Caves

Portland, Oregon's Caves was founded in 2005 by childhood friends Brian Morris (drums) and Jacob Carey (vocals, guitar). Carey convinced transcontinental friends David Benedetti (guitar) and Tim West (bass) to relocate after the latter heard the initial demos that Jake and Brian had thrown at them. Within a few months following the move west, Caves began playing shows up and down the west coast, racking up more than fifty shows in the following twenty months. The venues ranged from Portland's Berbati's Pan, Doug Fir Lounge, Crystal Ballroom and the notorious Holocene, to San Francisco's tiny Hotel Utah and LA's The Joint. Fighting against an oversaturated sea of new bands, Caves won people over one at a time. Attendance grew locally from twenty to two hundred in only a short amount of time. Forward they pushed. Growth and change was the center of their attention.

At the end of 2006, the quartet began to realize a shift in their musical philosophy. Wanting to move forward from their shoegazer roots, Caves began to pay close attention to the rhythmic legs of their musical experience. They became more Clash than Cure, more Smiths than Slowdive, more Pink Flag than Pink Floyd. Drawing from Brian's long-time love for reggae and hip-hop, the band began placing more weight on rhythms and counterpoints. The wall of sound they had previously built was being attacked by a barage of eigth and sixteenth notes. Taking hints from the art school approach of bands like Wire and Gang of Four, David and Jake’s guitars became much more specialized and intentional. Thus began the process of creating "Get On With It"- Caves' first long player.

The band spent the first six months of 2007 holed away in their living room studio working and re-working the songs until they felt ready to put the pieces together. In the summer of 2007,

Photo by Brian Lee

Caves took on the venture of recording, self-producing, self-funding, and self-releasing the project that is "Get On With It" at Supernatural Studios (The Shins, Stehpen Malkmus, Bright Eyes). Tracking everything in the studio live to tape, they sought to capture the urgency of their live performances and reflect the tones of their 70's and 80's influences. When tracking was complete, Jake ran over to NYC to deliver the tapes to the formidable Greg Calbi, New York City's finest mastering engineer. (Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Brian Eno, Lennon, Springsteen, Blond Redhead, Interpol, the Strokes) Greg waved his magic wand and the project became a real boy.

Caves released "Get On With It." The music found itself in the open arms of a growing and welcoming public, as well as embraced by the typically icy press. Will you open your arms to these ambitious young scrapers? Just remember to always let your conscience (and your ears) be your guide.