01/04 - RAG Magazine

HER ZENITHca CadyI wasn’t worried about that. I was justworried that it wasn’t healing fast enough. I had burst ablood vessel in my throat from straining too much. I was just uncomfortablethat it wasn’t healing soon enough because we wanted to recordour album – and I couldn’t, and we were preparing for a tour. I was justfreaking out about that.Describe your performance.Our show is just good music, hard, in-your-face, a lot of action. It’s a lotof fun for the audience.How does playing other places on tour compare with SouthFlorida? Describe the audiences and overall vibes.We’ve gone all the way to California – when I say that I don’t just meanthere and back – we perform in [tons of cities] along the way. We did anEast Coast tour all the way to Philadelphia and back. And it’s really toughwhen you’re an indie band doing everything on your own. I meaneverything. No one is putting any money into this band other than themembers and our families. I think it’s pretty cool that we’re doing this.The only place that really struck me as having a really different, educatedaudience, in terms of local music, was L.A. We played on aMonday night at Troubadour, which is one of the best places (Guns ‘nRoses, Aerosmith, etc. have played there). I thought, ‘This place isgonna be empty on a Monday night at 11:30 p.m.,’ but it was packed. Allthe bands that played there seemed to be from around town, and yet thecrowd was there. I might be wrong, but I don’t think stuff like that reallyhappens around [South Florida]. But something [good] is starting to happento the scene down here.How do you stay motivated with music when you are working aday job, too?Everyone in the band works a day job – different kinds of places - fromoffices to studios, hotels, Publix [laughs]. As far as staying motivated, Imean when you’ve gone through two tours – outside your city and state– not playing in front of your friends, or even your friends’ friends (Imean we all know that locals bands’ majority of their fan base is made upof friends and family.) – but you’re playing for an audience that hasnever even remotely heard of you – and you are able to sell a box of CD’sand people love it – then you must be doing something right. I mean ifnone of that stuff is happening, then you’d say ‘maybe we’re not thatgood.’ But when you are received really well – that says a lot.Aside from that, we’ve played local bars and people are just shootingpool or whatnot – not your average music fan. Those people will say,‘Ya know, my favorite band is Hootie and the Blowfish, but you guys kickass’ or this 40-year-old guy buys a CD, and the next night some kidwearing a Marilyn Manson shirt buys a CD. If we weren’t getting thatkind of response, then the motivation level would drop.It sounds like touring really opens your eyes to what else isgoing on. Would you say touring is a huge motivator?Yes, it’s very exhausting though. It’s just the five of us. There’s no driveror anything.I’ll give an examplefrom our first tour. We were scheduled to playin a town north of Austin, Texas. We were in a town south ofAustin when our van had a problem and we had to take it to the shop.After the van was fixed we had to drive three hours to get to the gig. Wemade it there, played the show, and put everything in the trailer. It waslike 2 a.m. That same day we were supposed to be in Atlanta. So wedrove nonstop. We made it to Atlanta an hour before our show. Weplayed, got back in the van, and drove to another gig. And that’s how itis. I mean if you want to make the most of the trip, and not just make it avacation, then you have to do that. We sometimes drive for 20 hoursstraight. That kind of stuff is really a good factor for any band. I guessit kind of brings you down to reality. It makes you humble.Did touring bring you closer as a band, or were there difficultmoments when you had arguments?We pretty much get along. We’re five guys, who have one thing incommon – music. So we try to make that the main factor of our trip.We have a good time. It’s really cool because we get to meet a lot ofpeople. There are so many nice people. We’ve had several occasionswhere people invited us to their house to crash for the night.I mean these are people who don’t know us. They’ve never seen usbefore, and here we are sleeping at their house. Touring is just areally cool experience.Will you continue to do this even if you don’t get signed inthe next few years? Is it more important to get signed, or isperforming and creating music enough?Yea, I mean how do you tell somebody who’s a writer not to writejust because they never make any money? I mean that’s what theydo. It’s what they’re meant to do. Now, I do think the music businessis going through some tough times, but hopefully things will getbetter for everybody. Having a different way to express yourself isimportant. Touring and playing in front of audiences – from teenagersto adults, who have no idea who we are, and having themappreciate our music - is what it’s about. At that point, I guess youknow you are doing the right thing, and it really doesn’t matter whatanybody else thinks. That’s what comes through on stage. It doesn’tmatter if you are playing for the sound guy, or a few thousandpeople.What is one of the most memorable things someone hassaid about your music?We were in Philadelphia at a really small bar, and there was this girlwearing a Marilyn Manson T-shirt. She came up after the show, gota CD, and asked me, “What was the name of that fourth song?When you said that line, it touched me so much. It almost broke myheart.’ And you know she felt it. If you can reach people like that,that’s what it’s all about.