Bigfatcat LLC started in the mid-90s as a name for the freelance design that was being done by Jim Dunn. It was used on and off till he met Laura Hamlett whom he met, moved to St. Louis for, and married in 2001. The two soon felt the need to start their own music and entertainment publication (having worked previously on a St. Louis Zine – Noisy Paper). Theorizing “how hard could it be?” they started Playback: St. Louis Pop Culture in 2002. The 12-page black and white soon achieved wide-spread distribution throughout St. Louis and across the U.S. By 2006, the then renamed PLAYBACK:stl was 72-pages, full color and on the verge of U.S. distribution in bookstores and shops. What it lacked was enough financing to do it right. With a heavy heart Dunn and Hamlett gave up the print version of the publication in late 2006. However the website, also begun in 2002 was going strong and does to this day – www.playbackstl.com.

During the time that the two worked on the magazine they also met several talented bands and performers that Laura could not stand to see under-represented in the market. On one of their trips to South By Southwest, Laura got to meet up with one of her favorite Australian exports – Blue Bottle Kiss – and her first PR job was born. Over the years she has represented or managed dozens of bands including Semi Precious Weapons, John Boys Courage (Todd Sarvies), GreyMarket, and Lorenzo Goetz.