When I was a kid, growing up in a house with Cat Stevens,
Neil Diamond, and Simon and Garfunkel, the first time I ever heard Kiss's
"Detroit Rock City,"
it was a moment of musical epiphany. It was just so vicious, aggressive and
mean. It changed the way I listened to music. I've had a few minor epiphany's
since then, when you come across a band that just brings something new and
revolutionary to your ears.
What have been your musical epiphany moments?
I’ve had a number. Like you, I grew up in a household where
my mom was constantly blasting these old school folk/singer songwriters, like
James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, Sting, etc. When I was about 8 or 9, my friend came over
with a copy of Metallica’s Black Album that he ripped onto a cassette for me. I’m not saying I’m still in love with that
album, but it was the first time music was shown to me that could be heavy,
aggressive, and about dark topics that were way over my head at the time. So, that got me into radio rock and easier
listening metal.
Fast forward a bit and the next big epiphany, and this is
probably cliché, was when I first played Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on
PlayStation. HOLY SHIT. It’s the first time I heard punk, ska, and
rock that was far from the mainstream I was used to. I still blast “Cyco Vision” by Suicidal
Tendencies in my car from time to time.
Individual bands that hit me at different points in my life
that were their own minor epiphanies include The Clash, Descendents, Miles
Davis, Kid Dynamite, Converge, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Nirvana, Modest Mouse,
Ceremony, AJJ, Dillinger Four, Dillinger Escape Plan, The Lollies (guys from
PEARS previous band), Paint it Black, Jawbreaker, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the
Creator, B L A C K I E, Fatter Than Albert, and more recently I’ve been blown
away by The Callous Daoboys and Gouge Away.
Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What
comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?
It usually starts with a string of riffs Tyler will present to us. Then, Jeremy, Crow, and myself will put it
through kind of a weeding process. Pull
this riff out, add this riff from the previous session, shorten it right here,
lets add a part, etc. When we’re about
90% sure it’s where we want it, we’ll take a rough recording with a GoPro or
phone and send it to Crow so she can work on the lyrics. We then take anywhere from a week to a couple
months refining it until we’re all decently happy with it and by then we’ll
have added Crow’s lyrics on top. We
usually have 1-3 in progress. With no shows we’re busier writing than
usual. I wanna say we have about 4-5 in
progress right now.
Who has influenced you the most?
As a band, probably Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, and
Converge. We all have our personal
influences (mine skew more traditional punk) but those are probably the three
you can most easily hear when listening to our music.
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new
motivation?
God, everywhere. New
music, books we’re reading, shows and movies we’re watching, we all play a lot
of video games as well. We also tap into
conversations we have, podcasts we listen to, and dreams we experience. We try to channel our frustration into it, so
whatever is eating at us, be it work, personal and mental issues, or larger
atrocities that affect our sense of being, we try to direct it towards
music. It’s all of our greatest outlet.
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the
band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
Lafayette is one of the more
liberal cities in Louisiana,
but that’s not saying much. As much as
it strives to be a progressive and modern scene, we’re still burdened by old
southern philosophies. It’s also extremely hot and humid, always. Mosquitos are our state bird. We also love to pass a good time, so there’s
a ton of festivals throughout the year and people put a real emphasis on family
and friends. . Essentially, it has its
good and it’s bad. I think you can hear
that in our music. We’re mad at so much
us around us, but at the same time, you can definitely party to it.
Where'd the band name come from?
Tyler
is obsessed with Dark Souls. One of the
bosses is a Capra Demon. He says the
frustration he felt when first fighting it is the same energy he tries to put
into riffs for this project.
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the
soundtrack for?
The next Evil Dead.
You now write for a music publication (The Ripple
Effect?). You're going to write a 1,000 word
essay on one song. Which would it be and why?
I like this one. My
senior project for my English degree was a twenty five page essay on misogyny
found in the lyrics of pop punk bands, comparing them to female fronted punk
bands, and discussing the lack of space we leave for women in punk in general.
