Caged View has been hard at work since they emerged onto the scene in 2022. When No Echo initially caught up with the band, they had just released a two-part demo, seven songs total.
In the three years that have followed, the band has wasted no time in playing all over the Bay Area and other parts of their home state like Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Orange County, and San Diego. Securing support slots for bands like Crime In Stereo, Stay Gold, Praise, and others, Caged View has shown that they are a force to be reckoned with in the California hardcore scene.
Having just announced their latest release, New Fuel For An Old Fire, and a partnership with Virginia Beach / Seattle-based label, GGT Records (Jade Dust, Slight Return, Forgive/Forget), Caged View are poised to bring their brand of boundary pushing progressive hardcore to the masses.
I thought it was a really cool idea to split the demo up into two parts. How did that idea come about?
(Duane Harris, guitar): Honestly, we had a bunch of music written and couldn't quite agree on what songs to release as an official demo, so we just decided to record all the songs that were essentially finished. Seven songs seemed like too many songs for a single demo, so we just dropped them in two volumes via streaming.
After that, they were all released together on the same cassette via Leroy at New Knee Records, which was really cool. I’ve known him since I was a teenager and it was a fun project to work with him on. I love seeing what he’s doing with his label - it’s really starting to take shape as he’s entered the world of vinyl releases, in addition to cassettes.
Anyway, I do think if I had to do the demo over again, I wouldn't have recorded all seven of the songs and we would have spent some more time developing a more cohesive sound with less songs, But hey, that’s what demos are for, right?? I think coming out of the pandemic, we were just really itching to get the band officially launched and share some music.
Tell us about the writing process of New Fuel For An Old Fire.
(Duane Harris, guitar): Our demo came out in Fall of 2022 and we recorded New Fuel For An Old Fire in Fall of 2024, so once we committed to the idea of Caged View being an actual band that’s going to do things like write records, we took our time during the writing process. However, in the month or two before going into the studio, it was definitely crunchtime and we put in some work practicing, which was cool to see, as the creative juices really started flowing and it brought out the best in us.
As far as the actual creative process went, I can only speak to the music itself, as it took me quite awhile to figure out how the band was going to sound, and that was kind of time consuming and even resulted in band discussions where I asked the guys to tell me what direction they want the songs to sonically go towards. From there, I had to write the guitars for the songs to align with what the vision was, which meant that in turn, I also had to listen to a lot of feedback from the band, because not everything I wrote was always embraced by the band [laughs].
Essentially I would come practice with a riff or even a song most laid out on guitar and we would test the waters on how it felt and sounded. Usually, I’d have “homework” based on feedback from the guys, and then come to the next practice with updated approaches to songs and so on, until we got the song right.
I will say this, our drummer, Joey, would provide great feedback and push me during the process, which really brought out the best in my songwriting. He just comes from a different musical angle than me in a lot of ways, and sometimes I’d bring a song to the table, and he’d provide feedback that I didn't expect which made me switch things up entirely, or even play something on the drums that I 100% did not anticipate, which was new experience that I enjoyed.
Honestly, all of the guys bring great feedback and fresh ideas to the table, since we all have different tastes and interests, which makes songwriting fun with this group of guys.
The sound quality of the demo harkens back to the days of actual DIY demos. It’s raw and natural. What are some of the differences between the recording process for that and the new record?
(Duane Harris, guitar): The demo music was recorded with our buddy, Phil Lantz (Right On, Secret People, Allegiance, Neutrals) at his practice studio, where he has a nice analog setup with a board. The demo vocals were done at Phil’s job, where they had a nice setup for recording vocals.
Phil did us a huge solid by recording those songs for us, and while the recording came out quite low-fi and raw, and was cool and definitely reminiscent of an old DIY demo from the '90s. For me, it sparked a lot of curiosity in what Caged View could sound like in a nice studio.
Once we committed to doing the EP with GGT Records, we did some research on local studios and engineers and the general consensus was that we wanted to record with Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City) at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland. Scott knows what punk, hardcore, and metal should sound like, and he’s pretty invested in his projects to the point where it almost feels like you're working with a Producer and not just an Engineer.
I loved working with him and I honestly thought he brought out the best in the band. We got it mastered by our friend, Amar Lal, who also works out of Sharkbite and we know from his time playing in No Lights, who I’d consider our brother band. Basically, another person who knew our sound and what we were trying to accomplish with New Fuel For An Old Fire.
In the end, it sounds exactly how I wanted it to sound and if you’ve only heard the demo, I urge you to take a listen to the record, as it’s quite different.
What can people expect from this record sonically?
