Cataldo: Suffering No Fools
Timbrrr! Fest Series: Cataldo
Eric Anderson, the mastermind behind Cataldo, seemingly gained a wicked momentum several years back with the release of Signal Flare. The album, his second album under the Cataldo moniker, was filled out by contributions from his friends lending their musical abilities to the record.
He moved back to Seattle from Portland in 2011 and, after a breakup and loss of a close personal friend, he released another album entitled, Prison Boxing, a sharp-tongued recounting of personal loss, frustration, and aimlessness.
Cataldo’s strain of indie rock is disarmingly honest and relatable, mainly due to Anderson’s willingness to be blunt. He starts the album with “Let’s begin at the end of a bad year with bad things at my back”. The album earned Cataldo a set during City Arts Music Fest, several opening slot with The Lumineers and, subsequently, Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter. Following that, the band opened for Blind Pilot throughout the Northwest. Then, suddenly, the band fell quiet to focus on recuperating and writing more songs.
Cataldo’s recent headlining performance at Barboza is a promising sign for fans hungry for more and their performance at Timbrrr! is sure to rejuvenate and inspire.
Nada Mucho: Have you been to Leavenworth? If so, what impressions did it leave with you?
Cataldo’s Eric Anderson: This is my first time.
NM: Which of the other acts performing at Timbrrr! are you most excited to see?
EA: I love Telekinesis but haven’t seen them since a show at the Sunset Tavern right after I moved here. Super excited to check that out, Michael Lerner writes freakishly good songs. Wild Ones includes some old music pals from Portland–great songs. I’m really excited to see them play as well. It will also be bittersweet to say goodbye for Hey Marseilles for a while as they start writing their next one.
NM: Did you play a NadaMucho.com New Music Monday show when you lived here the first time? Word on the street is that you did.
EA: Yes! I think it was 2005. I had just put out the first Cataldo record and Matt Ashworth very kindly gave me a break and put me on a Monday night at the Rendezvous. I don’t remember much about the show except I didn’t get carded and all the bands got to split a case of Ranier. I was 18 or 19 so this was notable and exciting.
NM: Based on Signal Flare’s Bandcamp page, the album was recorded in “Seattle, St. Paul, Moscow, ID, Olympia and a few other places”. Did you find this community after moving to the Northwest?
EA: That record was kind of a long transition to living here. I bounced back and forth between Minnesota, Idaho, and a bunch of DIY touring in my parent’s Toyota Camry. I had a little portable recording rig and, being a brazen youngster, asked a bunch of folks I met traveling to play on those songs. A surprising number said yes and that was an “in” to meeting folks in Seattle. I was hanging out at Cafe Racer, going to see a bunch of music, and trying to set up shows for people I knew who were passing through town. By the time I lived here in earnest I knew a few music people but got to know a bunch more really quickly.
NM: What was the most important part of the band’s hiatus?
EA: Shutting the fuck up was the most important part–the act of taking a break. I didn’t want to play a show every 3-5 weeks just for the sake of doing it. I was bored with myself, bored with our set, and wanted to give myself time to figure out what I actually wanted to say. Without any external pressure (we’ve got to get it ready for this show in 5 days!) I felt free to try scary, ambitious stuff with the writing and recording without too much fear of falling on my face, at least publicly. Playing this new material is tremendously rewarding for that reason. The guys in the band have spent more than a year recording and rehearsing this material so to execute it and see it work is exhilarating.
NM: What are some of your New Year’s resolutions?
EA: Don’t be a coward. Vanquish my enemies. Don’t be embarrassed about trying. Call out nonsense even when it’s not advantageous. Suffer no fools.
NM: Timbrrr! features snowshoeing and other winter-related activities. Do you have a favorite snow sport?
EA: I actually don’t do any snow sports. Nothing against them–I was just raised by a bunch of flatlanders and never got into it. I have a ton of “winter-related activities.” They include staring into the middle distance thinking about bad decisions I’ve made, feeling an emptiness that can never be filled no matter how much I destroy myself with food and alcohol, and watching Teen Mom 2. I do like to sled. Sledding is something that happens to you.
Timbrrr Fest! takes place January 10-11 in Leavenworth, Washington.
More in this series:
- Temple Echoes
- Kevin Long
- Wild Ones
- Barna Howard
- Lotte Kestner
- Joseph Giant
- The Moondoggies
- Battleme
- Telekinesis
- Full Lineup Announced
- You Me and Apollo
- Radiation City
- Hannalee
- Hey Marseilles
- The Lonely Forest
- Timbrrr Fest Preview