I caught up with wonderful new acoustic/punk/indie/pop/everything else band, McCafferty, to chat about their recent signing to Soft Speak Records, their new demo I Hate This Body and lots of other lovely things. We highly recommend McCafferty's new demo, and these guys are probably going to blow up and are certainly one of our new favourite bands.
Who is McCafferty and how did you get together?
McCafferty is an acoustic-punk band that I (Nick Hartkop) created because of a guy i used to work with in a restaurant, it was his last name. One night at work he told me a story about a girl he was in love with in high school 5 years ago, and how he left her because he thought he needed to grow up, but after he did he realized his mistake, and he's wanted her back ever since. The story made me realize that we all have the same stories about love and loss and needing to grow up, and just being broken. And i wanted to create a way that people could connect those feelings with one another. i wanted to create a way that I could tell stories about love and loss and people could lose themselves in it and dance and laugh and cry together ya know?
How McCafferty was formed was, I started playing solo with just an acoustic guitar, but I had always wanted to add drums, because i thought that it would make the music feel more alive, so I asked a really close friend of mine. We started jamming and we actually recorded our first tow demos together, "Dancebeats to Hurt Girls" and "It's a Bad idea." But he had a lot of personal issues, so he could no longer continue to play with me. So what ended up happening was, I started to play music with my producer, Wes Easterly, and he is now my full time drummer. We also added the addition of bassist Noah Yoder. I think the addition of bass has really helped the band find its footing, it adds a whole new dimension. There have been a lot of changes to the band with the newest demo, but they have all been really positive. Wes was the one who originally started recording me when I was solo, we started in his bedroom and now we record in a barn behind his house. He's crazy talented. Its awesome having him drum because we think a lot alike and the addition of Noah just boosts it up some more, haha.
Who is McCafferty and how did you get together?
McCafferty is an acoustic-punk band that I (Nick Hartkop) created because of a guy i used to work with in a restaurant, it was his last name. One night at work he told me a story about a girl he was in love with in high school 5 years ago, and how he left her because he thought he needed to grow up, but after he did he realized his mistake, and he's wanted her back ever since. The story made me realize that we all have the same stories about love and loss and needing to grow up, and just being broken. And i wanted to create a way that people could connect those feelings with one another. i wanted to create a way that I could tell stories about love and loss and people could lose themselves in it and dance and laugh and cry together ya know?
How McCafferty was formed was, I started playing solo with just an acoustic guitar, but I had always wanted to add drums, because i thought that it would make the music feel more alive, so I asked a really close friend of mine. We started jamming and we actually recorded our first tow demos together, "Dancebeats to Hurt Girls" and "It's a Bad idea." But he had a lot of personal issues, so he could no longer continue to play with me. So what ended up happening was, I started to play music with my producer, Wes Easterly, and he is now my full time drummer. We also added the addition of bassist Noah Yoder. I think the addition of bass has really helped the band find its footing, it adds a whole new dimension. There have been a lot of changes to the band with the newest demo, but they have all been really positive. Wes was the one who originally started recording me when I was solo, we started in his bedroom and now we record in a barn behind his house. He's crazy talented. Its awesome having him drum because we think a lot alike and the addition of Noah just boosts it up some more, haha.
What are you up to at the moment?
What the band is up to at the moment is actually VERY VERY EXCITING. We just signed a contract with "Soft Speak Records" They are an amazing indie label that donates all proceeds to Cystic Fibrosis. We are so honored to be a part of such an incredible label and to help out such a fantastic cause, The label is really awesome. Its crazy some of the bands that have been involved with it as well and we are just honored to have a part in it.
What is happening, is that they are creating a cassette, t-shirt bundle of our newest demo and an exclusive song all for $13! And 100% of proceeds go to charity which is incredible. PRE ORDERS START MAY 18. It's all so exciting though, the t-shirt and the cassettes look amazing, and the exclusive never released track "Donnie" That will be included is a personal favorite.
How was the recording process for I Hate This Body? How did the release come together?
The recording process for "I Hate This Body" was really really fun. Wes Noah and I recorded the whole demo in two days in Wes's barn, haha, The release came together really uniquely, originally I had some songs written and planned on recording a third demo with my old drummer, but after he had to leave the band, I was just left with a bunch of songs and no drummer! I started playing with some random drummers but nothing really worked out, and one night I was hanging out with Wes and we started jamming and he wrote the drums to our single from our last demo "Skeleton Bones" and we recorded the entire song in one night. After that it was pretty much decided. During the recording of the chants for "Skeleton Bones", Noah was driving by and stopped over to help out, and we got to talking about him playing bass and he was just a perfect fit. The release was just to perfect in my opinion.
What's the story behind the lyrics on I Hate This Body? Specifically on Real Adult, the lyrics seem to change perspectives quite frequently?
The story behind the lyrics for "I Hate This Body" are, that it explores the darkest aspects of being a teenager, the shit you go through in college, and what it looks like to see a family break apart. Which comes to 'Real Adult" The song is about my best friends parents divorce. His mom moved out when all the shit was going down and i saw the whole scenario through my friends eyes and his father. I wanted to right a song about divorce through the eyes of a son a father and a mother. It was such a hard time in my friends life and i realized that its such a hard time in so many families lives all across the world.
I noticed that you've been referring to I Hate This Body as a demo, are you still finding your footing in terms of how you sound as a band? Can we anticipate major change? Or is I Hate This Body what McCafferty sounds like?
"I Hate This Body" is where i really believe that we found our footing. A band is constantly growing and changing, and i'm sure we will change as well over time (for the better, of course, haha) as we grow as musicians. But I really think this is where we found our sound. Its personally my favorite demo .
Can we expect a full length any time soon?
As for a full length, we have already started writing some new songs and I don't really know if they will be on a new demo or a full length, i guess it just depends when I feel like the next story I'm trying to tell is over with. Our newest song "Donnie" will be released through Soft Speak Records so everyone can get a taste of whats next.
What are your touring plans for the year?
We are in fact planning our first official tour for this summer so it should be a really really fun time!
What do you hope to achieve by 2014?
By 2014, we hope to just be having as much fun as we are now, haha. We hope that people will continue to listen and share our stuff with their friends and be able to relate with everything and just find a place for McCafferty in their music collection and their lives.
What bands inspire you guys? Who do you recommend?
The bands that inspire us are, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Boxcar Racer, The Front Bottoms, Title Fight, and personally I would suggest Stuck In The Sound. They have my favorite song EVER its called "Waste" its this really groovy acoustic electric song and its just a fun song. Its been my favorite song i have ever heard, throughout my love for every band I have, that song will always hold a special place in my heart.
If McCafferty was a superhero, who would it be?
The superhero we are most like is.... Wes says Charlie Sheen? haha, I guess that's us, cause he's fun.
Final words?
In our final words we want to say thank you for this opportunity. Its awesome to have your interest and it really means a lot. Thanks so much for your time
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