New material, old interests: Cautioners vocalist Nick Harrison talks tour, "Daisies," favorite old-school singers
Cautioners are helping hold down the fort in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
The five-piece pop-punk band released its debut record, Dead Ends, last year in March. Dead Ends is an industrious, straight-laced record with a little more punk than pop, but it was only the band’s first step. Cautioners recently dropped a new song and music video, “Daisies,” along with an announcement that they’re touring Japan with The Wonder Years, ROAM and With Confidence. Joining us to talk about these developments and more is vocalist Nick Harrison.
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Andrew Friedgen: For those who don’t know, can you give us a brief history of Cautioners? How did all you guys end up meeting and making music?
Nick Harrison: Jesse, Matt and Angelo started playing together in high school and had a few singers before me. I knew Matt from a performance arts camp we attended together when we were younger, and we had kept in contact throughout the years. I called him to set up and try out, and the rest is history. Justin joined recently filling the vacant spot on bass after we had played shows with his old bands pretty much since we started.
AF: You recently announced a short tour in Japan with The Wonder Years, ROAM, and With Confidence. Can you tell me a little about how that came to be?
NH: We're signed to an incredible label called Kick Rock Invasion in Japan, as are all the bands on that tour. Masa and their staff really have looked out for us since we put out Dead Ends over there in September 2015, and he reached out to us to set it up.
AF: What can fans (or potential new fans) expect at those shows?
NH: I think we're the best we've ever sounded right now. We're all extremely excited about the set and the songs we picked out for it, and we've been spending a lot of time making sure it's as tight as possible. We want it to be high energy and fun.
AF: And what are you, personally, expecting? Is it the band’s first outing in Japan?
NH: We're super excited – we've never toured outside the U.S. before, and it's been a huge goal of ours for years to play over there. We're expecting the shows to be a lot of fun, and we're looking forward to getting to play with such awesome bands each night as well.
AF: For a little fun, can you name one or two of your favorite tracks by the other bands on that lineup (The Wonder Years, ROAM, With Confidence)?
NH: The Wonder Years: “There, There,” and I really dig “I Don't Like Who I Was Then” from the new record right now.
ROAM: “Deadweight,” “Warning Sign” and their Nickelback cover (haha).
With Confidence: Really into their new song “Keeper,” and “We'll Be Okay.”
AF: You guys recently came out with a new song, “Daises,” along with an accompanying music video. Is “Daisies” part of an upcoming album, or just a little something to hold fans over? When can fans expect to hear more new stuff?
NH: We wrote that song and were super excited about it, so we wanted to get it out as soon as possible. Whether or not it ends up on a record, I'm not sure yet. But we've been writing a lot and have a bunch of songs written, so hopefully soon!
AF: Will Yip produced your 2015 release, Dead Ends. Did he have a hand in “Daisies” as well? If not, who did? And what was the experience like working with them? Why Will (or whomever else) over another producer?
NH: We went back with Will for “Daisies.” It's always awesome working with him – he expects a lot out of us and pushes us to make the best songs we can, and we're just so comfortable with him. He's had a hand in a lot of things we've done over the years, and we love being able to evolve with him.
AF: Was there any particular inspiration for the “Daisies” music video? It’s obviously conceptual, so did it kind of come to you naturally, or did you draw from anything else you’ve seen?
NH: It actually stemmed from a different idea we had for the music video. The original concept was completely different. Certain things caused us to change our minds about what we wanted the song to visualize as, and the idea just kind of came to us. We wanted the live portion and the storyline to be connected, and we're really psyched on how it came out.
AF: Particularly, what’s the significance of the main set in that video? The room with all the newspaper clippings on the walls?
NH: Like I said before, we wanted the story line to match the live setting. In the storyline, I find a newspaper clipping of my obituary taped to the mirror, and I spend the rest of the video trying to figure out how exactly it happened, not knowing that by looking for the answers, I actually cause it to happen. So being able to take that newspaper clipping and find its place on the wall in the live setting was something we thought would be a great way to tie it all together.
AF: In the “Daisies” behind the scenes video, you guys talk about building that set piece by piece. How long did it take? Are there any quirky stories about putting it together? Did you read any of the articles you put up, and did any stick out to you? Anything particularly funny, sad, etc. you read?
NH: The two days were 16 hours each. The first day was all set up, and then we spent another two or three hours setting up the next day. So about 19 hours of setting up. A lot of the articles were kind of morbid, and if they weren't we painted them to look that way. We got honestly delirious by the end of setting up the first day. Actual cabin fever, haha.
AF: As vocals in the band, where do you draw your inspiration from? Any particular vocalists or bands that have had an impact on you? Was there a band that gave you the impulse to start singing?
NH: Lyrically, everything is drawn from personal experience. I always write about things I go through or observe. As far as inspirations, I listen to a lot of different things. Some of singers that stylistically inspire me are more modern and on the punk side of things (i.e. Vinnie Caruana of The Movielife/I Am The Avalanche, Jesse Vadala of With The Punches), but my top three favorite singers of all time are Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. I love the old school stuff. I think the impulse to start singing came from me enjoying acting growing up. I did a lot of the school plays and musicals, and the directors kind of pushed me to start singing.
AF: Now that Dead Ends has been out for a year and you've had time for all those songs to percolate (so to speak), which tracks are you particularly proud of or have fond memories of? Or which one(s) mean the most to you?
NH: I'm really proud of that record. We spent so much time together writing and trying different ideas, and I look back on that writing process very fondly. I think my favorite songs to play live are “Lost Cause,” “All I See,” “Skeletons” and “Leech.”
AF: Any final thoughts you’d like to share with sonder readers or your fans?
NH: Thanks for reading! Check out our new song "Daisies," and hopefully we'll see you at a show soon.
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Interview conducted by sonder editor Andrew Friedgen. Press photo courtesy of Cautioners. Connect with the band on:
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