The Rumble Ft. Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.

On Mardi Gras morning, your eyes may feast on the intricate and elaborate beadwork of the Indians as they dance down the street, but the first thing you'll hear when they make their way toward you is the back line, known as "the rumble". Featuring seven GRAMMY-nominated musicians, The Rumble is more than just a band — it's an opportunity to be immersed in a wholly unique facet of New Orleans culture. Composed of Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the Young Eagles, trumpeter Aurélien Barnes, trombonist José Maize Jr., bassist TJ Norris, guitarist Ari Teitel, keyboardist Andriu Yanovski, and drummer Trenton O’Neal, the group fuses iconic New Orleans funk in the vein of The Meters and The Neville Brothers — but updated, modern and vibrant befitting the next generation — with electrifying brass and the singular visual splendor of the Black Masking carnival tradition. 

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 (drums, percussion, guitar) Kim West (synthesizer, piano) and Ryan Devlin (bass, guitar.) 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. In a rare interview, the creature stated “mega cat is mutant. mega cat isn’t done mutating.”

In public appearances to the audio and scientific communities, Benson, West and Devlin are joined by Dave Dederer (Presidents of the United States of America) on guitar, Jacob Winiham on auxiliary percussion, and Peter Daniel (PBS) on saxophone & flute. Though mega cat shifts shape, the clearest imagery of the disembodied being has been transcribed by the Japanese born, Seattle based illustrator and muralist Shogo Ota (tiremanstudio.com). mega cat’s debut record was released into the known universe in February of 2024 via Share It Music/Sub Pop Records.