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Kicking Daisies
Take infectious punk-pop hooks, teenage enthusiasm and stupefying skills, mix them all together and the result is eternally precocious Kicking Daisies. This 16-and-under four-piece born in a Milford, Connecticut basement is already selling out rooms with capacity in the hundreds as band members Caitlin and Carly Kalafus, Duran Visek and Ben Spremulli march steadfast towards their rock-n-roll dream. Or, as they like to call it: destiny.
With hair flying and heads banging, guitars shredding and drum solos that are simply mind-blowing, the band has quickly gained a reputation for their energetic live shows, which usually end in a deafening, crowd-wide sing-along. From songs like the hard-driving “Go,” an anthemic call to arms beckoning all to “go until you crash and burn,” to “Big Bang Theory,” an undeniable tour-de-force of heavenly harmonies, to the reflective ballad “These Days” which shows song-writing maturity way beyond their years, this is no run-of-the-mill kid band, Kicking Daisies is a fully-realized musical movement.
It all begins with 16-year-old Caitlin. Hailed as one of America’s fastest (and youngest) female drummers, she has rhythm in her blood, thanks to her father Chris, who’s not only a music teacher at a local middle school, but has also played in bands most of his adult life—often with his wide-eyed little girl looking on. At age eight, Caitlin was pounding Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” on a borrowed drum set, and setting her sights on a kit of her own. By nine, she had it, and was soon playing along to Rush, her favorite band of all-time (featuring one of the world’s most renowned drummers, Neil Peart). Fast forward six years and a million YouTube hits later, and Caitlin had become somewhat of a known quantity after demonstrating her drumming chops at NAMM, the annual gathering of music merchandisers, where she scored an endorsement with Gretsch Drums.
No sooner than Caitlin returned home with the resolve to start her own band, she met her match in 12-year-old guitar prodigy Ben Spremulli. The gaunt Bethel native hidden behind the Cousin It hair was a throwback to the guitar gods of rock’s renaissance age—with the skills to back it up. And, even at his age, he had been toiling away in cover bands for the better part of two years. The two virtuosos hit it off immediately, and began their search for a singer who could keep up with their frenetic pace.
Enter: Grammy Award-winning producer Mike Mangini, who’s worked with everyone from Joss Stone to the Jonas Brothers, and helped find Duran Visek, the perfect compliment to this potentially explosive combo. Duran’s charisma, vocal chops, guitar playing and natural frontman swagger was a no-brainer, and the three instantly gelled, not knowing that their future bassist was right under their nose: Caitlin’s thirteen-year-old sister Carly.
“My mom suggested Carly try the bass,” Caitlin recalls. “Because she’s super smart and pretty much good at everything. So I taught her a song we were working on, and within an hour, we were all jamming. We just clicked.” Carly, who until that point was a competitive gymnast, remembers it differently. “At first I was, like, ‘No!’ I’m shy and I get nervous easily, but Caitlin begged me just to try the bass, and I gave in, like I usually do.”
That first jam would prove to be a pivotal moment for all. As Ben explains, “It felt good to play together. It might not have sounded great, but we felt great.” Soon after, all four began being home-schooled so they could rehearse as much as possible, and eventually tour. For Duran, it was his first chance to truly appreciate the seriousness of their endeavor. “We practiced every day, we were playing shows, meeting new people, and I was, like, ‘Wow, this is hardcore,’” he recalls. “Luckily, I got it all together pretty quickly.”
Also wasting no time was Mike Mangini, who had set in motion a detailed schedule that involved time in the studio and writing sessions with the likes of Peter Zizzo (Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton) and S*A*M & Sluggo (Katy Perry, Cobra Starship). “I wanted them to work with people who I consider amazing songwriters and great guys,” he explains. “I knew they would show them the fundamentals, and what was amazing was how, after coming up with five songs with the co-writers, Caitlin went home and banged out 20 more songs.”
The outcome? Undeniably hooky tunes like “Promises” and ‘The Big Bang Theory” (used for a series of webisodes chronicling their daily lives on www.kickingdaisies.com), the radio-ready “U Keep Me Shakin’,” and the first Kalafus original composition “Masquerade,” written by Caitlin. “It’s about a girl who refuses to dress like everyone else,” she reveals. “She’s got a bunch of tattoos and crazy hair but she knows who she is. It’s saying, to be different is not a crime.” But when it comes to their influences, Paramore, who rank at the top of their dream tour wish list, is about the only band they can all agree on. Duran cites Simon & Garfunkel and Led Zeppelin as having made a huge impact on his musical development, while Ben is on a steady diet of eighties shredders to go with his Steve Vai and Slipknot obsession. Caitlin loves Avril Lavigne, but she also cried when she sat in the seventh row to see Rush.
Kicking Daisies has a simple philosophy towards growing as a band. “We love recording, we love to tour, we love playing music!” says Caitlin. “We all had to sacrifice to get here, we work really hard, and we want to stick together no matter where this goes.” And like all things Kicking Daisies, getting there is the fun part. Says Duran: “That’s pretty much the moral of this band: ‘as long as you’re having fun.’ ”