What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
I think I kind of just fell into it really. One pivotal moment led to another and here I am today. I grew up with music in the house, my mum being a teacher and dad being an appreciator. I met two guys in my first year of high school and we started a band as they introduced me to all their favourite bands and it was all downhill from there… I kid! It paved the way for a very unexpected future for me all things considered.
Introduce us you and your musical history.
My name is Blake Cateris and I’m a solo songwriter. I’ve been playing in bands since I was 12, played my first show when I was 15, and since then, have performed to over 2000 audiences.
The music industry is the hardest industry in the world to progress in, How do you feel you are doing?
There’s definitely no carved out path for people to mindlessly follow. Sure, there are degrees you can get that give you a piece of paper and all that but in terms of creating a career for yourself, the music industry is very much like jazz. We’re all just making it up as we go.
One of my favourite lyricists Micah Schnabel once said “I believe each and every one of us are a living & breathing museum” and I really like that description.
We set up RGM USA and many other countries in the world (Now Including RGM AUSTRALIA) to share music with America and the UK, good idea?
Great idea. It’s people and organisations like you that provide platforms for people like me to wear my heart on my sleeve and get our stories out into the world.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories?
I have a lot of friends that love a good conspiracy theory and I love just letting them talk and get their point across. By circumstance, I’ve even worked with a handful of anti-vaxx and flat-earthers (these two often go hand in hand) within my time in the music industry, I enjoy learning about what and how they think.
There’s something interesting about conspiracies and I guess how close these ideas lie to where your brain holds it’s political & emotional bias’ but at the end of the day I know where I stand on these issues and just because I’m willing to hear them out, doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything they say.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”
When I first read this quote I was told it was Aristotle that said it but many claim that’s false – or is that just what they want you to believe? DYOR.
Let’s share the love, what bands are doing really well in your Town / City?
I’ve got a handful of cool bands I know in Sydney. I’m a big fan of Ed Barnes, Vetty Vials as well as Billy Puntton & The Mental Health Plan, go check them out!
What advice would you give other artists starting out?
Well, you have to go out and earn what you get. That way you own it. Be wary of things handed to you on a silver platter because those things can be taken away from you at any given moment. Rejection and harsh truths wait for you behind every twist in your tale but don’t let this beat the love or excitement out of you that you get when you actually make music, the world needs you.
Did you buy anything you don’t need in the pandemic?
I wasn’t working so let’s just say that I was extremely savvy with my money during those few years!
What was the worst experience on stage?
I tried to play a show in my old band whilst I had the flu. It was a nightmare and one of those moments that infiltrates your headspace on a good day and derails your excellent mood. I didn’t even make it through the first verse of the first song and the worst of it was that I felt like I’d cheated people out of their precious time and money. Never again.
Tell us something about you / each member that you think people would be surprised about.
I’ve been a Liverpool FC supporter since I was 6 and it’s on my bucket list to go see a game at Anfield. Easier said than done.
If you had to describe your band/music to an alien how would you describe it?
Humans have these weird chemical changes within them that we call ‘moods’ and it dictates every facet of our behavior. It’s my job to help enhance whatever ‘mood’ they are feeling by creating sonic art to appease these chemicals.
What makes you stand out as a band/artist?
Well, we’re getting close to ‘competition’ ground here and I don’t really like turning music into a competition. I write music about my life experiences with the knowledge that what I’m going through isn’t an isolated event in the history of the universe and there will be plenty of people that will be able to enjoy, absorb and apply my songs to their own life.
I hear you have new music, what can you tell us about it.
My next single ‘Days, Weeks, Months & Years’ is about living out of balance with yourself. Watching the world go by feeling like you might be losing touch with far more important things in life than what you’re focusing on right now.
Talk me through the thought process of the new tune/s.
The premise of the verses fell out of me one evening looking over the Nepean River in Penrith after playing a few dinner sets in a restaurant. Obviously, this was fine-tuned over time and anyone that says they “wrote a song in 15 minutes” that isn’t a 60-second three-chord tune is definitely lying, or just leaving certain parts of the truth out!
The chorus started out as a verse but I just kept coming back to it as a solid way to sum up what I was trying to say with the entire song so I moved a few things around and restructured it and here we now have what you hear today.
What was the recording process like?
Seamless. I love working with Daniel Antix, Def Wolf Studios that he owns is absolutely incredible and he has a great producer’s mind and is amazing in helping get more out of me and my music.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
Lyrics come easily to me. I find it challenging to build new sounds and arrangements around the songs so that they don’t just all sound the same. Working as a solo artist has helped me step out of my comfort zone and explore new ideas in this vein.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
When we’d finished recording the song and it was ready for mixing, Antix said “I can totally hear this as an anthemic singalong with a full band behind you” and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
I’m going on a 6 date tour of Australia’s east coast in support of this single release and you can find me on:
CHECK HIS WEBSITE HERE