-Interview- Cater To The Kids (7/23/15)

Portland, OR indie rock band Cater To The Kids (ex In Retrospect) gets interviewed and talks about their start in music, the indie rock scene and upcoming plans. Read more about them below.

www.facebook.com/cttkband
www.facebook.com/cttkband
From: Portland, OR
Sounds like: Indie Rock

Photo credit: Aiden Evelyn (http://www.aidanevelynphotography.com)

1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name “Cater to the Kids” and is there any meaning behind it?

I started playing guitar when I was 13 after playing Guitar Hero 3 embarrassingly enough. Over the years I picked up drums and bass and in high school I was in the schools choir to learn how to sing. We won 3rd place in state competition in 2013. As for the name: I was hanging out with my friend and talking about this dream band I was thinking about and how I would cater the the kids to the music but in my usual fashion I butchered my words and "cater to the kids" tumbled out of my mouth to which my friend said "hey that's not a bad name" and it stuck, so thanks Spencer!


2. What do you want your listeners to take away from your music?

Personally, I just want the people listening to forget their worries and just have fun. I try to achieve a sense of enjoyment and fun at all times when writing.


3. How is the new music coming along? Any word on a release date?

I am working on a 15 song album in a bedroom studio, hopefully shouldn't be more than 2 months and I'm very excited to share it!


4. What can people expect from your live show?

People can expect a lively band with loud music. Shows are meant to be fun for not only the people listening but for us as well.


5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?

I'd love to play with Portugal. The Man, Grouplove and My Morning Jacket.


6. Any crazy show stories?

Not yet but I'm hoping to have plenty very soon.


7. What’s your take on the current state of indie rock?

I think Indie Rock is in a really weird place to be in right now. The genre is constantly shifting between thousands of sounds and single bands can shift between those and usually do. This level of diversity is healthy and creates a very artistic environment for us to write in.


8. What’s the current music scene like there in the Oregon both locally and state wide?

I honestly think Portland is the next big music scene. We obviously have guys like The Decemberists and Portugal. The Man here but we have Blue Ember and thousands of good metalish bands that all work very hard. But for every good band there are more that are bad. We've played with bands that have shown up stoned out of their minds and were throwing ramen into the crowd and peeing on people's cars. Bands like them give us a bad name.


9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?

While I'm not for pirating I'm not against it. It's a good way for people with no money to experience and share your music. If someone loves your band they will buy merch and records after having the pirated version.


10. What’s next for Cater to the Kids?

Next step for CTTK is finding permanent members haha, also getting the basics out of the way like finalizing the shape of the album and the singular songs. I'm already reaching out to local artists and their two cents. But most of the next things are still first things.


11. Any shoutouts?

Spencer as mentioned above (but for right now I have no bridges built so it's probably good to not burn them by shouting out some person and not another).