Catch 22

Samuel Barker: Alright man, to start with, what is your name and what do you do?

Kevin: My name is Kevin and I sing and play trumpet. I also do all the interviews.

Samuel: How has the tour been going so far?

Kevin: It’s been great. It’s been nice touring with someone you looked up to. I know it sounds kinda cheesy, but we grew up listening the Suicide Machines. We first listened to them when we were 15, now we’re 22, so that’s 7 years. This is actually the second time we’ve toured with them. It’s fun, the camaraderie you have on the road with the bands, and the older guys picking on us. The shows are fun too.

Rayanna: How long has Catch 22 been together?

Kevin: About four or five years now. Since we were 18, so four years.

Samuel: I see you guys are doing the Victory Records tour, are you guys looking forward to going out on that and being exposed to a new crowd?

Kevin: Kinda. It’s kinda why we’re doing the tour. We hope our kids come out and have a good time. As far as I’m concerned, if we make one new fan a night, we’ll be doing good. I also don’t want those kids, because there is some negativity within the hardcore scene, to be totally out of place. I’m not stereotyping hardcore kids, I love the music, but sometimes there are one or two meatheads who have to bring the gang mentality to a punk rock show and it’s like "Hey! This is a punk show, these kids come here because kids in school are mean to them, so give them a break." There are lots of dorks and stuff like that at the show.

Rayanna: I’m new to this whole punk thing, but I notice that it is more of the outcast kids who end up here and find a place to belong.

Kevin: Yeah, that’s who comes to the show. Instead of being nerds or dorks, they dye their hair green and become weird. It’s totally uplifting. It’s like "That kid’s not a dork, he’s a weirdo." That’s the way it works. You can come here, you’re a club, a society, and you’re with people who are weird with you. It’s totally different now than it was 10 or 15 years ago when everything started, 20 years ago, it was more about being hardcore and tough guys, but it’s not like that anymore, it’s more for the dorky kids to come. That’s the way it was for me, and that’s the way it will be for kids 10 years from now.

Rayanna: Were you a dorky kid in school?

Kevin: Of course. I’m here aren’t I?

Samuel: What made you decide to reissue Washed Up with all the bonus material?

Kevin: There are a couple different reasons. First of all, it’s such a short record that it’s annoying. I don’t like EPs, I don’t know why we put out an EP, the reason we did it in the first was because we wanted to do a 7". We were just thinking, we are too lazy to put out a full length, we’ll just put out a 7" and Victory was like, "7"s don’t really sell, we’ll do it as a 7" and an EP." It was cool; it had a couple of serious songs on it and some silly songs on it. The second reason was because we were coming off of Jeff leaving the band, we weren’t sure what we were going to do. We didn’t know if we wanted a new lead singer or if we’d sing, Ryan and I, we didn’t know what would happen. We figured we could go into the studio and try to do something and if it works, great, if it doesn’t, we’re in trouble. Luckily it worked, and everything came out really good. It was a good test for me and Ryan.

Rayanna: Well, EPs are nice; because they give you chance to get a taste of a band.

Kevin: Yeah, demos are definitely good, especially for an unknown band. That’s what I tell kids who ask me for tips, I tell them to make demo tapes. Because when I used to go to shows I would be more willing to buy a demo tape for $2 instead of $6 for a CD I’m going to throw away. You have to sell CDs for $6, that’s a cheap CD, but if there is a demo for $2 of a band you think is kinda cool, you’ll pay the $2 for the demo. The other word of advice I always tell other bands is to chill out, you don’t have to make a full-scale production for a demo. Only do like 2 songs and sell them for a dollar. Some bands try to put it all on the demo and make a big deal out of it, maybe they feel it’s their one shot. For whatever reason, poorly produced CDs have been some of the worst things I’ve been a part of in my life. Not trying to sound snobby, but be practical about it.

Rayanna: How long have you guys been on Victory?

Kevin: About three years, since 1998.

Rayanna: What were you doing before that?

Kevin: Putting out demo tapes. We actually put out a 5-song demo that sold 2,000 copies in New Jersey. That’s amazing for there.

Rayanna: Do you have a big following in New Jersey?

Kevin: We have a big following, it’s really weird. I’d be lying if I said it consisted mostly of old school kids from when we were in high school. Kids who come out to see us in New Jersey are usually trendy kids, which is weird. Very 16-year-old little girl who listen to Britney Spears. Not all of them, but there are a lot of them. I shouldn’t really call them trendy, but they’re no punk rock kids. It’s good, we’re happy about that. Everyone gets along.

Samuel: There were the new songs on the Washed Up re-release, are you guys planning on recording a new album?

Kevin: We are not working on a new album currently. We should be, and we will be, but like I keep telling everyone, a new album should be in stores in the late fall of 2002.

Rayanna: So are you guys a bunch of slackers?

Kevin: Kinda, but we just like to tour.

Rayanna: Is it hard to get in the studio?

Kevin: No, getting in the studio is easy, you just book your three weeks. The hard part is writing new songs. You can’t write new songs on the road...well, some people can, but not us. We never have, we never will, we are too lazy, we have too many video games, too many people to talk to, too many things to see and do.

Rayanna: Do all of you take part in the songwriting?

Kevin: Yeah, basically, everyone in this band has written at least one part or one song. We do have certain guys who do more than others, but basically, everyone in this band is a songwriter.

Samuel: A lot of a Catch 22 set is crowd interaction, how much does the audience impact the show?

Kevin: In our stage show, we have to have feedback. We feed off of the energy. It’s very hard for us to play in front of a non-responsive crowd. Some bands, they’ll go through their set and not care what’s going on around them and just walk off stage. Us, we like when people sing, we like when people dance. To us, a non-responsive audience means they don’t like us, which that doesn’t always mean, but that is how it feels. That’s the way we are.

Samuel Barker is Senior Editor. Contact him at suma@rockzone.com.