On the Prowl
The Hep Cat Boo Daddies Keep Hot Roding Through Miami

By Dominick Scala

If you have spent any time in South Florida, and you are one of the many who enjoy a good show with some good friends, chances are you have seen or heard The Hep Cat Boo Daddies.

The Hep Cats are Joel DaSilva on guitars and vocals, Sean “Evil” Gerovitz on bass, and Randy Blitz on drums. Churning a mix of Dick Dale style surf rock with an edgy-bluesy Stray Cats strut, they fill a gap in music that few other bands tend to venture into.
These Cats are are known for their raw and unique combination of sounds and their electrified live shows. They formed from the ashes of a wildly popular South Florida psychobilly band, the Underbellys. DaSilva draws from a mix of both Chicago and Texas style blues guitar with influences from BB King to The Smithereens. Add that to Evil's driving bass lines and Randy Blitz's blasting backbeats (and New York punk rock attitude), this band quickly gained a reputation as one of the best local rock bands around.

They have received the honorary a slew of local awards including Best R&B/Blues band in the First Annual South Florida Music Awards. The Cats have released two CDs and a DVD. Their latest release is called “hotrodsexgod,” an album mixed and engineered by Matt Laplant who also worked with South Florida Nonpoin. “hotrod” includes all original material plus a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” This album captures the vibe of their live show, raw, jagged and powerful. The Cats have pounded the pavement over the years with the likes of William Bell (STAX Records Legend), B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughan, North Mississippi All-Stars, ZZ Top, The Strokes, Johnny Lang, Lou Ann Barton, Ronnie Earl, The White Stripes, Lee Rocker from the Stray Cats, The Black Keys, Rev. Horton Heat, Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Buddy Guy, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Steve Winwood, The Black Crowes, Leon Russell, Bang Camaro, Galactic, the Smithereens, and Steven Tyler, in various states across this nation.
I caught up with Joel to get the skinny on these hip Cats.

So “hotrod” was released in late 2007, anything new in the works?
Yeah, well we’ve recently hired a new manager, stamped in place a new website (boodaddies.com) and now working on a live album. Also this weekend we’re playing two nights at the Miami Music Festival.

Do you guys have a label yet?
Not yet. You know, we’ve had a lot of interest and a few offers but the deals are just not in our favor. They all want too much from us.

Nothing wrong with keeping it Indie.
Yes, I think were headed in the right direction, got a bunch of new tunes and fresh management and a website. Plus this Miami festival is like South Florida’s “South By SouthWest” [Austin’s famous music festival]. So you never know. We’ll see what happens!

You can catch the Cats at the Miami Music Fest at 1 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Club Mekka, 950 N.E. Second Ave., Miami, and at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Brickell Irish Pub, 1451 S. Miami Ave., Miami. 305-381-6651 in Miami.

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