5/20/2005

MP3 Download: After Party


Samuel Aaron: Welcome to ALLALOM! So, your album was just released this month – how has the initial response been?

The Catch: So far, response seems pretty great. We love releasing records!

Jenny Jimenez: My initials are still the same – J.J. My life, however, has catapulted to super stardom. I get to sit in the VIP section of the work cafeteria, ride across the country in a Ford XLT, and hot young pre-teens are coming to me for a Smoosh autograph.

SA: Lets get a bit of background, how did The Catch come into being?

TC: Alissa heard through a friend that Carly was interested in playing music, and she decided it would be fun. They found a couple other friends who wanted to play (and happened to be girls) and the catch was started.

SA: So there was no intention of starting an all-girl group – it just happened that way?

TC: kind of.  We were interested in trying to play music with other women, but not really thinking about making an all girl band.  Once we were actually a band of all girls, we liked it that way.

SA: What was your first live show like?

TC: our first live show was in the basement of a punk house called the pumpkin house. We only had a three song set (two originals and one Weezer cover) and we were incredibly nervous. We were playing with bands we'd never heard of, although one of them was supposedly well known. (Turned out to be mirah, who we fell in LOVE with.) The crowd consisted of the people that lived there and our friends who came to watch us play. I can't imagine we were very good.

JJ: I don’t think I looked up once from my bass.

SA: Where did the name come from?

Carly Nicklaus: the name kind of came from the cure song, "catch".   i love that song and thought the catch made a great name for us because, well, lots of reasons really.

SA: Care to expand on the "lots of reasons"’?

CN: You know.

SA: What bands / musicians have inspired you as a band and individually?

Alissa Newton: I’m inspired by the people i know who make music. Most of the CD’s in my collection are bands that I know, and I first became interested in popular music and rock music because I made friends with people who were way into it. Through them I fell in love with a wide range of bands, from the Flaming Lips to blink 182, but mostly the local bands I went to see: Wonderful, the Divorce, Friends for Heroes, Kane Hodder, the Pale, etc.

CN: I'm also inspired most of all by the music my friends are making. Combined with all kinds of pop music.

JJ: Individually, I’ve been inspired by Sleater-Kinney, Shane and Jimmy from The Divorce, Erik and Justin from Vendetta Red.

SA: Do you consider it hard to be an all-girl band, or are the crowds accepting?

CN: I don't consider it hard at all.  It’s awesome. We LOVE being in an all girl band. It’s hard to keep people from pigeon holing you.   People have so many preconceived ideas about what it means to be a band of all women.  They might expect to know what a band sounds like, just because they are female, but women make music as diverse as men.  We happen to really love being women and playing music with each other… and yes, we find crowds to be very accepting…  and the pros kind of out weigh the cons. . . if people don't expect us to know how to play our instruments well, we surprise them, and if they want to carry our gear well, we let them.

SA: At this point in time it is no longer unusual to see all girl bands, but it is rare to hear any of them play harder then 70s classic pop – so do you think you surprise people with your brand of rock?

CN: I'm not sure. Our intentions are not to surprise people, so maybe we're just not looking for it.

SA: Along the same lines – do you consider Seattle a welcome home for your brand of rock?

CN: We’re a product of the Seattle music community, so yes. We love it here!  Seattle has such an amazing music community, and there is  a lot of pop music happening.  It’s small enough that we all kind of know each other and support each other, but big enough that there is always something new and awesome.  There aren't a plethora of all girl bands here (comparatively), so we stand out. but at the same time the grrl-rock movement that took place in Olympia is a force here that helps people have respect for women in music.

SA: Is there anything you want people to walk away from your shows thinking?

CN: "god DAMN that was fun!"

JJ: I want them to hum Amy’s keyboard parts in their heads for days like I did when I first saw The Catch.

CN: oh yeah, me too.  damn, she writes some great keyboard parts!

SA: Have you ever had any unusual comments after a show, something you wouldn’t expect normally?

CN: People tell Alissa that she plays really hard for a girl. That is weird. Somebody told me I should cut my bangs once.

SA: What is the most unusual concert experience you girls have had?

CN : one of our teenage fans hired us to play her dad's 50th birthday party. we were skeptical but it turned out to be a blast - her dad loved us, the food was amazing, and we had a really, really good time.

JJ: Playing the BP section of Nordstrom. . . twice. . . that was unusual.

SA: How did those shows at Nordstrom come about, it is not something you hear about everyday?

TC: Someone who worked there heard our music, and asked us to play an event.

SA: That explains it then, so the best show?

JJ: The Divorce CD release party for There Will be Blood Tonight at The Crocodile.

CN: Oh yeah, that was awesome.  There was an all ages show, and a 21+.   My grandma came for both shows, and it was an all star line up with the Catch the Pale and Dolour.

SA: You are leaving the end of this month for a short tour with label mates Dolour – so there will be an all girl and an all boy band together – are you ready for it?

TC: Hell yeah!  The question is, is Dolour ready for it? We can't wait! Dolour are good friends of ours, plus they make awesome music.

SA: So you expect big things from this tour?

TC: Huge things!

SA: If there was one band you gals would want to tour with, at any point in history, who would it be, when would it be and why?

CN: Eminem.   Anytime anywhere.   Because, how awesome would that be?  Other answers include but are not limited to. . . Aqueduct, the Divorce, U.S.E, the Pale, Kane Hodder, Gwen Stefani, Destiny's Child, etc., etc.

SA: I can see it now – USE, Gwen Stefani and The Catch – sounds like an awesome lineup to me.

CN : Me too!

SA: Where do you see yourselves in ten years?

TC: Having a really good time.

SA: Is there anything you have always wanted to be asked in an interview? If so what is it and what would your answer be?

TC: Yes, the answer would be yes.

SA: Thank you for your time, we wish you the best of luck on this upcoming tour.


To learn more about the Catch, and to see if they are coming to a city near you check out their website: thecatchmusic.com .