Cavo’s major label debut Bright Nights Dark Days was released in 2009 and contained their song “Champagne.” It seemed to propel them as if hitting the turbo boosters. The song became a monster hit for the band! That album also contained two other hits in “Let It Go” and “Crash. “It seemed as if the band stayed out on the road opening up for Halestorm, Chevelle, Red, Shinedown, Sick Puppies and and others as well as appearance on Crue Fest. A headline tour was next and an appearance on the Carnival of Madness tour. Personnel changes happened along the way and at one point, the band left Eleven Seven Records and signed with Pavement in 2017. At that point, they released a deluxe edition of their album Bridges. For the last several years, the band has been going the indie, DIY route with a refreshing sense of artistic freedom. I think you can hear it in their music. There are no suits looking over their shoulders and breathing down their necks as they try to create their art. They have been consistently releasing new songs and now they have a pretty cool game plan. They’re releasing six cover EPs by decades as well as six original EPs. Their first covers EP, simply titled Covers Vol. 1, just dropped and it’s a mini-adventure trip into the 80’s, like fer shur. It’s an awesome, totally awesome four track EP and we sat down with lead vocalist Casey Walker to talk about it as well as touring plans and what posters were on his bedroom wall growing up.
You guys just released your covers EP. I read in your press release that you plan on releasing six cover EPs and six original music EPs. How did you come up with that plan?
Casey Walker/Cavo: Quite honestly that was a Brian (Smith) type of invention thing. When we wrote Bridges we wrote probably 60ish ideas and 50 of them were finished ideas and the others were just a verse but no chorus. They sat around dormant for a while and Brian came to me and said ‘we really love a lot of these songs that didn’t make it. How about we go back through and start to listen to these songs? We can change what we need to and put them out on eps.’ I thought it was a great idea! I forgot what it was or who it was, but there was some big song on the radio at the time it was a cover. I remember we were talking about doing our own take on the song sometime. We had done Duran Duran “Come Undone” back in the day but we really wanted to dive in and do some other stuff. Brian just came out and said why don’t we do an original EP, then a covers EP, then an original EP? We could do the covers by decades starting with the 80s. So, we thought it was a great idea and now here we are.
We know the four songs that are on the ’80’s cover EP, but how did you come up with just four songs out of so many iconic ’80s songs and one hit wonders?
Basically, everybody got to choose one song. You’re right because when we first sat down it was impossible because we kept picking and picking and picking. We decided everyone got to pick one song. It’s funny because my choice was “Drive” by The Cars but originally I had picked “When in Rome” by The Promise. We tried it and tried it and tried it and it just didn’t work. It just sounded like us playing that song, covering it, but not in a great way. So the second choice was “Drive” and that one came out great. It’s cool to let everyone else do their own choice of song. For instance, Brian’s choice was “Synchronicity 2” by The Police. I recognized the chorus but I don’t think I had ever heard the song all the way through. I thought it was an interesting choice; The Police had so many smash hits and he chose this one. I thought it turned out amazing! I listen to the song now and I think why did it take me so long to find this song? Chris (Hobbs) picked “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House which is iconic. I love Andy (Herrin)’s sense of style; he chose the New Order song “Bizarre Love Triangle.” Originally I thought it was going to be boring but we kept producing and producing and it really turned out to be a fun song. I can hear it being played live at a show.
Nowadays, thanks to people like Adam Lambert, people seem to totally change arrangements and sometimes destroy a song when they cover it. I like that you guys did not stray too far from the original but yet you still managed to put your own taste of Cabo on it. They may not be as electronic and more electric, but it’s still true to the original. Was that a conscious choice?
It’s funny you say that because it was not a conscious choice. It was pretty much the opposite because we really wanted to put own own spin on it and change it. We started playing and just because we put the rock instruments into it, they started sounding like a different song. We would try to change things and add stuff and we would keep coming back to the fact that it sounded like we were changing it to change it. Like “Drive,” that was one that was kind of organic and it just came out like that and it felt right. Whereas when we tried to do something to the New Order song we would play it and it didn’t sound better than original. So, we went back to the original way of playing it. It just kind of fell into our lap like that. We went into it with the plan to change things and the songs kind of told us you just need to stick with the original way.
One of the things in the press release was a quote from Chris about the Crowded House song being at the beginning of Stephen King’s The Stand miniseries. I forgot all about that because it had been so long since I had watched it. It was like a whole flashback when I read that.
When you hear that opening guitar riff, you immediate know the song.
It really takes you back quickly doesn’t it?
Oh yeah!
How far into the process are you guys with having the EPs ready?
The next original EP is completed except for one song with vocals which I go in next week to record and it will go to production. That’s when we go in and put the final touches to it and then it goes to mix. The next original EP should be in the fall. That’s another Brian thing; he makes a schedule for us and keeps us on our toes. He’s pretty awesome!
You had a taste of what it was like on the major label. Now, you pretty much don’t have any of the suits looking over your shoulder and telling you what to do and how to do it.That has to be so refreshing as an artist.
