Katchafire left a mark in listeners' hearts with their hit albums On the Road Again and Best So Far, an evocative collection of smooth and catchy songs. The New Zealand ensemble released a new record titled LEGACY on the June 1st, through Zojak World Wide and Universal – New Zealand.
Top Shelf Reggae was fortunate enough to catch up with Katchafire's lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Logan Bell to speak about their latest offering.
First off, congratulations on the beautiful album! Top Shelf Reggae currently has the album on repeat and are very excited about the new offering. How does LEGACY compare with some of the band’s recent albums like On The Road Again, and Slow Burning?
Greetings, I think the big difference is that we have all grown. We’ve undergone huge change; we are well-adjusted men, fathers, husbands, and brothers…. we’ve completed many massive milestones on the business, and home fronts and we hope that our life experience has come through in the music. I think the collaboration with many Grammy award winning producers, musicians, and artists is also another element becoming more frequent.
What satisfies you the most about the LEGACY and this next phase of the band’s career?
We’re excited about the future and have some killer new brothers in the ‘fire.’ Even though we haven’t left our home, we have a renewed vigor for our lifestyle here. All of us feel so blessed, and are stoked to release the album. We’re itching to get some feedback.
Where do you grab the concepts for these tracks? Are they coming from a sincere place or past experiences?
From the core heart; a sincere place where we sing about love and family, unjust, prejudice, and inequality. We sing about longing heartbreak we’ve all experienced, as well as joy and upliftment – all drawing from life experiences and things that are straight from the heart. All forms of love, pain and art, come inspiration for track concepts.
Creating an album is difficult for many reasons, concepts, ideas, tracklisting, etc. Were there many songs that you guys made for this album that didn’t make the final cut? If so, why?
Yes, there are always a few that don’t make the cut …it’s a collective decision. We also have input from our labels and industry peeps, but the bands opinion is king. We’ve also been talking about releasing a future album with all the songs that didn’t make the cut from our studio albums, so we’ll see.
Your fans are very important to you, as with any successful band. How do you want your new album to affect the listener? Meaning what do you want them to get out of it and how do you want them to feel after listening to your album?
We want our fans to be inspired and have a feeling like their journey is renewed, with great times ahead. We hope to make them feel joy and a full range of emotions listening through the LEGACY album. Mostly, we want them to feel love.
What are the most important takeaways after 20 years of making music?
Manuka honey, matcha tea, vocal zones and sleep, and every now and then to see a sunrise. Oh, and don’t party too hard.
What can you tell me about the band’s tour plans?
First, please check our Facebook, or www.katchafire.co.nz for our tour schedule. Secondly, we’re performing at New Zealand’s biggest festivals this year and are poised to release our studio album while doing our USA Love Today LEGACY Tour. We’ll be back in August for a New Zealand tour, then Aussie and possibly Brazil …while doing some mini-trips to the Pacific Islands.
Any last words for your fans?
We love and appreciate you guys and hope you enjoy this next LEGACY album. Hopefully we’ll see you all somewhere in a town near you soon. Big shout out to Top Shelf Reggae – thank you for the support.
Share this article
or
Get music updates in your inbox