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Cavashawn 
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A pop-tastic foursome that moved to Chicago a little over a year ago.
Despite the fact the music industry is falling
apart, it's a revolutionary time to be a musician. Recording music is
cheaper and easier than it's ever been. Releasing your music to the
mass public no longer requires a label getting your album into stores
across the country. And live music has seen a huge boom in the past few
years, making it easier on all fronts for bands to have their music
heard. Musicians are no longer a golden calf high on a pedestal above
their fans, but now are more accessible than ever. Chicago has a
wonderful local music community and many bands have found the right
balance to flourish in their respective markets. Such is the case with
Cavashawn, a pop-tastic foursome that moved to Chicago a little over a
year ago. Since then the band can be seen on posters plastered around
Lakeview, can be found playing shows at the Metro or Beat Kitchen on
any given night (when they aren't hitting the road in their band van),
or can be found spending an exorbitant amount of time online connecting
with their fans (something all artist should do). The band sat down
with The Deli's Lisa White to talk about some of their favorite music,
touring life, and the secret only Phil Collins can know.
The Deli: So how's touring going? Any good stories from the road?
Chris:
Nothing too crazy. It's pretty much going from one set to the next, and
sometimes we have to sleep in the van,, because that's our home on the
road.
Scott: Well, you just saw really what happens. It's really
cool. We've played enough shows now that there are people that make it
their goal to help us out after the show and say "hey, I've got this
house or apartment where you can stay at."
The Deli:
So for those long drives late at night, what is some of the ultimate
driving songs to keep you awake and keep you going on the road?
Ben:
It's usually stuff that is really different from our own music, but it
really depends. An album we listen to a lot is Graceland by Paul Simon,
which is a classic. We listen to a lot of Police. Lately we've been
listening to a lot of The Animals. I have this mix that I made with
Captain Beefhart and a lot of just random stuff. Also anything that
isn't on The Big Lebowski soundtrack, but should be, that's kind of
like what gets played in the van on a late night drive.
The Deli:
I know you guys give back with your Just Because charity work you do
with schools and their charity of choice to help raise awareness and
money. Could you talk a little more about that?
Scott:
That was actually Jesse's idea back in college. We took a class on
social entrepreneurship and it came out of that. We've done some high
school shows where the students put a concert on, and then the money
goes to their charity of choice. We worked with a high school in
Cincinnati where the money raised went to a village in Ecuador where 20
students visited on a mission trip. Basically what it does is it allows
high school students to produce an event that other students will want
to come to like a concert, and the money from that goes to the charity
of their choice, so it really puts them in power and allows them to
produce and work with something they believe in.
The Deli:
You guys have been pretty fortunate in having continued success being
an independent band. Given the current state of the music industry,
would you guys consider working with a label?
Scott: Well
yeah. We're obviously doing what we do now because no label has come to
us and said, "here's $500,000, go make a record." I mean we'd be making
obviously what I think would be better records if we had a bigger
budget. There is so much to say about the state of the industry. We're
an independent band and we do it all on our own because we can, and
we've all stuck together. But if someone was to come to us, well we
want as many people as possible to hear our music. Mainly people in
Chicago and other parts of the Midwest, some of the East coast, know
about us right now. We need all the help we can get. However, we're not
going to compromise what we want to do, so we're not going to sell or
souls or anything for our first record, or put us out there on tour
with Miley Cyrus. We do have some integrity and dignity.
The Deli: What are some artists that you've come across that are under appreciated or underrated?
Ben:
Well my personal one is the late great James Jamerson, the Motown bass
player. And he's kind of gotten a higher profile recently. It's just
unfortunate that it's come 25 years after he died. But he's kind of
like my personal hero. Totally under appreciated yet at the same time
his bass lines are seared into the memories of everyone.
Chris:
I think a lot of the current bands, our contemporaries, they may listen
to the bands from the 50's or 60's but you don't hear it in their
music. All we listen to in the car is prior to 1980 for the most part,
and then we'll listen to some contemporary bands like Muse or Incubus
and Oasis, stuff like that.
The Deli: If you guys could be in a band from any era, what era would it be?
Scott: I wouldn't mind being Hall & Oats & Salmon (Scott's last name). I think that would be pretty cool.
The Deli: Haha, I like that you pick a specific band.
Scott: Well, I wouldn't mind being in that. Maybe just for one show and then be like "alright guys, I'm out."
The Deli: So where the hell did the name Cavashawn come from?
Chris: We will not disclose that information. It's a secret we're only gonna tell Phil Collins.
The Deli: How about Billy Joel?
Chris: Billy Joel? Maybe.
The Deli: David Bowie?
Chris: Well, yeah. We might make exceptions, but Phil Collins will be the first one to know.
Cavashawn will be playing The Beat Kitchen (2100 W. Belmont) with We The Living and The Urbanites January 16th and tickets are just $8. |
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