RCougar pounces on pop-rock sound
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.28.2008
Since starting up in the summer of 2007, RCougar has been gaining a buzz.
The Tucson group regularly gigs around town and has generated an enthusiastic fan base.
This might not have happened if it hadn't decided to change its name and direction.
The band had been known as Awesome Ocelot since 2005, but last year guitarist and vocalist Andrew Shuta, 23, decided he wanted to change things up.
Awesome Ocelot's music was more dancey and punk, but Shuta's new songs went in a different direction: pop rock.
So RCougar was born.
"We got a better response with that band," said Shuta, a graduate of Tucson High Magnet School.
RCougar has an EP available for free download at www. myspace.com/rcougar, although it's almost a year old. Shuta said the band is trying to find time to record new material, but its members have been really busy.
Three of them, including Shuta, work as teachers at a local charter school. Plus, Shuta is a senior at the UA finishing up a triple major in studio art, English and creative writing.
So that leaves little time to rock. Thankfully, the band made room in its day planner for a HoCo Festival performance Sunday on the Caliente New Music Stage.
Shuta chatted a bit ahead of RCougar's performance.
What made you want to write the kind of songs you're making now?
"I've always been into poppier, more fun music, and I've never really been in a band like that. Simple, but somewhat thought-out songs."
Where did the name come from?
"I don't even know where the name came from. The "R" stands for Rutherford, as in Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president. So a Rutherford would be an innuendo for a 19-year-old. And a cougar is an innuendo as well, for older women."
But the name used to be spelled as "R'Cougar" and now it's just RCougar?
"Yeah, we found out that the Internet does not like apostrophes. And aesthetically we determined it was better without it."
What do you make of the Tucson music scene?
"I think it's really good. I've been here all my life. I know a lot of people playing in a lot of different bands. It's awesome to see friends grown up into talented people."
Are there any bands you're excited to see at HoCo?
"Wait, the Meat Puppets are actually playing? That's cool. The Meat Puppets, I'm excited. I like the Lemon Drop Gang a lot. I like 21 Pump Street a lot. Golden Boots is cool. The Swim is cool. The Holy Rolling Empire, those guys are our friends. We'll be pumping it up for them."
There's somebody getting married at the HoCo Festival. I was wondering what your view on that and marriage was?
"That's pretty cool they'd decide to do it during a festival. My own opinions on marriage are a very deep and long-rooted argument. I feel like if people want to do it, that's cool, but I think our views on marriage as a society are pretty constructed to be as convoluted as they can be. . . . although I would love to do that sometime."
— Kevin W. Smith
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