The Motives were just a local teenage band who liked to play Animals and Jimi Hendrix music. The 60’s had taken hold on Wildcat and his growing number of friends, and band members had little problem finding all kinds of gigs throughout other parts of southeastern Michigan. After the breakup of the Motives in 69, in 1970, John met and became collaborators with a 17 year old bass player from Hazel Park named Bill Kapenekas. Bill had moved down the street from John and they found they had a lot in common like music, girls, and vices. Along with Ferndale drummer Bob Stienmetz, they forged a sound that tugged away at what Wildcat had evolved into post Motives.
The new band was called Katmandu, who in their own basement, level of jamming and recording melded into a brotherhood that carried them into a lot of gigs like with SRC the Fruit, and Frigid Pink. In the 5 years they were together they shared all manner of emotional meanderings involving the many satellite people who revolved around them. Edgy tunes with names like "Woman" and "Time Bomb" were interlaced with a bevy of acid rock licks that made for a contrast as compared to other Wildcat hippie idealistic ballads like "Lonely Town" and "Common Man". Kapanekas would lay the bottom with his stereo pickup Rickenbacker bass driving a 30 inch speaker giving the kind of ballsy distorted sound that could really be felt directly down the spine. Along with Stienmetz’s high finesse kind of rollin drum licks, Wildcat found the perfect pocket to let loose with his unique brand of guitar playing, and could do keyboards-sax-flute-theremin, and even clarinet.
The Whole story
Motives of Existence is a Detroit based musical group the Motives of Existence are rockin’ up the tunes no matter where they play. John Wildcat leads the way with a collection of original tunes mixed in with a few covers that audiences from all around are applauding. With fellow band mates John Hayes and Dave Hengstebeck, Wildcat taps the electric creative energy that sets The Motives of Existence apart from anything else. The Motives of Existence will rock your world!....
