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| Catacombz. |
Milwaukee quartet Catacombz isn’t an easy band to describe. The members switch instruments between songs. The generous hunks of noise rock, punk, psychedelic, surf and hook-packed pop jammed into each song ensures that no Catacombz rendering will bear any resemblance to another. Frankly, Catacombz is weird, but it works. To gain a better understanding of one of the city’s most truly unique bands, it’s almost easier to glance back at the common Fox Cities pop-punk origin of the middle school members that — through the years — mutated into the drastically different band of talented young adults we hear today.
With the combination of a few texts, emails and phone calls made earlier this week, Music Notes was able to track down Catacombz bassist Joseph Peterson while he was “in Las Vegas winning cash” to discuss the band’s growth, its attraction to cassette tapes and potential plans to leave Milwaukee.
You and Isaac [Sherman] have been playing together since middle school, right? So when you made the move from Appleton to Milwaukee, was it just kind of assumed that you would continue making music together?
Yeah, we’ve been playing together for about nine years. It was preconceived that we would move to the same city and play music together. Milwaukee seemed like a decent option at the time, so we jumped.
Explain the relationship both as friends and band mates that you have with Isaac. What has made it work so well for so long?
Isaac and I have an interesting relationship. We have been friends so long that we have built our lives in very similar ways. He is one person I could travel with for three years straight and not get sick of. We’ve learned each other’s breaking points, so we rarely cross that line.
As far as our musical relationship, we work on opposite ends. Isaac is a very detail-oriented person in everything he does, and spends a lot of time creating things. Myself on the other hand, I kind of just flow with it. I like getting things done quick and efficiently. There is a nice balance that exists.
As you’ve grown up, your music has seemed to grow accordingly. Was it a conscious decision to abandon almost every aspect of your first band, L-mo, or did the shift come naturally as you approached adulthood?
The shift was natural. When we first started playing music, we were like 12 years old. If we were still playing the same music now as we were then, there is a real good chance somebody would have killed us already, or we would just sound like 90 percent of the other bands in Milwaukee. Another shift occurred when [drummer] Aaron [Bethke] departed and Sam [Lastrapes] and Casey [Marnocha] joined up. Isaac and I had played with Aaron for so many years that when the new boys came in, everything worked a little differently.
Could you give our readers a broad description of Catacombz? Style, sound, band comparisons?
Catacombz is a well-oiled machine. Someone recently said that our genre was “great lakes surf” and I thought that was humorous. Our influences all vary person to person, but the two bands that we get compared to most are Neu! and Hawkwind. I take it as a compliment.
Your Mother Tongue One was a favorite of local music writers last year. Why did the band decide to go the cassette tape route instead of releasing it on CD or digitally?
We don’t really like CDs. They are too easy to destroy. With a cassette, they tend to last longer, [are] more stylish, and give off better sounds. As far as the digital world goes, Mother Tongue One came with a digital download and we will continue to do that in the future. Also, in August we will be putting out a full-length 12-inch record on our label, ORGANALOG RECORDS.
To me, Catacombz sounded somewhat chaotic at first listen with its noise-laden backdrop and members switching instruments. But it soon becomes apparent that there’s a hidden organization and tightness to it all. Is that intentional?
To be honest, I don’t know what our aim is. We tend to have “psychedelic” tendencies, but leave room for that great American pop tone. Our schedules are so crazy that when we get time to write together, sounds just happen; we get lucky. We never really have a goal in mind as far as our sound is concerned.
Though still in your early-to-mid 20s, you’re all veteran musicians and have etched out a place in the Milwaukee music scene. What do you see in the band’s future?
I do not know what our future holds, but a big step would be to get out of Milwaukee. I feel like we have done about everything we can here, and it would be nice to try some new land. Hopefully in the next year we will have a couple records out and be touring as often as possible.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
If you have not seen us, it is time to see us. If you have not heard us, it is time to hear us. If you have not felt us, it is time to touch us, baby.
See, hear and touch Catacombz at Cactus Club Sunday night when they share a bill with Cave and Squidbots. The show begins at 9 p.m. with Catacombz slated to play second.
