KAT Savage has certainly earned her stripes playing an integral role on the local region’s music scene and is perhaps best known for her ten year stint with the fabulously successful Joey the Lips function band.

Now she’s getting set to return to The Wharf with her latest project I Love Amp who play The Wharf on Friday, July 7.

Ellie Hudson chatted to Kat to find out about her background and what made her form the new band.

Tell us about your background and how you arrived where you are today musically.

‘I can’t remember a day when I wasn’t on stage! My mother worked for TSW and Westcountry television (notoriously as Gus Honeybun’s ‘hand’)  and hosted a local radio show, so I guess I was always inspired to pursue a career in the performing and media arts! 

‘My professional career started when I was selected for scholarship at the Royal Ballet School in London.

‘I had started performing in chorus lines as a singer and dancer for local Theatre Royal pantomimes in Plymouth and initially wanted to become a professional ballerina! In the end, I turned down RB in favour of musical theatre and trained with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, but still not finding my performing “fit” ended up working for Disney!

‘I was a Snow White and Esmerelda character singer and my love for singing took off from there! I attended the Academy of Contemporary Music and found my calling.

‘I formed two original rock projects (one with our current drummer and my now husband!) and was under artist management with a famous band at the time called ‘Skunk Anansie’. It was a fun time!

‘I played a lot of festivals with lots of great bands from the early noughties. My song Taken Out became number three on the MTV band charts and I was writing a lot of fun material, but I was super homesick!

‘I’m from Cornwall and the London life was very draining! I was offered a publishing record deal with Virgin Records which I ended up declining to return home to the Westcountry.

‘After making this heart breaking decision to leave my band behind, I travelled home, boyfriend Tim in tow, and started looking for local work.

‘It just so happened that Joey the lips, a band I had admired and seen many times were looking for two new singers, and I knew it was a great opportunity, so I auditioned and got the job!

‘It was the first time I’d ever done covers and I had some big shoes to fill, but it was totally worth it. I became the youngest member of a very established outfit, but was instantly treated as an equal, and Joey became my musical family for a whole decade.

‘At the same time, I also became the artist development coach for Joss Stone’s record label, songwriting with up and coming artists and helping them develop their voice/playing and stage presence.

‘I was incredibly happy, but so busy! I was desperately missing Tim! He was also gigging professionally and we were like passing ships in the night!

‘So, after a long and hard decision, we decided to leave the projects we were in to start one together. It just so happened at the time that Tim was teaching a student called Josiah who also wanted to start a new project with his guitarist friend James.

‘We had a jam one night and it was clear that we all had similar tastes in music and that we were inspired by each other’s talents.

‘A few months later and I Love Amp was born.’

It’s an unusual name, there must be a back story to go with it?

‘Haha! Great question! It still makes me laugh to think of our band name!

‘It all started when my brother and I watched a cult comedy movie Called Anchorman.

‘In the movie, two of the main characters are discussing things they love, and the character “Bricks Tamland” starts naming things in the office, saying “I love carpet, I love chairs” etc.

‘Eventually, when questioned by the main character, “Ron Burgundy”, he whispers “I love lamp.... I love lamp”, it became the famous tag line from the movie.

‘When I suggested it to the band, we all found out that we loved that movie!  After laughing our heads off, we all agreed on the musical take, “I love Amp”, amp being a symbol for our love of 90s Rock music and it just kind of stuck! It’s actually become a great talking point because what we didn’t realise, is that the film is only really known with our certain age group, so we found that half the audience didn’t get it, hence why we are asked about our name a lot! Now it’s become a bit of a private joke with our regulars! Those that are “in the know” have great fun explaining the name to those that don’t know its reference!

‘’Consequently, the band has introduced the film to a lot of audience members! Maybe we should start charging commission for all the free advertising!’

Introduce us to the rest of the band.

‘I’ll start with Tim, our drummer. As you now know, I met Tim at the Academy of Contemporary music. He had just finished a degree in marine biology, but his love of music was too strong to resist! His whole family is musical, his dad a professional clarinet player appearing in films, his brother Matt is the bassist for the very successful band “Willie and the Bandits”, so it just seemed the right time for him to take his talent for playing the drums further.

‘James Davies, our guitarist, is another full on talent. Not only does he perform with us, his reputation proceeds him as one of the most professional and likeable talents in the area, and rightly so. Incredibly humble about his ability, James is inspiring to watch and is an absolute pleasure to work with. 

‘And then there’s the tour de force, Josiah Manning! He runs musical rings around us all! Multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer, producer and studio owner, Josiah is part of the South West musical elite. Not only is he our bassist he has his own duo project, Soul Stone with our band session singer, Charlotte Robinson, and sessions with Vince Lee and the big combo, Kris Barras, Alex Hart, K Lanta and Riviera Dogs playing a variety of keys, drums, bass, guitar and singing.’

So the songs you cover, do you put your own interpretation and stamp all over them?

‘Absolutely! I think every band tries to put a distinct spin on a song they’re covering. We all have a mutual background in Rock, so there tends to be a Rock edge to our tracks!

‘We try not to change some of the absolute classics though, why mess with perfection?! But, saying that, we have become well known for adding in killer guitar solos, great song segways and also for our prized rock medley finale!

‘We have a signature to our songs, so expect to find surprises here and there! ‘

What treats have you got in store for The Wharf audience?

‘We try to play something for everyone really! Even though we are predominantly a 90s covers band, between us, our repertoire is extremely extensive, so don’t be surprised if a Shakira song is played next to an AC/DC song! We like to surprise our audience from one minute to the next!

‘There is definitely something for everyone and we like to create a family friendly atmosphere where parents can feel comfortable to bring their teens for a night out and all can find something they like to dance to!

‘We class ourselves as a party band because our music is fun, energetic and happy, that will always be our signature.

‘We just love to see everyone having a great night and always try and tailor our set so that everyone, regardless of their personal taste in music can have a great night of entertainment.’