Recently I had a nice little Facebook chat with Erica Sellers from CATFIGHT. After we got past the initial stage where she realized she no longer needed to suck up to me, we unofficially began the interview that she didn’t realize she was giving until it was too late.
I was so taken with what she said that I wanted to share it with everyone that wanted to see it. It is in my dream world where every musician shares the traits you are about to read. If you are not aware of the circumstances with this particular band, let me give you a quick rundown:
The drummer for CATFIGHT, Angie, lives in a different state. As you can imagine, that makes practicing rather difficult. It also makes creating new songs rather difficult. The ladies of CATFIGHT are clever, however, and have devised a plan where songs are passed around on the Internet between each other and each member adds in their special sauce to the song. It’s complicated, not at all easy, but quite ingenius and shows just how dedicated and determined these musicians are. Kudos to them!
Now I like to think that I discovered this band much the way a baseball scout finds a prospect. When I first heard CATFIGHT the band was then called The Lost Scoundrels and they had just a single song to listen to on ReverbNation. And that song was just a guitar and some vocals. It wasn’t professionally recorded, but I immediately loved the song. So after doing a little detective work, I emailed the band and asked what was going on, if they planned on uploading any more music, playing shows, etc.
After some time had passed, I assumed that I wouldn’t hear anything more from the band. And then one fateful day I received an email from Erica. She told me the band was working on new songs and setting up dates to play shows. And after a while longer my patience was rewarded. Suddenly there were 3 songs, then 4, then 5 for my listening pleasure. Each song I listened to made me more and more intrigued with and a bigger and bigger fan of this band. And now here we are. The band has a new name and a brand spankin’ new EP. The fun has just begun with these very talented ladies.
I now present to you Erica Sellers of CATFIGHT.
Mars
So what is new with CATFIGHT?
Erica
I added the entire song W.G.A.F to our site. We are preparing to play some acoustic sets around Louisville and in Nashville in the next several weeks. Then next work on a three song demo for early release next year and then our CD….which, I kind of would like to do an 8 track and vinyl rather than a CD… There is something amazing about tape cassettes lol. We will be booking a tour as well and given that two of the ladies are gay, definitely going to try to do a miniature tour of gay pride festivals for fun. All of us have been busy but now that the semester is almost over and work is slowing down, we are going full force.
Mars
It must be pretty tough trying to make songs when you guys all live so far apart
Erica
It is. Meghan and I practice every week but Angie is here every two weeks. So we send the songs to her, she learns them, sends them to us for feedback with the drums and then when she is here we practice a lot. lol. Lots of communication goes into it.
Mars
That’s also pretty effin’ cool though. The interwebs are an amazing thing.
Erica
Yeah, we would be fucked if it wasn’t around.
Mars
How did you all end up meeting?
Erica
Well I had a guy friend who knew my first love was guitar, been playing since I was 8, and he also knew I was sick of being that girl bassist in bands with guys. So he told me about Angie, and basically how she played drums just as good as any guy in Louisville. So I met up with her and her girlfriend at a bar and we hit it off. She was in this local cover band called Dangerous Liaison and her vocalist, Meghan, wanted to write her own material, so Angie said Meghan should play with us. Angie moved to Nashville and quit the cover band and Meghan has been practicing with me since June.
Mars
Ahh, you stole parts from other bands! Well played. Let me ask you a question that you may or may not have the answer for, but its been buggin’ me because I don’t know the answer. Why is it when girls are in bands with a bunch of dudes, they always play bass?
Erica
Well, I believe it is because that mentality of girls being able to play music hasn’t subsided quite yet and bass is pretty easy. Therefore, guys are like hey you are cute play bass in my band and bring the dudes to our shows. Or it could also be that some women lack the confidence to step up and be like hey I can play guitar let me show you what I have.
Mars
Ya, I was afraid that was the answer. Well I prefer the female fronted bands. And it’s my bet that within the next 5 years a female fronted rock band will come save music much the way Nirvana saved us from Michael Jackson.
Erica
Well I hope a female band does that. They would have support from all the female musicians across the globe. 🙂
Mars
It’ll happen. I’ll bet you $5.
Erica
Deal. lol. If that happens I want to at least play one show with them and then I’ll be satisfied. 😛
Mars
What makes you think it won’t be CATFIGHT?
Erica
lol Well, it isn’t like I’m in a band to be huge . If people like us then that is awesome, and if people don’t I understand, there are a million other bands out there to like. We play to prove a point and to have fun and to show that you don’t have to look like a groupie on stage playing bass to get people out to your shows. Just be yourselves, have fun with it and keep your egos in check. Whatever happens happens, we are just here along for the ride. Without playing music the three of us would literally go insane. There is nothing more fulfilling than writing music, and writing it for the sake of it being what you are passionate about.
Mars
I wish more musicians shared your values.
Erica
I’m sure there are a lot out there. I mean what other reason is there to play music? Music is a universal language. It doesn’t matter what your race, religion, ethnicity, or values are, we can all tap our feet to a good beat and find ourselves humming catchy tunes in the shower or while we are out walking about.
Erica
Ok… that was not supposed to rhyme… I’m turning into Dr. Seuss.
