Mad Caddies set for road swing
The veteran ska-punk outfit has lots of touring and new songs in store
After entertaining the crowds at the reggae-driven Cali Vibes festival in Long Beach back in February, ska and punk rock veterans the Mad Caddies are set to return to the area in May with a whole lot of new songs to perform.
“I'm feeling really good about where we're at. We just can't stop smiling and it's contagious and everyone sees it. Our whole mission statement is we came here to throw a dance party,” said Chuck Robertson, guitarist, vocalist and founding member.
The six-piece band, which formed in 1995 in Solvang, has several local shows scheduled in the coming months. It's heading out on tour in support of album “Arrows Room 117,” which comes out today.
The tour will bring Mad Caddies to the Echoplex in Los Angeles on May 2, then to the Holding Company in San Diego on May 18. They'll also spearhead the inaugural Caddielina Wine Mixer at House of Blues Anaheim on May 19 alongside The Sidekicks, Chase Long Beach, La Pobreska, 8 Kalacas and more. Mad Caddies are playing the Punk in Drublic Festival in San Pedro, scheduled for Oct. 4-6, but the daily schedules have yet to be released. The fest will serve as Los Angeles-based punk band NOFX's final gig.
“We're going to play a little bit of everything. We do our old-school songs, new songs off the new records. It's a good time,” Robertson said of the tour.
In its nearly 30 years, the band has released seven full-length albums, one live album and two EPs and sold more than 500,000 albums total.
“It's surreal. You look back and think it's been 30 years and it's pretty neat to look back and think we're still doing it. We've matured on an organic path. We started off real manic with the hard ska and punk, angry at the world teenage angst, the standard California punk rock vibe,” he said.
“But then we got more into different styles of music, bringing in reggae, Dixieland jazz and rock and some world music aspects. We never wanted to make the same record twice,” Robertson added.
He describes the new album, which is the first since the band's 2018 release, “Punk Rocksteady,” as showcasing pain, love, loss and “the bright light of new beginnings,” with the recognizable Mad Caddies mix of reggae, rock, ska and this time, a little bit of country, too.
“It's definitely the most personal for me,” he said. “The story of the album is kind of me and my travels through California to see my son up in Lake Tahoe who is about to turn 9.”
The title track was written in Room 117 of the motel he stays at when he goes to see his son. But it's more about small town drama and gossip than his son.
“We come from a small
Bad Cop/Bad Cop, La Pobreska and Shock Therapy
When: 7 p.m. May 2 Where: Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles
$35.25 at LiveNation.com
7:30 p.m. May 18 at Holding Company, 5046 Newport Ave., San Diego; $30 at the door, $25 in advance at theholdingcompanyob.com. Caddielina Wine Mixer, 5 p.m. May 19, House of Blues Anaheim, 400 Disney Way, Anaheim, with The Sidekicks, Chase Long Beach, La Pobreska, 8 Kalacas, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Urethane and Taken Days; $13 at LiveNation.com. Punk in Drublic Festival, Oct. 4-6, Berth 46, 3011Miner St., San Pedro, with MXPX, Bouncing Souls, Buzzcocks and more. $125-$999. All passes at punkindrublicfest. com/losangeles.
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town, Solvang, and I'm still living there. And people in small towns, they talk,” Robertson said.
He also pays homage to his girlfriend in the single “Green Eyes,” a reggae love song sparked by their travels. The catchy, groovy cut features accordion by Brian Mann, who has been on records by Oingo Boingo, Kenny Loggins and David Lee Roth.
“What can I say, she's beautiful and she has green eyes,” he said with a laugh. She was sitting next to him in the car during a phone interview.
The band explores country with the single “Baby,” which starts off with a very country rock vibe as horns kick in.
“I feel like there's this old school, Elvis '70s vibe to it,” he said. “I listen to everything, country and reggae and rock and indie, folk, hip-hop. So I can't tell you exactly where that song came from. It's just kind of a honky tonk, we were just riffing in the studio and we were like, `Yeah, that's cool; let's do that.' ”
The band's other love song is to their home state of California, titled “Palm Trees and Pines.”
“It's the quintessential California song. We know what our state is and how beautiful it is, but other people in the world think California is just L.A. and San Francisco. But no, we have the palm trees and pines, we got the beautiful forest, the lakes, the rivers, the deserts — we have it all,” he said.
While they're looking forward to their upcoming shows, Robertson said the Mad Caddies are still riding high from their set at Cali Vibes, though they were a little worried before hitting the stage.
“It went really well and I was really surprised because we went on at 1 o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday and I was thinking no one was going to be there,” he recalled. “But it was a really good crowd and everyone was really super cool, and my girlfriend and I had a great time watching the other bands.”