What are your names?
Sandeigh Kennedy, Drew Heaton, Chris Rodriguez, Chris Santos and Kaleb Perez
What is the band’s name?
Cedars
How did you come up with the band’s name?
Cedars are a pretty magical plant. They’re extremely resilient and can grow without killing off the other trees around them. Almost every part of the tree can be used for healing.
What is your genre of music?
Rock. We’ve been told we “sound like Florence + The Machine and Nine Inch Nails had a love child.”
Give us a little bio about you.
We’ve all been making music since we were kids. Everyone in the band brings their own influences and we sort of seat them all together. Our band has become a family over the years, and we really show up for each other. Most of the time you can find us together, talking about sex, death or rock & roll.
What made you go into music?
It says ALL the things we can’t. Making music and sharing it is a way of transmuting pain into beauty.
Who are your influences?
Everything from PJ Harvey to Mutemath, Pantera to Foo Fighters. (and about a million others that came before us)
Are you signed?
Nope! We used blood sweat and tears to build a studio to support creating our own music and help other independent artists out there. We do our own stunts. We write and produce our own music, direct and edit all our videos, etc. www.gruenerecords.com
Your latest release ‘Circles’ is out, tell us more about the single. What is the meaning behind the single?
It’s about the inner wisdom and rhythms our bodies possess and how we get “talked out” of listening to that. Especially woman. We get handed a script about how we’re supposed to exist in culture and the natural parts of who we are get silenced or diminished. BUT those internal circles are always still at work inside, and the good news is we can tune back in if we decide to.
What was the writing and recording process like?
From Drew:
I wrote the opening synth riff at a friend’s kitchen table, probably 5 years ago in the midst of one of the worst periods of my life. It sat on my hard drive for years until we started looking for material for new songs. I found the riff and sent it to Sandeigh. She came up with some great lyrics and a melody which inspired me to further develop the song (which is always what happens).
I had been listening to The Weeknd a lot around that time, and was really inspired by his use of vintage textures, and immediately had the idea for what the drum machine should do and sound like, the extra
synth textures, etc. I quickly put all those ideas down, then Sandeigh put down some rough vocals.
Then we sent the song off to the Chris’s. Rod (guitar player) came up with a really badass riff that set up the chorus. Santos came up with such a great bass line. Then the song pretty much just fell into place. I never really felt like this song was as much of a struggle as some others.
Who did you work with on the single?
Us! We tracked and produced it all at our studio
Describe the single in two words.
Driving. Danceable.
Will we see a Music video for ‘Circles’ and if so what can we expect from the creative process?
Absolutely. All of our work ends up with a visual component to accompany at some point. This one is still in the planning phase.
Will we see a new album or ep and if so what can we expect?
YES! A new full-length album is underway set for release in 2023, and we have 2-3 more singles coming out this year.
Do you have any live shows or a tour coming up and if so let us know where we can catch you at?
LOTS of new dates on the calendar- check out www.cedars.band/shows for a current list. You can also subscribe to our newsletter on the site to stay up to date!
What else can we expect in 2022?
More music, more music videos, lots of live dates!
Will we see any collaborations and if so, can you tell us more about them?
We hope so! Who wants to collab with us??
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Continuing to create authentic music and art as a fam and growing that circle to include more and more folks.
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
It all belongs. (even the difficult or dark parts of our lives)
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
1. The world needs music now more than ever
2. Have fun
3. Dance your ass off
4. Have fun
5. Have fun
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Website
