Pensacola's Phil Thomas Katt still taking music fans into "Uncharted Zone"

When Pensacola maverick, the self-proclaimed "eccentric" Phil Thomas Katt's video production of local singer-songwriter Mark Gormley's song "Without You" went viral - now at 4.8 million views - people outside of Pensacola began taking notice.

So when PTK, as he's often referred, got a little product placement deal to feature Cheetos in one of his low-budget green screen video productions, was he subtle?

The Katt with the dramatic radio purr and the shades and the Sgt. Peppers'-era black shag? Subtle?

Not a chance.

Katt put the shy-and-reserved Gormley in front of the green screen again. The result is a trippy one.

There's Gormley in an astronaut gear. Next, there's footage of astronauts picking up samples on the moon. Samples of Cheetos.

Later, there's Gormley standing in the spaceship airlock, blue jeans and a white polo shirt. And then a bag of Cheetos floats by him in zero gravity. The mystic, faraway-sounding song doesn't make anyone think of Cheetos. But there it is. Cheetos on the moon. That's Phil Thomas Katt. Always a little off-center. Reminiscent of something vague from the past in sound and look. But uniquely his own.

Oh yeah, there's also clips of a pensive young woman walking the beach. Later, she's walking the same beach carrying a bag of Cheetos, still pensive.

"I just stood there, and he did his thing,'' Gormley said of Katt's green screen production. "He didn't say anything about an astronaut. It was just a fun thing to do."

PTK is a recording artist, video producer, former radio station disc jockey and the mad musical scientist behind the creation of "The Uncharted Zone," the long-running YouTube channel featuring Katt-produced videos for a variety of local and regional artists. "The Uncharted Zone" slogan? "Love it like you should."

"The Uncharted Zone,'' with PTK's smooth commentary and a slew of videos, premieres a new episode at 6 p.m. Fridays. His YouTube channel has more than 1,500 videos he has shot over the decades on location - he loves to use Pensacola scenes - and at his Pensacola home studio, which features a production room and, out back, a green screen room.

"I've always enjoyed working with up-and-coming bands,'' Katt said from his small, darkened studio, which features a wall of video cassettes and DVDs of music and video he has recorded. "I enjoy seeing their world and their lives. It's kind of cool when a little van drives into the backyard and the band all hops out with some instruments and go and have fun in front of the green screen."

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Area musicians say Katt is an important component of Pensacola's musical history through the last 30 years or so.

"His contribution to the music scene is his documentation and preservation,'' said longtime Pensacola musician Michael McCartan, a former area schoolteacher who enlisted PTK in the early 2000s to record a video of him with students to promote his album of children's music, "Mr. Mac Says."

"At his studio, he has a wall of tapes and a wall of memories," McCartan said. "It's an important contribution to Pensacola's music history."

Despite the look and the cool-Katt persona, PTK is a softie at heart. Especially when it comes to music. He was inspired early on by soft-rock artists such as David Gates and Bread, and the bubblegum rock of Shaun Cassidy, Donny Osmond and the ilk. And of course, Elvis Presley.

As a student at Escambia High, he formed an acoustic duo called Sunrise. In 1977, he recorded his first record, "Brand New Love," which received some regional airplay.

But it wasn't until the 1980s that the Phil Thomas Katt that we know today truly began taking shape.

Eric Jones, owner of Revolver Records on 12th Avenue, met Katt in 1981.

"He had a cool look ever then," Jones said. "Shaggy bleached-blonde hair. He seemed like someone I could relate to. He was the only other guy I knew at the time that was into the Stray Cats. We bonded instantly and have been buds ever since."

In the 1980s, PTK debuted his popular phone line, The Katt Line, that people called in to hear music and messages from PTK. In 1986, he faked his own death on The Katt Line to promote his new album, "Nine Lives."

"The Uncharted Zone" also debuted on The Katt Line about the same time.

He admits that he always loved the publicity, the limelight.

"I've never really been a money guy,'' Katt said. "Money was never my motivation. I didn't ever think I would get rich in the music but I did hope for fame. I liked the idea of being famous."

Now that he has achieved some level of Internet and local fame, Katt seems content with his legacy.

"It's been rewarding because I've had the chance to reach out beyond the Pensacola music scene," Katt said. "It's everything I could have ever dreamed of, really."

His dream was to be in the music business.

"And I'm in the music business," he said. "That's everything."

But it's the creative energy and vision, especially in his video production, that has propelled him.

McCartan said PTK has produced numerous videos for him, but his favorite is the wacky country-blues number "Pack My Bags," which features the band playing while a Cleopatra-figure, portrayed by McCartan's wife, Rayeko, walks by. Another features McCartan deep in conversation with a young woman, his daughter Sarah, in a deer costume. In another green-screen moment, McCartan appears as a surfing Santa.

"It was wonderful," McCartan said. "He said, 'Let's put Cleopatra in front of the band. Over here, we'll have you talking to your daughter in a deer costume.' Then the Santa thing. It was wild. That video took three years off and on to make. It's kind of scary what he puts on screen - the creativity. It's wonderful stuff. And he'll sit there and just bounce ideas off of you and make it collaborative. It sure was a lot of fun."

Now in his 60s, PTK continues to seek out bands, artists and ideas for his modest Pensacola empire. A lifelong space nut and "Star Trek" fan - "that's my religion,'' he said - PTK admitted he doesn't really have any outside hobbies.

"What I'd really like to do, and I don't do as much as I would like, is work more on my own music," Katt said. "I'm still writing songs and still have ideas. But I'm always busy. I'm always working with other artists."

For more information on Phil Thomas Katt, go to The Uncharted Zone or find his YouTube channel at The Uncharted Zone - YouTube.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Phil Thomas Katt of Uncharted Zone still Pensacola music icon