Catch Up With Late Cambrian – Fresh Off Their Performance At KahBang's Kickoff Concert

posted in: OurStage Updates

They came. They saw. They conquered. This past Saturday, Brooklyn’s Late Cambrian helped Kickoff the KahBang Festival by doing what they do best–rocking out with conviction. We were there to witness the action firsthand and to interview the rising quartet about the experience. We soon found out that, aside from being a totally awesome band, they’re also an all around swell group of people. Check out our interview with the band below as well as performance footage of their winning song “SHUT IN / Trilobytes” live from the KahBang Kickoff Concert. Be sure to watch to the end for a special shout-out to OurStage writer Kevin Waite for his recent feature on the group.

Festivals are one of the best places for up-and-coming acts to get heard. We asked the group for their thoughts on the festival environment and it’s clear from their response that the KahBang crowd had all ears open.

John: “This is a festival that has art, it has music, it has movies…so people are just going to come out and see different things and know that they’re going to get a different experience. That gives bands the opportunity to get in front of people who are maybe just there for the art or for another band that they’ve heard of. So I think it’s probably the best way for bands to reach new fans.”

Olive: “I was asking [the fans] are you guys here for The Gay Blades? And they were like ‘yes for every band,’ like they’re not only there for one band. They have a lot of love for everyone. There really are real music lovers here.”

Their performance certainly turned some heads, evidenced at the end of the night by a full sheet of new fans for their mailing list and enough CD’s sold to fill the gas tank for the trip home. We asked the group to tell us about their home turf in Brooklyn and the challenges of making a name for oneself in a vibrant music community. Brooklyn has a distinct sound identity to many listeners, something that Late Cambrian strives to steer clear of.

John: “…we kind of bring a more straight ahead melody oriented music back to Brooklyn, where that doesn’t seem to be residing right now. I don’t want to be gimmicky per say, I don’t wear something you know like ‘wow you see that band in the bunny outfit? I’d rather just play really well and then one by one people will be like ‘that band’s good.’ Just listen to the songs and then all of a sudden there are people there organically. Not because it’s cool, just because they like what they hear.

Colin: “I feel like being different from whatever the popular sound might be in Brooklyn is essentially more Brooklyn than being the trendy sound and style in it’s own way, like John said, without trying. And we just play what we like.”

With so many promotional tools available to bands nowadays, it can be hard to decipher where time and effort is best spent. For Late Cambrian, the web has given them the ability to access new fans on numerous levels, making connections in unique ways.

John: “…we’re on YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, OurStage… I don’t know if that’s spreading it too thin, or if it’s just good that people can find you wherever they happen to be, you know? …sometimes I just cast a wide net and put the music on as many sites as I can. And then some of them kind of cease to do anything, and some of them are really kind of bigger and become their own thing. Like OurStage competitions, that’s been around, that’s bigger and bigger every time I look at it. Like that Jane’s Addiction competition, that’s really cool.”

To round out the interview, we asked the band what they thought about the opportunity and the power of the fans to land them a festival gig.

John: ” It’s great, it shows that voting can work. You know, you just put something out there, and people who aren’t just trying to help their friends, go on and listen to music and vote for the band they like. You realize that the band that got chosen was the one that got chosen by people who want to see it. It’s not just, you know, this band has the most friends or something to that effect. Or this band paid someone for the opportunity. It ends the popularity contest that had nothing to do with the music…and we’re honored to be a part of it. OurStage has been great to us.”

For more from Late Cambrian, be sure to check out their OurStage profile. If you like what you hear, their debut album The Last Concert is available for download on iTunes.