Phil Thomas Katt and the Uncharted Zone

By Joshua Encinias

The reports of Phil Thomas Katt’s (PTK) death were greatly exaggerated.

It was 1986, and the eccentric Pensacola-based musician with jet-black hair was about to release his first album, “Nine Lives.” Katt was already gaining notoriety for Kattline, an answering machine line people could call to hear recorded skits by the musician. Then one day, Katt had the mischievous idea to do a publicity stunt for the album by faking his own death on Kattline.

“Hi, I’m Phil Thomas Katt. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now but I’m dead,” is the message he left for his teenage fans. The news spread like wildfire. Kids left messages with their tearful condolences.

The next day, he recorded a new message—“Guess you forgot, Katts have nine lives. And you can have “Nine Lives,” too, at your local record store.” Cassettes of his new album “Nine Lives” were a local hit, and his legend only grew from there.

The legend of PTK is the subject of a new documentary, “Space Happy: Phil Thomas Katt and the Uncharted Zone,” and it’s playing at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Filmmaker Lou Crisitello debuted a shorter version of the documentary at Pensacon in 2019, and with any luck, he hopes to reunite Katt and his friends for a local screening soon. In the meantime, everyone across the country can stream the documentary on Slamdance’s website later this month.

Crisitello owns a family-run media company out of Brooklyn called Perpetual Doom. The indie label and production company releases music and creates music videos and merchandise, and with “Space Happy,” they’re getting into documentary storytelling.

“Space Happy” originated years ago, when Crisitello met Katt and knew instantly they were kindred spirits. PTK hosts a show highlighting Gulf Coast indie musicians called “The Uncharted Zone” (UZTV for short), and Crisitello’s Perpetual Doom also gives a platform for indie artists outside the mainstream.

“We’re both of the DIY aesthetic, working with minimal-to-no budgets,” said Crisitello. “When I first discovered Phil’s videos, of course, there was a chuckle but also admiration.”

The filmmaker says Katt’s an inspiration to the development of Perpetual Doom and mirrors UZTV’s own development. “I consider us allies, and I have some ideas how we can expand upon the ‘Space Happy’ universe,” said Crisitello.

To make the short, and now the documentary, Crisitello made multiple trips to Pensacola over the years. And his entry point to Pensacola was Katt and his Space Happy crew, including local artists Mark Gormley and Ken Manning.

It’s evident the filmmaker knows a lighter, more creative side of Pensacola, and that feeling shows up throughout the documentary.

But that isn’t to say that it’s all fluff. Crisitello shows the struggle of Katt’s friend, independent artist Manning, whose song “Gulf Breeze UFO” is prominently featured in the doc.

Like many artists before him, Manning also has to work outside of his field to maintain a livelihood. This part of the documentary is handled respectfully and lets us in to see the person inside the artist.

One of UZTV’s biggest success stories is local musician Gormley, whose song “Without You” went viral on their YouTube channel in December 2008. It was a happy surprise for everyone involved because Gormley’s music previously went undiscovered for decades.

In the early aughts, Gormly asked Katt to make a video for him, which was added to UZTV’s rotation and went mega-viral with millions of views.

“The main thing that moved me about Mark Gormley’s success was seeing someone around my age make it,” said Katt.

Early in his career as a music video director, PTK would hang out at local bars looking for acts to work with. Nowadays, his reputation precedes him, so artists seek him out. His workload has forced his music career on the backburner, but he tells us he’s getting back into the studio.

“I have three songs in the works right now,” said Katt. “Once I have those, I’ll have enough songs to release my fourth album.”

Surprisingly, Katt has never played The Handlebar. When asked why, he said, simply, “I never really thought about it.” But he has played auditoriums, and skating rinks, from here to Hattiesburg, Miss.

PTK knows his productions are low-fi and rough around the edges, and there’s an earnestness about it that make some people nervous. Over the years, some in the press have mocked PTK, but he isn’t concerned.

“It’s not changing my world. I’m still doing what I want to do and try to improve every day,” said Katt.

If anything, he likes the idea that he might’ve influenced a generation of comedians like Tim & Eric, who also make low-fi videos, but mock the type of person who would make them.

“It would be cool if I influenced them. That would be a nice little legacy,” said Katt.

“SPACE HAPPY: PHIL THOMAS KATT AND THE UNCHARTED ZONE” WHAT: A feature-length documentary streaming from the Slamdance Film Festival WHEN: Jan. 23-29 WHERE: slamdancechannel.com COST: $7.99 to stream all of the films in Slamdance’s line-up DETAILS: spacehappyptk.com

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