I could likely rattle off 1,000 words on any song off of Tyler the Creator’s Flower
Boy. That whole transformation as a
homophobic ass-wad to this vulnerable dude opening up about himself on an
actual relatable level is incredibly fascinating to me. It’s the album that made me give him a
chance. Album slaps.
For something more modern and, you know, rock n roll
oriented, I’d say Fake Dinosaur Bones by the Callous Daoboys. The imagery of the devil leaving dinosaur
bones to waiver the faith of Christians is all too relevant living in the
south. That the earth can be seen as
God and the devil’s stage to “walk off of” is also extremely evocative. The music itself is more than you standard
hardcore chug with plenty of changeups along with the way. It’s a cool song.
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap,
rock and roll moments?
Sorry to disappoint, but we don’t really have any. We had a guy get so drunk that he tried to
convince us to give him a stick and poke tattoo. As a band we said we would hope he’d
forget. He did. We also have had a guy break his wrist in a
mosh pit at one of our shows and wanna keep going. That’s about it.
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you
and for your fans?
We’re fans of killer shows.
We try our best to make sure our shows kicks ass. As cool as it is watching someone really
proficient nail a set with their instruments, all of our favorite shows have
been when bands absolutely lose it on stage, so that’s what we do. We want to have as much fun playing for an
audience as they hopefully have watching us.
What makes a great song?
The raw energy you put into it. There are lots of aspects to a song, but you
can write a technically sound song and it still come out blah if you aren’t
putting something real and honest into it.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
Jeremy and Tyler started CAPRA with a couple other dudes
with Jeremy on guitar and Tyler
on bass. At one point the drummer quit
on them the night before a gig so they did the show with Jeremy on drums and Tyler on guitar and
they’ve been in those roles sense. It
was a wildly different band so I’m not sure exactly what CAPRA’s first. I came into the band later after another
couple failed band members and Crow about a year after me. I think we were mid writing the lyrics for an
as of yet unreleased track called “Locust Preacher” when she came in and
knocked it out of the ball park. She
helped finalize it and put lyrics to it.
The song itself is probably the most tech song on our
upcoming LP. It’s chaotic. We can’t wait for people to hear it.
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
Currently, Torture Ship.
It’s the song we couldn’t wait for people to hear. It’s one our most stripped down songs which
adds this layer of simplistic punk rock brutality that isn’t in all of our
songs.
Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
Gouge Away right now.
The bass licks on Burnt Sugar are simple and rad while Christina has
probably one of most refreshing voices in hardcore.
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What’s your format of choice?
Vinyl at home, digital on the go.
Whiskey or beer? And
defend your choice
You know, I actually just started trying to cultivate a
taste for whiskey because I do appreciate it, but I’m hands down a beer
guy. Whiskey is great, but it’s so
limited when you compare it to beer.
Beer, at this point in time, is practically limitless. There isn’t a flavor out there that you can’t
find in a beer somewhere. Whether you
want a fruited Berliner Weiss that tastes like a blueberry slush, a stout aged
in bourbon barrels, a hop forward IPA, or a traditional lager, the flavor
profiles are everywhere. It’s impossible
for me to get bored with beer. Plus, who
doesn’t wanna crack a cold one?
We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new
music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record
store to lose ourselves in?
Lagniappe Records.
What’s next for the band?
Well, as I’m typing this, our two song EP is about to
drop. Next comes the LP and, Covid
willing, a tour. We’ve had to completely
bail on our spring dates, so please put it up in the air that we get to do
something this fall.
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our
readers, the waveriders?
Thank you for reading this.
It means a ton. We know you
didn’t have to. Our two song EP is out
now and we hope to have the LP out by the end of the year. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You can follow us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/Capraband or on Instagram @capraband
We have merch and an EP for sale at
https://capraband.bandcamp.com/
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