong northern accent. Hopefully it took my listeners by surprise. 

Do you feel as though the EP has helped bring this current chapter of your career to a close, or do you think there’ll be even more opportunities to continue building the world of ‘Vicious Delicious’?
We are planning something very fucking cool for the Halloween anniversary, [but] it’s secret for now. But yes, ‘Vicious Delicious’ is nearly dead. I see this festival season as a last hurrah, the debut album’s last few breaths and kicks before the new circus begins. 

As mentioned, you’re currently in the midst of festival season; what’s it been like performing these songs to those kinds of crowds and how do they react? Has there been a stand-out moment from this summer so far?
It’s been so much fun so far. I’ve definitely not been choosing appropriate festival footwear for the fields… I love sitting and singing on top of the piano in my stilettos with a glass of red wine. The strangers have been so welcoming and the fans have been screaming every word. We were filmed for TV for the first time a few weekends ago, which was surreal. It poured with rain for TRNSMT and it was an inferno in the tent for Isle of Wight. We had a ball and it wasn’t as scary as I thought. 

Do you have much planned for the future once festival season has calmed down? Could there be any more music on the way?
There is certainly new music. It’s the best stuff we’ve ever made. Baby’s going to Hollywood!!

Luvcat plays Open’er Festival, which takes place from 1st-4th July 2025 in Gydnia, Poland. Find out more and get tickets at opener.pl now. 

Tags: Features, Interviews, Festivals, Luvcat