Katastro is a unique name with a unique sound. Please give our readers a little background to the band and the name.
Our vocalist Andy was looking to start a live hip-hop band in High school and asked his only two friends that played instruments, Stravers and Tanner to try and jam drums and guitar. Our Bassist Ryan was added in the picture about a year after the band was started. With the different musical backgrounds from all the members the sound turned into what it is today. The band name doesn’t really have any specific meaning, its kind of just a made up word that stuck.
Katastro has opened for Reggae Rock acts as well as Rap acts. What are the biggest differences between the two shows?
Every show no matter what genre is going to be different. It all has to do with the energy of the crowd. We have elements of both of those styles in our music so it’s just a change of atmosphere for us.
The tour with Passafire and Tomorrows Bad Seeds recently ended. How did they tag Katastro as the openers and did they given you any advice for being on the road?
By opening up for various acts locally we have been able to build relationships with various people in the scene. Tomorrows Bad Seeds and Passafire are both very talented bands and we consider ourselves lucky to be able to be on tour with them. Both bands have helped us out the whole way knowing it was our first tour they have definitely given us the advice and support that we needed for this to go as smoothly as it did.
The unique sound you guys bring makes it fun as a listener. The more variety the more originality in my opinion. Is there a plan in the studio on having to balance the two genres or is it just a natural creation?
No, not at all. We all have very different musical backgrounds from rock to rap and punk to jazz. Our style isn’t something that we have manufactured, It is just what is natural for us when we sit down to write.
The song “Stop and Escape” is your recent music video that came out. Talk about the concept of the video?
The song is based off of stories about Scopolamine in Colombia. We left the direction of the video in the hands of our good friend Corey Davis who directed, filmed and edited it for us.
Why have Katastro only released E.P. albums and not a full length yet?
One of our main goals is to consistently release new music. Releasing EP’s is just how it has worked out for us but we do plan on hopefully releasing a full-length album within a year.<noscript><a href="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmusicbailoutn-20%2F8014%2F567b8645-1ff1-476d-ab99-7e988653a78e&Operation=NoScript" mce_href="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmusicbailoutn-20%2F8014%2F567b8645-1ff1-476d-ab99-7e988653a78e&Operation=NoScript">Amazon.com Widgets</a></noscript>
The formation of Katastro was 2007 and now you are about to tour the country. Do you find a lot of pressure to impress on this one tour or more prepared to do this again and again till the venues are packed on your own headline tour?
We have always held really high expectations for ourselves to perform the way we know we can. I don’t really think anyone could criticize us more than we already do. We play music for ourselves and hope that others can get into it too. Initially our goal for the road was to get through this first tour smoothly and learn everything that goes on with being on the road so we can make it easier for us as well as the people that we travel with in the future. Now that it is finishing we hope to be able to continuously get out there to spread our name, and meet new people for as long as we can.
What is the 5 year plan for Katastro?
If we had any plan it would just be to consistently put out good music and build our foundation. We hope every year will be more successful than the last, and that we can continue to out do ourselves in as many ways as we can.
Any plugs or mentions?
Yeah, we would like to thank all of Tomorrows Bad Seeds and Passafire for taking us with them and treating us like family. We also want to thank our Management through The Artery Foundation and everyone that has been supporting us at the shows and spreading the word to every one around them, we can only continue to do what we love if you continue to support us and we are grateful for all the support we have gotten thus far.