(Duane Harris, guitar): From the actual recording, to the songwriting, and even our performance in the studio, I think everything is just stepped up and more deliberate. For the most part, these songs were not written and finished in a quick fashion. We refined them multiple times before getting in the studio to make them sound like “us.” I also wanted to make it a point to make sure that every song is different sounding, but still sounds like Caged View.
For instance, if you listen to a song like “Compassion Fatigue,” it has an early Hot Water Music vibe to the music. But then we have the title track, “New Fuel For An Old Fire,” which has a frantic metallic feel to parts of the song. We even have a few songs that are more on the straight forward hardcore side, like “Lighting Out.” Then we have “Survival Pending” which reminds me of something like Manic Compression-era Quicksand, or even old Refused.
We even have a song called “Time Blind,” which will likely be a song that catches people off guard, as it starts as a gnarly sounding hardcore song, but the song transitions into something totally different and has an outro that leans into '90s emo stuff. We had our friends from No Lights, Matt O’Brien and Israel Bransan do some guest vocals and guitar on it, which turned out super cool.
Basically, we leaned into a lot of different sounds on this record, and I’d like to think the end product is cohesive, interesting, and doesn't stray too far from our hardcore and punk roots.
READ MORE: Interlocked: The Untold Story of the Early ‘90s East LA Straight Edge Hardcore Band
What can people expect from this record lyrically?
(Pat Piccolo, vocals): There is no one cohesive message or overt theme of this record other than the idea that it's a snapshot of my feelings about what is happening in the world, and what's happening with me personally.
It's nothing extremely deep or particularly poetic, but I feel it consists of real, relatable, and important observations and expressions. I feel like they are a well matched lyrical counterpart to the music we are playing, and I hope people take the time to read them.
Tell us about the lyrics for the title track since you just released that.
(Pat Piccolo, vocals): This song is a reaction to current events as part of a larger, repeating historical pattern. It’s a song is about pressure. The pressure felt by everyone who is squeezed by poverty, squeezed by social constraints, or squeezed by political institutions of power bent on your subservience or elimination.
It’s about being pressed to the point where there are no options but to resist, or no longer exist. It’s a reaction to institutions of power, who gaslight you and l, using fear and guilt at best, and physical violence and death worse, to perpetuate an intentional system of inequality, a false sense of choice, scarcity, division, exploitation, and ecological destruction. A system which serves nothing but its own interests.
It’s a reaction to the United States supported theocratic ethostate of Israel and it’s systematic suppression and elimination of the Palestinian people. It’s a reaction to cities and municipalities here in the Bay Area and around the country making poverty a punishable crime. It’s a reaction to the narrative that the victims in these situations are somehow to blame, despite the fact that they hold no power and are literally fighting for survival.
A crazy anarchist who was born over 200 years ago named Bakunin once said “There are times when creation can only be achieved through destruction. The urge to destroy is a creative urge.” I feel like I just used a lot of words to say pretty much the same thing.
How did your paths cross with GGT?
(Duane Harris, guitar): Not long after the demo was released online, Adam from GGT reached out and expressed interest in doing something with the band. I told him that I’d have to get back to him because I really did not know if Caged View was going to be really active as a band due to some of the guys in the band having kids, Joey being pretty busy with his other band, King Woman, and honestly, we were not all that far out of the pandemic, and who knew what the future had in store for live music.
After we got a few shows under our belt and I started feeling a little more confident that Caged View was going to be a thing, I hit him up and confirmed that we had interest in working together. I set some expectations related to the amount of shows and touring we will do, and let it be known that writing is going to be a slow process. They were still down, so we decided to move forward with doing the record.
Elbert, Adam, and Rob have been super cool to work with, and I’m pretty impressed with what they’ve done for us as a small label - from getting the record pressed quickly, to spending additional money on us for a great master job, and even the efforts and money spent on marketing; it’s been great. I really have zero complaints and I’m really excited for New Fuel For An Old Fire to come out.
Can we expect Caged View to be hitting the road to support New Fuel For An Old Fire?
(Duane Harris, guitar): We have an awesome record release show booked on May 10th in Oakland at Tamarack with Ex Everything, No Lights, and Minus Numbers. It’s going to be one hell of a show and all the bands really fit well together.
Outside of that, we are working on some local shows, and a trip to the Northwest with the homies in No Lights. I’d love to play some more shows outside of NorCal, such as play some more shows in Southern California again, and even some East Coast shows at some point, but it really hinges on schedules aligning and the opportunities that may pop up. As Joe Strummer said, “The future is unwritten!”
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New Fuel For An Old Fire will be out soon via GGT Records (vinyl pre-order).
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