It truly is; there’s something to be said about having the major label behind you and pushing you which is great. At the same time there’s a lot of pressure that comes with it. They want to hear the demos and they put their fingers in the Pie as well. Let’s say I love a song and it’s awesome. I can’t wait to record it and then everyone from the label says they don’t feel that it should make the record. Then, you are arguing with someone who did not have a finger in creating it. It’s not a bad thing but it can be because sometimes they make wrong choices and sometimes you do too so it’s not just all on them. It’s fun to sit back now and just focus on what do we like. We know we’re putting out new songs and we’re never going to go back to doing 280 shows a year touring. We would love to play more shows but we’re doing it more now for ourselves. It’s kind of worked out because I think the fans are coming back around because they can sense that we’re being our true selves. It’s been a goal of ours forever. After we left 11-7 we actually had offers to sign again but we thought let’s see how things work if we’re in charge for a while. After that we wrote Bridges, we ended up doing the record with Matt from Blue October and everything happened organically. The feeling around that album has been one of my favorite times in our career.
I can’t imagine the pressure that younger bands starting out must feel now. I don’t want to say they’re “one and done” but the labels really don’t take the time to nurture a new band. Back in the day, it might take a band two or three albums to break big.
That’s one of the biggest downfalls from having instant gratification from music. When we were kids we would go wait outside the record store for the new Pearl Jam album to arrive. Now it’s leaked online and you can pretty much hear it as soon as they’re done. The instant gratification has hurt the music industry. Think about it in the terms that you said. Take Bruce Springsteen, I don’t think he would have happened in today’s world. They wouldn’t give him time to grow and they would have cramped his writing development. They wouldn’t have given him time to become Bruce Springsteen. If his first album came out and does what it did today they wouldn’t have stuck with him. They would have been like okay you’re going to get dropped. I think it’s crazy today because there’s so much talent out there and so much ability of songwriters. We took a band that was on our label out with us called American Bang. Their first record was amazing and I still listen to it and I still love it. They got dropped from our label because they didn’t have that major label success and he turns around and makes kind of a country fuzz band called The Cadillac Three. I would think Warner Brothers are looking back and thinking we really missed the ball on this guy. He’s so talented and he’s working with other big country bands and he’s writing with these other big artists. That’s where labels miss out because they don’t invest in the artist; they invest in just one album.
You mentioned touring, are you guys playing much these days?
We haven’t done much live in a while. There’s a friend of ours that was a DJ on a morning show in St Louis named Jeff Burton. I’ve known him pretty much all my music career and he was a champion of all the St Louis bands, such a great guy. He passed away of cancer and we did a tribute show for him and that was the first time that we’ve been on stage in a while. I think that kind of sparked us and then we started doing the original EP. Going to go back to what we were saying earlier about getting the logistics together. It can be tough to get everyone in the same room playing something. Andy’s in Nashville, I have five kids, Chris is in like nine bands, and Brian is in like four or five bands. We’re really working hard to press the issue to find the time to maybe this winter do a big St Louis show and see how it goes. We even thought about doing about a week-long thing hitting Chicago, Indianapolis and places close to kind of get our feet wet again and see if there’s any traction. We have a lot of new songs that we can actually play and they would be great for the live setting.
You guys really have been consistently putting out quality stuff now for a while. Every time I turn around there’s a press release or a post on your Facebook page. It’s been one after another after another and I would love to hear some of these new songs live. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would love to hear them, but I do understand the logistics of doing this now as opposed to back in the day. You really have to make it worth your time.
It made me think about it; when you first start out you’re just kids hanging out every single day doing nothing but creating music. Then you finally get to the point where you get a record deal. But then, like you said, when you start to grow up and make a family, investing in things and businesses and other things you start to drift a bit but you’re still super close. It’s hard because you have other commitments now. You have to step back and make an effort to actually make it happen.
Then you have those people that say well I would come see you but your show is on the Tuesday, I can’t do it on a Tuesday night. Hashtag adulting is hard.
Yes it is and I don’t like it at all (laughs).
Before we wrap this up, we want to make sure to work out Three For The Road segment in. These are just three kind of fun, maybe not typical questions to throw your way. What posters did you have on your bedroom wall growing up?
Pearl Jam, a lot of Pearl Jam posters. Eddie Vedder is one of my idols. I have it rolled up here in my basement which is my man cave I haven’t set it up yet but it’s a huge, huge poster, It’s a famous shot of Eddie and Jeff Ament on the stage looking out in the crowd, leaning against each other where if one moves the other falls. It’s an iconic shot and I cannot wait to put that one back up.
The first thing you bought with your very first paycheck as a kid?
I bought a CD with my first paycheck ever and I think it was Tevin Campbell who was an R&B artist back in the day. He had a big hit; I loved it and was into that kind of stuff when I was a kid.
We’re a couple of weeks away from football season. Are you a football guy?
I am but I’m more of a hockey guy. I do play in a fantasy football league but I swear the past couple years I don’t know any of the players anymore (laughs).
So who’s your hockey team?
The St Louis Blues, man I bleed blue. I go to eight to ten games a year. I got to see them win the Stanley Cup in 2019; it was amazing. I love the fast-paced hockey games. It’s one of the few sports where I can watch two teams that I’m not really interested in play the sport. If it’s baseball, I watch the Cardinals all day long but if it’s the Royals and Yankees I don’t really care.
Well, that’s a wrap my friend! As always, it’s been great talking to you. We’re definitely going to be keeping our eyes and ears open for the originals EP and then the 90’s cover EP. Fingers crossed that the stars align and you’re able to go out and do a bunch of live dates. We have our jealous reasons for saying that because we really want to see you again in concert!
Let’s hope so Johnny! Great talking to you too buddy. We appreciate all of the support that you guys give Cavo. It is greatly appreciated!
I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price
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