Dave Watts, drummer and founding member of The Motet, is getting ready for some shows with his new ensemble, Katharsis. Joining Watts on this latest project is keyboardist Todd Stoops (RAQ / Electric Beethoven), bassist Chuck Jones (Dopapod), and guitarist Marcus Rezak (Digital Tape Machine). The group is playing a 3-night Colorado run beginning next Wednesday, September 27th at Frisco’s Barkley Ballroom, followed by shows at Fort Collins’s Aggie Theatre (opening up for G. Love & Special Sauce, and Denver’s Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom. On October 5th, the band will be in Chicago at Emporium Arcade.

The group made its debut in Denver back in May, and things kept on building from there. Katharsis has already released two songs, “Diabolical” and “Sex Chat,” with more singles on the way. The quartet hit the studio earlier this year, and came out of that session with twelve fantastic psychedelic funk tracks, sealing their standing much more than just another side project. We caught up with Watts to discuss the band and how it all came to be.

As Watts explains, “Marcus and I had been talking about collaborating for a couple of years. He mentioned that we should find a show to play in Denver with Todd, and when Chuck let me know he was moving to town it seemed like the four of us would make a mighty line-up, I called Jay Bianchi and he set up our first shows this past May. After feeling the synergy we manifested on stage those nights we decided that we needed to write some original music and make a record. I called Mtn. Star studios in Rollinsville, where Dopapod made their most recent albums, and booked three days for us to write, record and improvise into the wee hours. The result is a dozen songs which we will be releasing slowing over the coming months. We call our brand of music psychedelic funk.”

He continues, “It’s been an honor and pleasure working with these guys so far! They are all monsters on their instruments and incredibly open minded when it comes to the creative process. We are just in the infant stages of this project and already we’re coming up with a sound that is light years beyond anything we could have imagined. Our mission statement is to peel away the veil of this reality and expose the psychedelic underworld. I think this is expressed well in our videos and graphic design work (props to Mike Tallman!)”

Katharsis Tour Dates
9.27   The Barkley Ballroom | Frisco, CO (FREE – tix)
9.28   Aggie Theatre | Fort Collins, CO (tix) *
9.29   Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom | Denver, CO (tix)
10.5.  Emporium Arcade | Chicago, IL (tix)

* support for G. Love & Special Sauce