Interview with Montreal’s Caveboy

Having just recently released their self-titled debut EP, Caveboy, a indie pop trio from Montreal, are on tour through Canada and the US. The first few shows took as part of the CMJ marathon in NYC, we thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up with the girls:

Kateryna Topol: I’ve read that you had an instant connection after your first jamming session but how did you three meet?

Michelle: We’re all from the same Montreal suburbs. Lana and Isabelle met in college and started a few projects together, while Lana and I were actually childhood soccer buddies (yes, there are pictures to prove it). I was in town from Toronto visiting in 2011 and jumped in on a jam session with Lana and Isabelle… and I never left.

KT: Your self-titled debut EP dropped on the 9th of October, how long did it take to put it together?

M: This EP was originally a full length album recorded in 2014 at Breakglass Studios, with additional songs done with Joseph Donovan earlier this year.. so it’s definitely taken a while to decipher and decide what this body of work would actually become, but we’re so happy with the outcome!

KT: Do you have a favorite track on it?

Lana: Mine is “Love Song”.

Isabelle: “Monochrome” is my fav.

M: I would have to say my favorite track is “Something Like Summer” – it just makes me so happy.

KT: “Something Like Summer” has some disco undertones in it, is that one of your musical inspirations?

M: Our influences range from the old and the new, Fleetwood Mac being a huge inspiration on the songwriting front, with some New Order bass and some Florence & The Machine vocal belting… it all comes together in the Caveboy sound.

KT: On that note, what is the first album you ever bought?

M: Tracy Chapman New Beginning (on cassette)

L: Spin Doctors Pocket Full of Kryptonite (on cassette)

I: Will Smith Big Willie Style (on cassette)

KT: Nice! Ok moving on, you’ve been touring city-wide festivals and what not since May, how is the tour so far?

M: It’s been incredible. We’ve met some really awesome bands, new friends, and new fans – if we could do this 365 days we totally would.

KT: Any interesting stories or experiences from the tour?

L: CMJ is an experience in itself. Its pretty incredible to see and hear so many bands, from every corner of the world, and have every one of them be really, truly, overwhelmingly talented. It puts things into perspective. Not to mention getting really good at setting up and taking down our gear in 5 minutes. New York is always a personal favourite of mine. The USA is a whole other beast in itself, but playing in New York always makes the aspiring rock star in me feel like I’m a little closer to realizing that dream.

KT: Each of you has a pretty extensive musical background, is Caveboy a natural progression from all of that music education or did you have other career goals in your early years? In other words I guess – what did you want to be when you grow up?

M: I wanted to be a singer for a long time, and then I wanted to be an actor and actually went to theatre school only to realize in full circle that I wanted to be a musician. I’m pretty self-taught when it comes to music, but I don’t think I’ve ever strayed from the dream. 

L: I have my father to thank for most of my musical background. Being exposed to tour life, basement rehearsals and a constant cornucopia of instruments to play around on at home, I was definitely immersed from a young age. I have no formal musical education though, just a holistic one. I’d always had the dream of being a rock star and touring the world but it didn’t really kick in for me that I wanted to actually pursue a career in music until I finished university and realized I wanted nothing to do with anything else but music.

I: I’m a hybrid between these two. I played around with the idea of being an actor for a while, but then, thanks to my dad and his intense love for The Beatles and Pink Floyd, I started playing guitar in my early teens, and everything changed. I’ve wanted to make music my life since then, and it feels pretty incredible to say that I’m doing it.