Katastro continues honoring Andy Chaves by releasing amazing new music
Photo courtesy of Beachwood Entertainment Collective. Photo credit: Chris Fiq.
Daily Reggae interviewed Katastro guitarist Tanner Riccio about the band’s jamming new single, “Good Time” featuring Dirty Heads, new music on the way, and the incredible love the band has felt since Andy Chaves’ passing.
Hey guys! We are big fans of Katastro and are loving your new single, “Good Time” featuring Dirty Heads. The drum pattern and the single's all around energy is a vibe. Now, I know this is among a group of the final songs you recorded with Andy Chaves ahead of his passing. What inspired the track? We wanted to pass along our condolences to you and the Katastro family.
The inspiration for “Good Time” really just came from a place of wanting to make an all around feel good song. A big part of it was where Andy was at mentally and lyrically. The song for me is really just about enjoying the present moment and not taking life for granted. When you combine that with with the signature Dirty Heads style sound, it was something that just organically happened and morphed into something really special.
Katastro’s 2022 album, “Sucker” is an incredible body of work. Do you feel like the new songs that you are working on and releasing have a similar feel? What else can you share about the creative process behind the new music?
I would say they have a similar feel in that they are a bit more happy and uplifting like many of the songs on Sucker, yes. But all in all, I feel the new songs are all pretty diverse in their own way. The creative process was difficult in that we just had Andy’s demo vocal to form the majority of the song around. It’s a bit like working backwards. But with the help of Jared, Duddy, and Ryan Ogren (our producer) it came out better than we could have imagined.
Can we expect a full album of the new singles to be released in 2024? What other bands has Katastro been collaborating with, and who have you been working with on the production side?
Yes, we plan on having a full album released in 2024. There have been so many people who have helped us contribute to these songs. The Iration and Dirty Heads guys just to name a few. On the production side we’ve done a lot ourselves but also had a ton of help from Ryan Ogren and Matt Keller.
Is the band looking for any new member to fill in for Andy on the mic, and do you plan on touring in 2024? Or are you focused on getting the new music with Andy to start before planning any next step?
Our main focus right now is finishing this album. While the writing of this album might be unconventional our main focus was to make sure it doesn’t feel that way and that it just sounds like the “next” Katastro Album and I feel we have achieved that.
The reggae community is so tight knit and seeing everyone come together for Katastro and Andy has been such a beautiful thing. Are there any thoughts you want to share about living in the moment?
It has been an eye opening experience for all of us. Katastro is a much bigger thing than we could have ever imagined and the support from the people who have stuck by us this entire time has been overwhelming to say the least. AJC FOREVER.
