Evan Horton plays guitar for up and coming Sydney band, Cayce. Having released their debut EP last year and touring the country they are proving to be a band not to be taken lightly. Below is an insight into the world of Evan and Cayce.
What influenced you to start making music?
My older brother Dan gave me a cassette tape of Guns n Roses “Appetite for Destruction” at age 5. Hearing the word fuck in songs was huge for me then. I was instantly hooked and I knew not to sing those songs around Mum. Despite there always being a guitar around the house I never picked one up till I was “air-solo-ing” the crap out of Alive by Pearl Jam. Stumbled upon Dad’s weird travel-guitar mini-fender electric to use as a prop and having been electric guitar playing ever since. Seeing bands like Pearl Jam, Korn and At The Drive-In at a young age blew my mind and definitely made me realize this is something I have to do.
How did the band get together?
It took a while but is made up of alot of mates that I’ve met over the years through playing in bands and one dude I’ve never met till 2 years ago. It started out in 2005 with Rowen and I putting some riffs together. I’d met Rowen a couple of years before that through his old band Teriyaki Grandchild (they’re old EP is still on mp3.com.au, Google it). The idea expanded and we wanted to jam these tracks out with a drummer. I asked John if he was keen (we used to play in a band back at Uni). At the time we were working with a different singer, but things weren’t on track as we wanted. We pulled Dan in on bass hoping to get more vocals happening with a complete band. Unfortunately we still didn’t have a complete song by the end of 2006. We spent 2007 auditioning for singers, and to be honest no-one was impressing us. In fact some auditions were so bad, it got us really close to giving up. We tried everything to find singers, even handing out flyers at festivals and gigs approaching anyone who looked like they’d be a frontman kinda dude. But on the verge of throwing in the towel at the end of 07 we got an email from this guy called Jeff who could only show us his black metal band. He said he wanted to develop his singing, but from his demos he could definitely scream, and scream damn-well. Hooked up an audition in November and were blown away.
In those auditions we were playin 3 of the songs off the EP. So the first EP is a pretty raw creative collaboration.
Any other hobbies other than music?
Not really, I think I’d be a great music journalist cause I’m a bit of a music slut. If I’m not playin guitar or listening to new music you find me playing a lot of video games. Nerdcore. Spent most of 2009 playing Left 4 Dead when I had the chance. I don’t have a very healthy lifestyle. I ride my bike for some fun around the city, but I wouldn’t call that a hobby. I’ve helped some mates produce some hip-hop albums, I’m expecting 2010 is going to be a lot of time making new Cayce demos and playing Battlefield.
Favourite Aus. Bands?
There are too many bands to mention. But I will mention a couple, King Mungi are eternally awesome in my opinion. Parkway Drive is completely unstoppable, I think of them as a modern incarnation of AC/DC. And I think I’d have to say Bodyjar (for a slightly older reference). It’s a pity the Jar won’t be around to light the way for the next generation of bands.
One band you would love to tour with? Why?
Practically it wouldn’t work, but hypothetically touring with Meshuggah would be ultimate touring fantasy. They’re crowd would probably hate us, but I’d never ever get sick of watching or listening to their show. They’re one of the craziest bands on this planet right now.
Who is the one artist you love to talk about with others?
It changes from week to week. But I guess the one recurring artist for me is Mike Patton, not only is his collection of musical achievements gigantic, he is also doing voice-acting for some of our favourite games. That guy is a true artist.
Any strange fan stories?
We have a fan whose sleeved our EP artwork onto her left arm. The character “Woodface” from our EP is all over her left arm. That blew our collective minds. Meeting her and seeing it in real life was a unique and awesome experience. One oddity is that pretty much everywhere we played, we would always have a small, attempted start of a circle pit when we played “Dead of Night”. Crowds who were perplexed by Asian frontman are also a constant source of amusement.
Funniest thing to ever happen to you?
I remember when I was 17 at my 2nd Big Day Out, 2000, walking through a thick crowd between stages, some strange dude with no shirt ran up to me and said emphatically “Wake up Evan!”, then disappeared into the crowd. To this day I cannot explain that at all. I’ve had some weird shit happen to me but that one is truly “funny’, not really in a comedy sense though.
Plans for the future?
Writing new stuff for a new EP that will be out mid-2011. We’ll be taking a break from the live scene this year, and really focusing on making the best songs possible to outclass the early material. We also are planning on some international touring in 2011.
How is the new music sounding?
It’s alot more technical. Cliche as it is, it’s goin to be heavier perhaps lower tunings. We don’t want to imitate anything that’s out there. You can expect a huge canvas of feelings on these new songs. We’re gonna try to make these songs crazy journeys for your brain.
If you had the chance to choose what you were remembered by, what would it be?
Being true to ourselves. Not being one of those bands that came and went with the tide of another trend in hair or whatever the cool thing was at the time.
The future looks brighter than ever for Cayce. Taking this whole year off to focus on writing songs for the 2011 planned EP release, shows their willingness and dedication to making the best music they possibly can. So until that release makes its way to our CD/MP3 players go out and buy their debut EP ‘The Hardest Thing You’ll Ever Do’.
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