Punch Drunk Cabaret are heading to town for a ‘steampunk’ styled fundraiser at Fratter’s Oct. 24th. The event, called The Bra Lounge Presents Steampunk Cabaret, will be in support of Cystic Fibrosis Canada. It begins at 7:30 p.m. with music to follow later in the evening. Randy Bailer fronts Punch Drunk Cabaret and used to be the force behind another fascinating indie group called Screwtape Lewis for about a decade. Drawing on elements from ‘rockabilly, outlaw country and steam punk swing’, Punch Drunk Cabaret aren’t the least bit wary of trying their hand at all kinds of ventures.
Meanwhile, their latest CD, their second, The Juke Joint Revival Hour, was released last year and a third project is due in 2016. Rounding out the band is Greg Williamson on drums and Terry Sawbones Grant on 12-string bass.
These days, their approach to making superb music and fearlessness about melding genres are seeing the group grow in popularity both on the concert circuit and as a draw for various charity fundraising events. “It’s kind of caught on with various steampunk organizations,” said Bailer of the band’s look and sound. Tapping into the culture of steampunk to a degree has also introduced the band to all kinds of fascinating people as well. “They are the most creative people I’ve ever met, from jewellery makers to academics – people in advertising to authors – people who just come together and put these events on. It’s turned out to be actually a pretty good fit for us, and we’ve found the steampunk audiences to be pretty open-minded when it comes to music,” he said. “It’s also more varied then people might realize,” he said of steampunk in general. “Basically, imagine if the Victorians had our technology – and then all the directions that could go in. What would transportation look like? What would the economy and the arts look like? “A lot of it ties into the aesthetics of that period.”
Bailer describes 2015 as the band’s best year to date and pointed out there were signs over this past summer that showed the guys they’ve really grown past any sort of descriptive tags they may have given themselves in the past. “We would get on a classic rock bill, and totally go over well with that audience. Or we get on more of a pop kind of bill, and that would go over really well,” he said.
“This gave us a lot of confidence and insight that what we are doing is more broadly based than we thought it was when we started.”
Check out www.thebralounge.ca/events.
editor@reddeerexpress.com
