Katastro Brings Ecletic Strings To SoCal

KATASTRO play The Constellation Room Aug. 22 and The Music Box Aug. 23; press photo

KATASTRO play The Constellation Room Aug. 22 and The Music Box Aug. 23; press photo

The eclectic jams of Katastro shall again be heard in SoCal, with stops at The Constellation Room Aug. 22 and The Music Box Aug. 23 in celebration of their latest album Washed.

Ryan Weddle, the band’s bass player, says he looks forward to the appearance and ensures concertgoers are in for something unique.
“I feel like people can definitely look forward to a set that incorporates a lot of different styles,” Weddle said. “We try to add, you know, a lot of jams and we bring in our influences from rock and hip hop.”

Formed in 2007, Katastro has become notable for its unique music style that blends rock with other genres of music though the group’s origin began as a music band in high school.

“Our singer Andy [Chaves]met our drummer Andrew Travers and guitarist [Tanner Riccio] there and they formed the band and started out as like a live hip hop group,” Weddle explained. “Then the sound kind of changed with everybody’s different musical background and it became more like this rock with influence from blues, a little bit of reggae and a little bit of a lot of stuff.”

Weddle joined up later in 2008 thanks to his mutual friendship with Chaves. The four-man lineup has not changed in its 10-year lifespan and continues to play what Weddle describes as a “bridge between hip hop and alternative rock music.”

He also says that this bridge is both maintained and often improved upon with all manner of new musical incorporations.

“We’re incorporating a lot of, you know, sample bass production and some more beats and subby bass lines, stuff like that, while still maintaining a guitar and a sort of alternative feel with it,” Weddle recalled. “It’s just kind of a melting pot of rock and blues and hip hop.”

For their newest album Washed, Weddle and his bandmates have been more daring in implementing new approaches in both fine tuning their music and even how they create it.

“We did it a little differently and we all just went up to a cabin and we wrote the full album in, I think it was eight days,” Weddle recalled. “And we just slept out there and wrote everything from scratch all together. It was kind of cool kind of switching up the way that we usually do it. We got a different outcome that we were all super happy about.”

That outcome in particular is that Washed is one of the group’s first albums to reach one million plays on Spotify. Weddle, who likes to set personal accomplishments for himself and his group, is indisputably pleased with the accomplishment.

Beyond recording, Weddle and his bandmates put a special emphasis on their live shows and do their utmost to tailor each show to get the most positive reactions they can from each concertgoer who attends.

However, one concertgoer that remains unpredictable is nature, specifically the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

“The first time that we played there it was stormy and crazy and our set got cut by 15 minutes because of that, Weddle recalled. “So, we pretty much ran out there in the pouring rain and performed a 15-minute set. None of us remember any of it because we were just so excited to be there, and it was just like this crazy, crazy day. We were lucky enough to go back a couple years later with the Dirty Heads to experience that again. We got really lucky and missed the storm this time.”

Such live experiences are why Weddle is just happy to be able to play music he loves with his fellow bandmates and is even more happy to have been invited to share it with all manner of music lovers live.

“There’s so many venues and different types of venues across the country that we’ve been lucky to play and it’s just cool. I’m excited to get out and experience more.”

Katastro’s current tour will last until Aug. 25 wrapping up at the Launchpad in Albuquerque. However, Weddle says that he and his fellow Katastro bandmates will still be busy.

“We’ll be doing that for a month and then we are taking, I think we have, three weeks at home and then we’re going back out with Iration and Common Kings on the east coast in the fall, Weddle said. “So, we’re kind of booked up for most of the year. Right now, we’re trying to play as many shows as we can and just promote this new album.”