CAPRA Interview on The Metal Community

“It’s incredibly important to build relationships with others that share the same vision and passion. We’re all there for the music but it trickles down into so many other things. We have each other’s backs in real life situations. Whether it’s a personal struggle or falling down in the pit – we don’t leave anyone out.”

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As a part of our series about the metal community, we had the pleasure of interviewing CAPRA.

CAPRA is a  Lafayette, Louisiana quartet whose contorted and unique take on metal, punk and hardcore makes for a thrilling listen. Formed in 2016 by Tyler Harper and Jeremy Randazzo, the initial idea was to create something that would be fresh while still giving listeners a sense of nostalgia for the sounds of the late 90’s and early 2000’s hardcore and punk scenes. After going through a few line-up changes, they ultimately added bassist Ben Paramore and vocalist Crow Lotus, and everything came together. The band is outspoken on their past struggles and intend to help others that feel like they’re in a hole. Their debut album “In Transmission” is available April 23^rd via Metal Blade Records/Blacklight Media Records

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Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your band’s backstory?

Thanks for having us! Jeremy and I (Tyler) started the band in December of 2015. I had just moved back to Lafayette, La after attending a 3 month rehab program for issues with addiction. We had always played in various bands together before but now that I was sober, I wanted to be able to release all of that inner aggression and treat this band sort of like therapy. We started with quite a different lineup as Jeremy was playing guitar and I was playing bass but that switched up pretty quick when our drummer at the time quit the night before a show. Jeremy then went to drums and I moved over to guitar and we still played the show as a 3 piece. Shortly after we went through a number of bass players but in 2017 we found Ben Paramore and he was a perfect fit. The sound still wasn’t there just yet as we were struggling with our vocalist at the time. After he left, we knew we wanted to do something wildly different and we found the wonderful Crow Lotus. She was the final piece of the puzzle we had been looking for and took our sound to an entirely new level. As soon as she was sworn in with blood, we got back to grinding and we haven’t stopped since. 

What or who are your biggest influences? We’d love to hear the story. 

I’d like to start by saying that our influences are always changing. We all love the same music but the influences that we bring into CAPRA are all over the place – which gives it that original yet nostalgic sound. For me as a guitarist, I’ve always been a fan of fast, heavy riffs so my top 3 would be Kurt Ballou from Converge, Jordan Buckley from Every Time I Die, and Jeremy Hiebert of Comeback Kid. As for Crow she takes a lot of influence from everything whether it’s video games, artists, musicians, directors, etc. I asked for her top 3 and she firmly said Dario Argento, Henry Rollins, and Hideo Kojima. Jeremy and I have similar music tastes and influences but his tops are Tucker Rule of Thursday, Ben Koller of Converge, and Chris Hornbrook from Poison The Well. Lastly we have Ben, who brings a lot of the punk sound to our band. He’s got a ton but his top 3 currently are The Descendants, Kid Dynamite, and Black Flag. 

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person or people who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to get where you’re at today? Can you share a story about that?

You’re absolutely right. We’ve had so many people help us out through the years. Our good friend Seth Thomas did a lot for the band while we were getting started and really helped us to get on the right track as far as social media, building a website, and putting our music online. In 2018 we began talking to Matt Bacon who took what we were doing and amplified it by 1000. Matt actually made us work instead of just writing music and playing shows. He would watch us like a hawk and make sure we were doing everything we could possibly do to grow as a band and as musicians. We honestly wouldn’t be where we are now if it weren’t for those two people. After years of grinding and working with Matt, he sent our demo’s over to Chef Chris Santos, owner of Blacklight Media Records. From there, Chris became a fan and pushed really hard for us to become a part of the Metal Blade Records / Blacklight Media family – and here we are now.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that has occurred to your band? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?

I don’t know about mistakes, but we did agree to play a show a few years back that ended up being in someone’s backyard. The stage was a trailer. When we showed up there were about 13 people laying around the yard with two shirtless rappers bouncing around on the trailer stage. It sounds great in theory and we actually had a blast but we did not fit that show at all. Another great show moment was while we were touring in 2018. We chose to get on the road in January, which for the south is “real” winter. It was cold, roads were iced, and we just got notified that our show in Memphis had fallen apart. We’re going back and forth trying to find a venue and finally got a hold of a place called The Buccaneer. We asked to play and they said “yeah, whatever.” We show up, unload, set up and as 9pm strikes, there’s just us and the bartender. I think he called some friends because two people showed up and got pretty wild for our set. Those same two people ended up buying a ton of merch and offering a spot for us to crash. After the show, we were informed that there was a David Bowie costume party down the road which is why nobody was at the venue and we completely understood that. I guess through all of this we learned to not play a random birthday party backyard show and NEVER book in a city that has a David Bowie Costume party going on. 

The road to success is hard and requires tremendous dedication. This question is obviously a big one, but what advice would you give to younger bands who aspire to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success? 

