Catfish Haven Interview Plus MP3's

While Catfish Haven are often compared to fellow classic rock throwbacks Kings of Leon and My Morning Jacket, the Chicago trio actually owes their sound more to the rock and soul infused lamentations of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding than their indie rock peers. Circumventing hipster cool and irony for straight forward rhythm and blues, the group would just as easily seem at home at Wild Bill's juke joint on Volentine as at The Hitone, where they open for label mates Magnolia Electric Company Tuesday night.

Named for the Missouri trailer park lead singer George Hunter grew up in, the band released their first full length album, entitled Tell Me, on indie rock mega label Secretly Canadian on September 12th. It's a match that might leave some scratching their head, but one that has enabled the band to receive stellar reviews from Pitchfork Media and CMJ, and caused Now Toronto Magazine to call the band "The most promising new band on The Secretly Canadian roster."

Growing up in Illinois, singer guitarist Hunter, bassist Miguel Castillo, and drummer Ryan Farnham were much more into punk rock and thrash than the soul records one would assume they must have listened to. However, when the skateboarding scene in which they met began to fade away, the threesome began to explore new music, and ran smack dab into a little band called The Rolling Stones.

"We didn't really get into classic rock until we were in our twenties" says Castillo. "We were always the kids that would just sit around and listen to records, but we were just into much harder stuff. Then that scene sort of died so we kind of moved on. Then we discovered Led Zeppelin."

The band was officially formed in 2001, even though the friends have known each other for close to a decade. After a year of playing in Chicago, where the group is based, Catfish Haven put out their first EP Good Friends. The CD sold well and the band continued to write songs, but constant touring was not an option due to the high cost of living on the road. Without label support it was also hard to book out-of-town shows. The threesome continued to play locally and decided to focus on getting signed, which turned out to be surprisingly easy.

"It's funny cause we've been trying to get a record deal for like 5 years and finally I just wrote a letter to the owner of Secretly Canadian, I found his email address and I just asked him if I could send him a CD” explains Castille. "After I sent it to him, he wrote back and said he liked it, and by chance we had a show booked in Bloomington, In (where Secretly Canadian is based) and so it just worked out perfectly, a week later we played and they basically offered us a deal that night. They told us we one of the most impulse signings they ever did."

One of the bands highlights of their fairy tale year was playing in their hometown at Lollapalooza back in August.

"That whole weekend was amazing because we had full access all weekend. Everyone in all the bands were really accessible" says Castille. "We got to hang out with Perry Farrell and Queens of the Stone Age. It was really incredible."

The rest of 2006 will be filled touring the new record and hopefully being able to add more musicians to their backing band. They would really love to bring a horn section and their back-up singers on the road. As of now, the indie rock label still actually does apply in one aspect:

"We’re a hardworking band, we know in this business you can't wait for anything to happen to you, you got to go out and make it happen for yourself" explains Castille. "But yeah, we're still broke."





"Crazy for Leaving"

More MP3's Here

Catfish Haven - Please Come Back - Lollapalooza