mega cat

mega cat is a new instrumental collaboration by Aaron Benson (drums, percussion, guitar), Kim West (piano and synthesizer) and Ryan Devlin (bass and guitar). For live performances, the band is joined by Dave Dederer (Presidents of the United States of America) on guitar. Ryan and Kim both play in the Seattle-based band Smokey Brights. Today mega cat is excited to announce their self-titled debut album will be released on February 16, 2024 on Share It Music. The band has shared the album's lead single "Rat Fight" which is on all digital platforms for any playlist shares.  

One night while walking home, keyboardist Kim West and bassist Ryan Devlin came upon two huge brown rats engaged in ferocious combat on their neighbor’s lawn. Both rats stood upright on their hind legs, claws wrapped around each other's necks, two rows of sharp teeth snapping at each other. Suddenly, one rat picked the other up and threw him down with such force that the couple heard an audible thud. And in that moment, the drama and wild energy of the song they’d been working on that very afternoon with drummer Aaron Benson had a name: “Rat Fight.”

“Rat Fight” is mega cat’s first musical transmission and emblematic of the group’s punk musical approach filtered through hip hop instrumentals, 70’s Afro Beat and avant jazz, and the abrasive individualism only found in Pacific Northwest music. It’s a wild, ritualistic dance in five/four time. The driving bass, blown out synthesizers, weighty drums, decisive horns and flute, and Saharan guitars all dance around each other until they collide in claps, like claws and fangs slashing in battle. Envelop yourself in the drama, the wild energy, and the audible thuds of this epic battle song.

mega cat is a disembodied multidimensional being most discernibly experienced as sound waves. It was first discovered in a basement home studio in the Central District of Seattle, Washington by audio chemists Aaron Benson, Kim West and Ryan Devlin. Upon first encountering mega cat, all three researchers experienced a loss of time, body dissociation, euphoria, and ego death. Reports of holographic thought, enhanced perception, and minor instances of levitation have been widely documented from just one encounter with mega cat. Though the being doesn’t seem to use traditional language to communicate, mega cat transmits instrumental narratives that feel familiar to fans of 20th century science fiction, afro-beat, hip hop, and psychedelic music. 

The band will be performing at Treefort Music Festival in Boise in March 2024. More shows will be announced in the coming weeks.