Rule number 1 is to never give up. Rule number 2 is to surround yourself with people that share the same vision. There’s going to be hard moments where you feel stuck and hopeless, but if you’ve got rock and roll in your blood you will succeed with hard work, determination, and perseverance. Practice your instrument daily, go to local shows, network with other musicians, reach out to writers in the media. Set small goals at first so that you can gather those victories with ease. With a few victories under your belt, start setting bigger goals and never take your eyes off the prize. Don’t wait for others to notice your band. Don’t expect handouts. Reach out to people, run a PR campaign for your new EP, make connections in the music world and let your tunes spread while you work on the next song. Every band in the world started out as a local band and anyone that works hard and makes waves can achieve success. 

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

We recently released “The Locust Preacher,” our first single for the upcoming full length and are getting really close to dropping the second single. After that, our main focus is on the album release date which is April 23rd! We’re currently working on a new music video that I believe we’ll start shooting in early March and we have also been writing a ton of new songs for LP2. I think we’re 6 songs deep? Quarantine is taking its toll but we’re staying productive.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview.  Can you briefly tell our readers a bit about why you are a part of the heavy metal community? 

It might be lame to say but I was born for this life. The reason I’m so active in the scene is not just about the music. It’s about helping others, making lifelong friendships, and giving back to your community. Playing heavy, fast, chaotic music is my personal therapy. It allows me to channel all of my frustration, depression, and relentless thoughts into sound – which then helps others feel a sense of relief. I’ve struggled with addiction, depression, and stability with my mental health my entire life. Music has always been there for me. If i’m having a bad day, I either pick up a guitar and work through it or I put on an album and just let it take me out of my own head. This is such a great question. Heavy music is all I’ve ever really known and I could probably write an entire novel on how much it’s helped me to survive. 

For the benefit of our readers, can you help to define what the heavy metal community is?

The Heavy Metal Community is a collective group of people that come together through the power of Metal, Hardcore, Punk, and all of its subgenres. We thrive on riffs, blast beats, powerful lyrics, and the raw emotion of live performances. If there’s one common element that we all share it’s passion. The Heavy Metal community is a bond unlike any other form of music.

How is the heavy metal community different from other communities?

As I mentioned in the last question, we bond through passion. Each of us in the metal community knows there’s no greater feeling than being in front of a loud band, feeling the amps blast us in the face, and belting out our favorite lyrics while we shove each other in the pit. We use music almost as a drug. It’s an escape from everyday life and responsibilities. It’s a way to take negative thoughts and emotions and turn them into positive energy. We’re there for each other, we bleed for each other, and that’s something you won’t get a country music concert.

Can you help explain a few reasons why the heavy metal community is so important? Can you share a story or give some examples?

It’s incredibly important to build relationships with others that share the same vision and passion. We’re all there for the music but it trickles down into so many other things. We have each other’s backs in real life situations. Whether it’s a personal struggle or falling down in the pit – we don’t leave anyone out. We played a show a few years back and the pit was insane, a smaller guy jumped in and immediately went down. He broke his wrist and was knocked unconscious. The pit immediately stopped and multiple people picked him up, carried him out, and called an ambulance. After the show I grabbed a bunch of our merch and gave it to him while he was sitting in the ambulance. This kid was in the pit at our very next show with a cast on. The metal community is like a secondary family. We have fun together. We get hurt together. We take care of each other. That’s important to have.

This question is for any of the individual band members. Would you feel comfortable sharing a story or anecdote about how being a part of the heavy metal community has helped you in your life? We would love to hear about it.

I’m a huge advocate for mental health awareness and helping those who struggle with addiction. It’s something I’ve battled my entire life. I got sober nearly 6 years ago and when I got out of rehab the only thing I had was family and my fellow musicians. The community that I had built a relationship with for years never turned their back on me and it’s how I was able to come out of such a dark time in my life and turn it into the band you see now. It’s amazing how you can take your feelings of defeat and turn them into a song that can then help another person feel like they can’t be defeated. CAPRA was always intended to be an emotional release and an outlet for those who feel trapped. We strive to be a voice or those who feel unheard. We want to help others as much as we want to help ourselves. 

Ok. Wonderful. Here is the main question of our interview. Can you recommend five things that anyone can do to help grow and strengthen the metal community? Please share a story or example for each

1. Go to shows
2. Buy merch from your favorite local artists. 
3. Share their posts on social media. 
4. Give them shoutouts whenever possible. 
5. Introduce your friends to bands they may not be aware of.

We constantly try to shout out our friends’ bands and we buy as much merch as our wallets allow. When shows were happening, we attended even if we weren’t playing. We also stick around for other bands sets and network with them as much as possible. It’s little things here and there that go a long way in the community. 

Ok, we are nearly done. You are a band of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

We’ve done a few charity shows to raise awareness for those that struggle with depression as well as fundraisers for local sober-living houses to help struggling addicts have a roof over their heads. At this point, we’d just love to do that on a larger scale. I might sound like a broken record but we’re all about helping others. We want each and every individual that feels stuck in their lives to be able to climb out of that hole and feel like they matter – because they do. Our movement will be to bring peace to anyone that is suffering in any way.

Thank you for these excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.

Thank you so much for having us. We had a great time and hope we gave you a piece of where we come from. Feel free to reach out again in the future!