Making their Panda Room debut at The Pandapalooza gig this month is The Code, featuring award winning songstress Katie Jay. The Code have had a break for a while and are back ready to rock with a renewed vigour. The band made news back in 2015 when they were invited to go and play in San Francisco on a show with former members of legendary bands The Grateful Dead and Hot Tuna. I caught up with Katie for a quick Q/A..
The Code have been on a bit of a hiatus for a while, what inspired you to get back together and start gigging again?
Yes, we had some time off… I had stepped out as singer to have a rest and our bass player Gary Hill had a break also. Then Covid sort of slowed the whole thing down and I guess the time was right for it to all come together again. It all happened at Cameron’s birthday in May. It was supposed to be a bit of a jam, but it turned into a bit of a gig really. Everyone at the party just kinda stood back, beers in hand and witnessed The Code’s rebirth. It was the first time in years that it all just came into balance, it felt good.
Can you tell our readers a bit about the bands adventures in San Francisco..
San Francisco was amazing. It was an awesome experience for us as a band we went out into the city and went exploring, which was so much fun. We got lost together, we found our way together… it was really brilliant. We ate some amazing food and we drank some pretty great beer. The gig itself was a Once In a Lifetime kind of experience. It’s something that we will always treasure. We were invited over there to play for the Grateful Dead Family, which all came about because of our Drummer Cameron and his wife Redbird. Sometimes I feel like I still need to pinch myself when I think back to it. The whole trip gave us a lot of inspiration musically. We had the chance to experience the music of absolute legends up close, it was really something.
Can we expect any new material from Code for the Pandapalooza gig?
Ah, I would like to say yes, but we will have to see how we go. For now we have resurrected all our old originals, and I have to say it’s feeling pretty darn. Good to hear them again and play them again. All around, we’re just having an absolute ball, making music together again.
How would you describe the Codes sound to someone that hasn’t had the good fortune to witness a gig by The Code yet?
Well, we are a rock band but I guess there’s a bit of a funky twist to what we do, our bass player Gary Hill really puts those funky sounds in, he’s amazing. I feel we have been influenced by the music we grew up with, so I guess that 70s/80s sound comes through. We really love to free jam and most of our originals are born from that.
The Code play Pandapalooza at The Panda Room Saturday the 22nd July along with The Juliettes, The Brazilians, The Koffin Rockers (Townsville) and Transparent Komeleon.
Todd Macalpine
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