Colorado’s own Slow Caves are just about to release their brand new EP, Desert Minded. With the music video for the EP’s title track out now and a handful of Fort Collins and Denver shows coming up, this summer promises to be a big one for this quartet! Catch Slow Caves at their upcoming EP release shows in Fort Collins and Greeley (tickets HERE) and read the interview with the band below.
Interview by Dom Vigil
Can you tell us a little bit about Slow Caves for any readers who may not be familiar?
Slow Caves is a band made up of four best friends and two pairs of brothers. We’ve been playing music in bands together and separately for the past ten or fifteen years. A few years ago, we decided to start something new and on purpose. We like to combine elements of surf music, 90s rock, and early 2000s indie. Maybe like some Beach Boys with Nirvana and The Strokes? Yikes, those are some serious names. Also, our live shows are fun.
How do you feel being based out of Northern Colorado has affected Slow Caves?
Something that people always talk about in Northern Colorado Music is that it’s like being on an island. We definitely agree with that and have experienced it several times. All that means is that it takes forever to travel to any gig outside of CO. But, the other side of that is the fact that Colorado’s music scene is so expansive and diverse, especially Northern Colorado. So it all works out. There are tons venues, festivals, and other opportunities to tackle here. So in a way, being based out of Northern Colorado has gotten us to work harder to try to do something somewhat impactful in our own scene, as opposed to trying to get out of the home state as soon as possible, like so many bands do.
What is the best part about being involved in the Colorado music scene?
The quality and abundance of music here is insane. We’ve made incredible music friends and have fallen in love with their music as well. There are also tons of people here to help you make a career out of music like SpokesBUZZ, FoCoMA, the Bohemian Foundation, UMS, and so many more. WOW!
You guys are just about to release your brand new EP, Desert Minded. What makes these songs special to you?
With these songs, we feel that we’ve learned how to be a live band. A few of the songs on the first EP we love, but are more studio tracks than live songs. We wrote and work shopped these songs in front of audiences and in rehearsal spaces for a long time. They’re a good representation of who we are today as a live band.
How do you feel you’ve grown between your self-titled EP and Desert Minded? Is there anything new that listeners can expect from these songs?
We’ve grown as musicians and songwriters. I think that maybe on the first EP we relied more on inspiration from our favorite bands. On this EP we’re a little closer to finding our own sound. Also, these songs ROCK. Shred city!
Did you have any goals you wanted to accomplish when working on the EP?
Since these songs aren’t totally new to us, we wanted to take a lot of time reworking them and making them the best they could be. So if you have seen us in the past year, chances are that you’ve heard these songs, but they’re quite different and better now, we think at least. We recorded the EP with Corey Coffman of Gleemer (Everyone go listen to Gleemer (you’re welcome)). We definitely had him and his engineering in mind when we went into pre production. The goal was to get that sparkly sound, listen and you’ll hear what we’re talking about.
You also recently released a music video for the EP’s title track – can you tell us a little about the song?
The title track, “Desert Minded,” is about that idea or desire to live by the beach with waves. We all wish we were hardcore surfers. We’ve surfed a bit, but we’re not all that good, so instead we try to write songs that capture that vibe and love.
On top of the EP release, you’ve got some upcoming shows in Denver and Fort Collins at the end of May and beginning of June, as well as The UMS in July. What are you most excited for on these upcoming shows?
These shows are at some of our favorite venues ever. The people who book/run them are amazing and the vibes are always right when we play them. We’re stoked to see the bands we’re playing with as well! These are some seriously choice lineups. Also, we’ll be trying out a bunch of brand new songs. And UMS, boy oh boy. We’ve only played once, but it was easily one of the greatest weekends of the summer last year. That festival is a great example of the abundance and quality of Colorado bands. Also, the national acts that are playing are tight! Can’t wait!!!
What would you like listeners to be able to take away from Desert Minded or your live performances?
We hope that people can feel how excited we are about playing these songs. We try to put everything we have into each performance and recording. Hopefully some of those good vibes rub off on people who are listening and watching.
After the release of Desert Minded, do you have any other big plans for the summer? What’s next for Slow Caves?
More shows! Also, we’re going to Denmark for a month. Then, more shows in and out of Colorado, and more writing for whatever is next on the horizon 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! Is there anything else you would like to add?
Come hang at these release shows! We guarantee a good time and great music will be heard from all bands. We’ll have physicals of the new EP along with our new zine, “ZHRED!”
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