The O-town Scene

MUSIC PEOPLE: Cattle Drums ist Gulab Singh answered some questions about playing guitar, the Oneonta music scene and kicking off his group’s national tour Friday, July 8. Cattle Drums is a five-piece indie rock Oneonta band Cattle Drums guitar- band consisting of local members Matt Payton on drums, Gulab Singh on gui- tar, Darin Gregory on bass, Dan Drake on guitar and Sam Judd on vocals. SCENE: Cattle Drums blends different genres of mu- sic, but what are the reigning forces in your sound? GS: We do what we like and then people label it. We don’t have a specific sound in mind. We all come from different musical backgrounds. We’re not trying to necessarily fit in a box. Everyone feels the need to classify things. They just like to call us punk and emo. SCENE: You just graduated from SUNY Oneonta; what did you study there? GS: Music industry and mass communications with a minor in music theory. SCENE: As well as playing guitar in Cattle Drums, you also play classical guitar. Did you teach yourself? GS: No, I took lessons with professor Dennis Churcheck at SUNY. SCENE: Both styles of guitar you play, classical and rock guitar, are very different. What attracts to you to each one? GS: I got into classical guitar after listening to classical music for a couple of years. It started coming up in different pieces I was listening to. Different soundtracks, like “Babel.” I was really into the “Mask of Zorro” soundtrack. That’s what turned me on to it, and I figured I should give it a whirl. The appeal? I always looked at classical being more musi- cal. I think rock music is very straight forward. SCENE: Tiny Engines, a music production company in Philadelphia, signed Cattle Drums this winter. How did Cattle Drums get involved with the company? GS: We got an email from them in the spring of 2010. Ever since then, Darin [Gregory] has been handling things with them. There was a back and forth between us for a few months, and they decided they wanted to work with us and they wanted to re-release our already recorded material as a full package. SCENE: How has the re-release gone so far? Have there been new audiences? GS: It was released digitally on iTunes and bandcamp.com. 10 O-Town Scene July 7, 2011 We have been getting a lot more reviews lately and Tiny Engines helped to get us a feature on their website as well as recordlabel.com. That helped out a lot, especially with book- ing this tour. It definitely adds some credibility to our image. SCENE: When does your tour officially begin? GS: July 8, in Rochester. Then we’re off to Buffalo, and then Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Ohio. Then we make our way into Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Loui- siana, Alabama, North Carolina, Richmond … SCENE: What place are you most excited to see and play? GS: Oh my gosh, so many places! I am re- ally excited to see Kalamazoo, Mo. I have heard good things about the scene out there. I have never, ever been to most of these states. It blows my mind that we are even going to the South and playing Mis- sissippi, North Carolina. I am just really excited to get a local flavor from each of these places. SCENE: You guys are pretty wild, how do you think Southern states are going to react? GS: So far we have had really good feedback from the places we have booked the shows. A lot of these promoters are really excited GS: It’s summer time, the weather is nice. We are definitely looking forward to doing a good amount of camping. We’re pretty good about finding a place to stay each night. Usually we just ask around and someone at the show is generous enough to let us sleep on their couch. SCENE: Being from Oneonta and going to SUNY Oneonta, how does it feel to be getting out of here? GS: It feels great. I wish this was a little more permanent. But this is a really special opportunity to travel the country and meet a lot of people. I think a lot of times when people do road trips they kind of pass through, but they don’t make a whole lot of connections in each place. We’re going to be meeting a lot of cool people and making new friends. SCENE: Even though you’re looking forward to getting out of Oneonta, Cattle Drums did form here and you guys are doing bigger things than before. What do you think the success of Cattle Drums and other bands says about our scene here? GS: Things are hap- pening here. It’s defi- nitely a diverse scene. There is something for everyone. SCENE: What is next for Cattle Drums? Are you going to stay in Oneonta after the Contributed Gulab Singh plays guitar in Oneonta band Cattle Drums. The group starts its U.S. tour Friday in Rochester. that we’re coming to play for them. I think the reaction is go- ing to be good. We are playing with a good amount of crazy bands so I think we are going to be welcome. SCENE: Where do you guys plan on staying? tour? GS: I think we’ll be here for another year or so. We’re com- ing back from tour and we’re going to finish up writing our full-length. We’ll be recording that in the fall, and it will be released on vinyl and digitally through Tiny Engines in early 2012. _ Emily Greenberg

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