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Cave Clove, from Oakland, CA, recently released the new single “Still Just As Free” with a B side “Child At Heart (And in Practice).” Cave Clove is a modern reincarnation of 50’s doo-wop at its best. Add to that a hint of bluegrass, a splash of R&B, and roots in traditional Americana, and you have a group with a stellar sound that is all their own. GroundSounds recently caught up with Katie from Cave Clove to see what they’re all about. Check out our interview with them below and take a listen to their two newest tracks at the bottom of the interview, mastered by Bay Area producer Bijan Sharifi. Enjoy the tunes!
Yo, Cave Clove! Thanks for talking with GroundSounds and tellin’ us your story! How are things up in the Bay?
Yo! Thanks for talking with me! The bay is exciting, as always. Pretty happy to be here.
For those who are just discovering the amazing sounds of Cave Clove, how would you describe your overall sound and style?
Aw, thank you 🙂 This question is a real tough one for me and I can’t wait to figure out the best way to describe our sound. For now, I would say it is soul / folk / rock / americana. Female vocals, melody driven and lyrical, with lots of harmonies and groovy rhythms. Sort of like Van Morrison meets Gillian Welch . . .
Tell us a little bit about how you got started playing music and singing. Where did it all begin?
It began in LA, actually, where I grew up. I was heavily involved in musical theater as a kid and I sang in high school choirs. Then my dad taught me to play guitar when I was about 15 and I started writing songs. I was listening to a lot of 60s and 70s folk music at the time, as well as a lot of contemporary female folk artists such as Ani DiFranco, and that all had a big influence on my earliest songwriting.
You’ve found a really cool and interesting way to combine many different styles of music, while also maintaining your own unique sound. As a result, we’re presented with some really amazing songs that are fun to listen to. What do you enjoy most about the songwriting process?
I am endlessly fascinated by the art of songwriting, not just my own but as a craft. There are so many ways to approach it and it tends to take me by surprise when I decide to turn an idea into a song. I enjoy noticing themes and parallels in words, journal entries, and musical ideas I’ve written during a given period of time, and then experimenting with how to weave them together.
Your newest single “Still Just As Free,” with the B side “Child At Heart (And in Practice)” are both amazing folk-rock songs with just enough soul and pop. The music is familiar, the lyrics are relatable, and the background vocals are extremely colorful and soothing. How long have you been working on this material? What was the recording process like?
These particular songs are actually older songs, maybe 3 or 4 years old. We used to play them live a lot but never documented them. Then, upon revisiting these 2 songs last year, we decided it would be fun to record them. The recording process was, as it always is, a wonderful way to understand them and further dial them as pieces of art. Working with Carlos Arredondo at New, Improved Recording was fantastic- I highly recommend him as an engineer. He was really patient and thorough, and also very talented. He had a lot of great production and arrangement ideas.
What are some of the festivals or venues on your bucket list to perform at? Are there any artists that you would like to tour with or collaborate with in the studio in the future?
I would love to play some of the San Francisco festivals such as Treasure Island or Outside Lands. I’d also love to play at the Fillmore and the Fox, as far as Bay Area venues go. I look forward to touring a lot more as well. I hope to tour and collaborate with many artists but there are currently 2 I fantasize about working with in either of these capacities. They are both British- soul musician Michael Kiwanuka and singer-songwriter-guitarist Anna Calvi. I’m super moved by and impressed with both of them- examples of artists who have really honed their sound and maintain tremendous soul and passion in the midst of superb technique and proficiency.
So, I did some YouTube research and found that you made a really cool music video for your 50’s sounding track “Bases of Pyramids” off of your EP that was released last April. Tell us about the making of that video. Can we expect a new music video for these new songs?
The making of the Bases of Pyramids video was a huge learning experience for me, and a blast. It was shot and co-directed by Elia Vargas, an amazing Bay Area videographer and a good friend of mine. It was my first time making a music video. I wanted it to be a narrative video, so I had to write the script along with a second by second shot list for the song. This process was quite challenging for me given my lack of experience with video making. It somehow came together, though, and I am proud of it! There is indeed a new video coming for the song “Still Just As Free”! We shot it a couple weekends ago in the Santa Cruz mountains. We worked with Elia again and it was a magical experience. I am really excited about it.
Which artists and bands are you currently listening to and what do you think there will be a common theme in music this year?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Jimi Hendrix recently. I want to start focusing more on guitar playing, and he inspires me a lot in that department. Also George Harrison. His songwriting is incredibly moving to me.
With the new tracks released and a fresh new year upon us, what are some of your goals for this year and where do you see Cave Clove a year from now? What can we expect this year?
I am more inspired than ever before to deepen my relationship with music. My main goals are to play as much as possible and build my skills as an instrumentalist as well as build my performance skills. I imagine Cave Clove will be in the process of recording a full length album at this time next year, or maybe even ready to release it. You can also expect some tours and some fun new collaborations / incarnations of the band in the next year.
