I got a chance to chat with Tallahassee’s own pop-punk group, Cats on Wax, this past week. The band’s members include Sofia Ballestin (lead vocals), Luke Stavenau (guitar), Altuve (guitar), Harlen Lawrence (bass), and Russell Shirley (drums). You can check them out at their next show in Tallahassee on April 26th with Stages and Stereos at Pug Mahone’s (formerly Rehab).
Photo credit: Annie Grafe
Her Campus (HC): How would you describe your genre?
Sofia Ballestin (SB): We all bring a little different twist to every song. Depending on who contributes most of the song, it really changes; like we have a song called “Acid” that’s, like, a lot heavier rock, and then a song like “Elysian Fields” that’s kind of more pop-y and indie.
Harlen Lawrence (HL): I had a friend describe us as, like, “nostalgia punk” because we sound like all these bands that she really likes that were back in the 90s.
HC: What are your major influences?
Luke Stavenau (LS): Best Coast, blink-182, and The Dead Milkmen – I think that’s exactly what we sound like.
SB: I’ve heard Josie and the Pussycats.
HC: Where does your name come from?
Russell Shirley (RS): I was listening to NPR while driving home one night, and I can’t remember what show, but they said what they were going to have on the show and one of the things was cat videos. I thought, “how would you do cat videos on the radio?” and then I thought Cats on the Radio, which I think is pretty cool, but there’re a lot of “on the radio” bands already. I tried to think of, like, another music, so I thought wax as in records. I came to Cats on Wax. Plus it kind of rhymes.
HC: What’s your favorite song you guys have written?
Altuve (A): “I’m You Sometimes,” which is our fourth song on the record.
LS: What’s your favorite part about it?
A: It’s just a really cool, catchy tune. I first wrote, like, three songs for Cats on Wax when I first joined the band. I wrote these three songs in a span of a week, and the one song I wrote, “I’m You Sometimes,” I loved the music so much, but I didn’t have any lyrics for it so I pulled something easy and wrote about my ex-girlfriend, and, like, ex-girlfriends are super easy to write about. The chorus ended up sounding, like, really Strokes-y because I love The Strokes – they’re one of my favorite bands. I just thought it was great. When we finally put it altogether, Luke played the lead part on top of it and made the song sound f***ing amazing. I’m really proud of it.
SB: My favorite is “Acid” because I like performing it a lot. The first time I heard it, I was still auditioning for the band and the song is all about – I mean we always introduce it as “stomping on basic b*****s” and it’s basically like, “you’re basic, I’m acid.” My whole life, well, I’m not weird enough to be, like, a complete outcast, but I never really fit into a particular group, so I never felt like I was in the status quo. I really like that song because it’s like me saying “f*** you” to those people.
HL: I like Luke’s song, “Bright Lights”. It’s kind of Weezer-sounding, so it’s cool. It’s got an awesome chord progression.
LS: What’s your favorite over there, Russell?
RS: I don’t know – they’re all my babies. It’s hard to play favorites. I like “Elysian Fields” a lot.
LS: Yeah, I like that one too. That one’s the best. Well, most fun, I think.
HC: You just released your first album, “Handstands.” Can you talk about the recording process?
LS: Yeah, it was great. We met this guy who was the first bass player on the first Paramore record. He was a super nice guy and knew a lot of stuff; he really helped us out with small things.
A: I first met him when I was 16 years old in Jacksonville. He’s this guy named Lucio Rubino. When I was a kid in high school, I always wanted to go to concerts on the weekend. My dad and I would go to bars and watch cover bands or original bands – it didn’t really matter to us. I met Lu; he was sitting in for the guitar in this band called Something Distant and he was just killing all these songs. He’s just such a great guitar player. I was talking to him about different musical perspectives, and I was only 16 at the time, so I didn’t really know what I wanted to do completely. He said he just wanted to write songs that people would be singing in 10 years, and that really inspired me and stuck with me. So five years later, I gave him a call and asked if he wanted to produce our first record. I was really proud of that choice.
HC: If you could play a show with any artist, who would it be?
SB: For me, it’s My Chemical Romance. They’re my favorite band – I love them. I grew up with Gerard and he’s my inspiration. If they got back together and I could perform with them: that’s my dream.
HL: Taking Back Sunday would be pretty cool or Brand New. Brand New would be awesome too.