The indie rockers of Caveman are from New York by way of New York, not Kansas or Hollywood or a unicycle co-op on the outskirts of Portland. They've walked the same streets as the Velvet Underground and Talking Heads. I spoke with drummer Stefan Marolachakis about the group's formative years and its biggest career milestone, the debut album Coco Beware. Catch Caveman's live show at UW-Madison's Memorial Union Rathskeller this Friday.
You guys grew up near landmarks such as CBGB and Joey Ramone Place. How else has New York influenced your choice to take up music?
One of my friends worked at Irving Plaza while we were in high school, so he managed to get us into any show you could think of. There was music everywhere, and we would just chase it all around town.
You seem to tour constantly. How do you find the energy to rock this much?
We definitely enjoy our beauty sleep. And I think we load up on all of the wild vibes swimming around the city, soaking them up like sponges and then spitting 'em back out whenever we play.
What was your favorite part of making Coco Beware?
It was a pretty joyous time for us. We'd pop into La Bagel Delight for one of the finest tuna melts in town and head into our buddy Nick Stumpf's basement studio, a.k.a. "The Loveboat," and get to work. After a good deal of brainstorming and instrument-playing, we'd emerge into the Brooklyn sunlight and stroll over to Grimaldi's to feast on some beautiful pizza pies.
I am really happy about a lot of the sounds on our record. In particular, I like a lot of the vocal sounds and harmony mixes we got. I like when I hear the four of us singing together, and I almost can't pick out who's who.
What's next for you guys?
We're looking to record new songs soon. I'm still encouraging Jeff [Berrall], our bass player, to get to work on his autobiography, I'm Not Jaded, I'm Right. Destined to be a classic.
