#71. I know Quintron and Miss Pussycat (Tampa/New Orleans, 1999–present)

Quintron came to my class and did a killer presentation on sound.

Nation of Ulysses/MakeUp leader Ian Svenonius told me he considered international touring organist Quintron and his puppeteer wife Miss Pussycat “America’s greatest living artists.” I don’t disagree. I first met Q&P when I opened for them in Tampa, Florida. Tampa boasted a good original music scene, but I’d never seen anyone dance in Tampa, except at Goth nights or 80s nights, until Q&P rolled through town. From the moment they pulled up to the venue with three bands’ worth of gear, they introduced me to the concept of living it; Q&P remain real artists, not just two people playing rock star a few hours out of every day. I knew almost nothing about New Orleans before moving here, and while I would not say Q&P influenced that geographic decision, our Tampa show with them definitely made me interested in whatever planet they’d descended from.

By now I’ve known them as neighbors and friends for almost two decades. They’ve guestlisted me for countless concerts. They invited me on stage at a big awards show. Q came into my class and did a presentation on sound that was as badass as one of his performances at One Eyed Jacks. We’ve fished together on my boat. We’ve had our differences. I visited their flooded home 29 days after Katrina, and found Q so glad to see us that he gave me a vinyl test pressing of his yet-to-be-released Swamp Tech album (great record, btw; my favorite of theirs). We even jammed once.

I’ve already written a book’s worth of shit about Quintron and Miss Pussycat, so no need for me to write even more now. I’ll just refer you to links where you can read my previous stories about:

1. (2019) A best buddy of mine and his 12-year-old apprentice son drove from their home in ATL to NOLA, to fix Quintron’s Hammond organ. I love this story.

2. (2015) The Guardian let me write about how Quintron invented the Weather Warlock synth, while laid up taking cancer treatments. Q hadn’t really told too many people about his struggle, so it felt like an honor that he trusted me to report that news.

3. (2012) This AntiGravity piece details Quintron’s involvement in helping start up the original Music Box on Piety Street.

4. (2012) I curated the abstract music festival NOizeFest for 15 years, and Q often came by and participated and helped out. That piece features great photos by Robert Hannant.

5. (2010) I consider this AntGravity Q&A the best, deepest interview anyone’s ever done with Q&P.

6. (2003) There exists a movie called Flakes, filmed in New Orleans, about a musician guy and his wife named Miss Pussy Katz. Local music scene heads got super mad about this apparent theft of Q&P’s intellectual property. So, I interviewed the guy who wrote Flakes’s script.

Michael Patrick Welch’s “132 Famous People I Have Met” series is FREE, but please consider donating to his VENMO (michael-welch-42), or to his PayPal account (paypal.me/michaelpatrickwelch2), so he can feed his kids, pay his mortgage, etc.