Out Of The Voice Box
Newcastle Herald, May 23 2002

SOMETHING For Kate frontman Paul Dempsey used to hide behind an angst-ridden raspy voice. He said he was nervous and suffered a severe lack of confidence. But to listen to the band's latest album, Echolalia, you wouldn't believe it. Nor would you if you saw him - say at Newcastle University's Bar On The Hill tonight - alone on stage with a guitar. 

'I think our music was a little more aggressive back then,' he said of the Melbourne band's debut album Elsewhere In Eight Minutes.

'Generally I was just screaming 'cause I wasn't really confident in singing any other way.'

Dempsey said he hasn't done anything special to aid his voice, he just puts it down to a matter of time and experience in front of people. Dempsey used to perform solo shows around Melbourne under the guise of Scared Of Horses, because he didn't like the idea of his name appearing in the gig guide alone.

'I didn't want people to know what I was doing,' he said.

Scared Of Horses released an EP titled An Empty Flight, but Dempsey said it was a one-off. He said it came about when he had a collection of songs he didn't feel he could play with Something For Kate. These days though, he said there isn't anything he can't do with the band.

'I like the solo shows for something different but it's still Something For Kate stuff,' he said.

'The great thing when it's just you and a guitar there is no hiding the mistakes,' he said. 'You kind of have to sing well.'

Originally a drummer, Dempsey played keys and violin, among other instruments, on Echolalia but, sadly, they won't be included on his national 'Singularity Tour'.

'I thought about getting a keyboard or piano for the shows, but I'm not as confident with that live.'

Popular indie-guitar-rock bands Bluebottle Kiss and Sea Life Park have been specially selected by Dempsey for the ACT and NSW legs of the tour and will also play tonight.