Balancing heavy riffs with flowing melodies and intensely raw lyrics, Caged View are a Bay Area hardcore band featuring former members of Allegiance, Embrace The End, King Woman, and Set Your Goals (just to name a few). After releasing their demo online in late 2022 (later rereleased on cassette by New Knee Records in early-2023), the band has since been hard at work playing shows and recording new material that will soon be realized as a brand new eight song 12” EP on GGT Records!
Heavily influenced by post-hardcore/punk, Caged View may draw comparisons to Quicksand, (early) Jawbreaker, or Helmet, but also incorporate elements of sound from bands like Rites of Spring and One Last Wish. Both raw and refined, Caged View match heavy riffs with intense, introspective lyrics to superb effect.
Currently recording at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California with Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City), Caged View plan to release the new material with GGT Records in early 2025 and we can’t wait to hear what they’ve got coming! In the meantime, their demo is available to stream on all platforms and in physical form on their Bandcamp or from New Knee Records. And, while you wait, check out this 10Q with guitar player Duane Harris that originally appeared in Today Forever print issue #03!
For more information, checked out
or
.
*The original text for this Caged View interview appeared in Today Forever Issue 03 in June 2024.
**All text copyright Today Forever 2024, please do not duplicate without expressed editorial permission.
Photos by: Steph Gray – www.xofinn.com – @xofinn
Nikki: Where are you from and who’s in the band?
Duane: We’re a band called Caged View from the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m Duane Harris and I play guitar. Ross Trenary plays second guitar and Mike Quirk plays bass. On vocals, we have Pat Piccolo, and, on drums, we have the one and only, Joey Raygoza. I can’t complain about the band lineup – it’s a solid group of guys that I enjoy making music with.
Can you describe your sound in one or two sentences?
My go-to answer is that we’re kinda hardcore, kinda punk, and kinda rock. I also like to think that Caged View is “traditional post-hardcore,” which might be a new way to describe a band. That’s a hard question to answer, though, and someone else may have an entirely different answer to that question.
What do you hope listeners will come away with after their first time hearing your music or seeing you play?
When I started the project with Joey, my goal was to start a band that could play different types of shows, whether it be hardcore, punk, rock, metal, or whatever. I’d like to think that we’re on our way to accomplishing that. We’re very much rooted in hardcore, and we’ve essentially only played hardcore and hardcore adjacent shows so far, but I’d like people to hear Caged View and realize that while hardcore is VERY diverse in 2024, I don’t think there’s a band that sounds quite like us.
I’m not trying to say that we’re super innovative or original, but the bands and genres that we’re pulling from don’t seem to be at the top of the list in terms of influences in hardcore right now. In addition, each of our backgrounds put us in a unique place in terms of songwriting and approach.
What are three artists or bands that influence your sound or the way you write and perform music?
Since I’m the one getting interviewed here, I can only speak for myself, but then again, I write the majority of the music, so I can speak to what I’ve drawn from while coming up with riffs and ideas that I bring to the table.
Quicksand – Slip: This is certainly no surprise to anyone who knows me, but Slip is one of my favorite records of all time, and some stuff on our demo is very much influenced by that record, such as “I Was A Stranger” and “Recycled Air.”
Skip Candelori bands: I’m pretty inspired by late-era Turning Point, Godspeed, and Memorial Day. These bands mean a lot to me and have certainly influenced my songwriting in Caged View.
East Bay Punk: I’m not going to mention a specific band, but a lot of the old East Bay and Gilman punk/hardcore bands in the late ‘80s to mid-’90s. Being from Northern California, a lot of us grew up on that stuff, and there’s a rawness and urgency that comes with it. It’s also fun and catchy. If you listen to our song, “Push,” it’s essentially a homage to old East Bay Punk.
Honorable Mentions: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Hum and Helmet. They may not quite be hardcore or even punk, but they do influence the band as a whole, and I know that while tossing around ideas for songs, we often reference the approach of both bands. The ringing out and atmospheric aspect of our song, “Backlight/ Reflection” certainly draws some influence from HUM.
How long have you all known each other and have you ever been in bands together before?
A long time! Ross, Mike, and I go back well over 20 years, as we all grew up in Redding, California, and played together in Some Still Believe and, then again, in Allegiance. We all knew Pat during the SSB days, and, later on, Allegiance would play shows with both of Pat’s old bands, Embrace The End and Beneath The Ashes.
I’ve ONLY known Joey for like 15 years (laughter). I met him back when he played in Crucified. He and I did do a band together at one point many years ago with Doug Weber (Terror & First Blood) and Dante Campanile (Secret People & Allegiance), but we broke up in frustration because we couldn’t find a singer. It’s too bad, I thought those songs were pretty sick.
What is the origin story of your band name?
We were tossing around ideas for a while and nothing was sticking. Pat eventually came to the table with Caged View, which is a reference to a Redemption 87 song. We all liked it enough, and it’s a tip of the cap to one of the best bands to ever come from the Bay, so sure, why not? Picking a band name is seriously the worst aspect of being in a band. No one can agree on anything, and once you think you have a cool name, it gets shot down or it’s been taken by someone else.
Is there a particular city, country, or specific venue you’re dying to play?
We played our first show in March, 2023, and outside of local Bay Area shows and a SoCal weekend we did a few months back with No Plan and No Lights, we haven’t played anywhere else yet. So, really, I’m down to play anywhere new! I’ll always have my favorite venues that I love playing, such as 924 Gilman, Che Cafe in San Diego, or Chain Reaction in Anaheim, but really, I’m mostly excited to play anywhere that I can see old friends or share the stage with bands that I admire.
With that said, it’s important to mention that three of the guys in the band are dads, and we’re all busy with our work lives, so finding time to play out of town will always come with some hurdles. In addition, both Joey and I are also in other bands, so I keep my touring expectations relatively low for Caged View, but if opportunities pop up and timing permits, we will certainly make it happen.
Does everyone in the band pull from the same variety of musical influences as you or do you have a diverse range of musical tastes in the mix?
Everyone in the band has pretty eclectic tastes, but the fact that we’re essentially elder hardcore kids now, it’s safe to say that our musical tastes have expanded as we’ve gotten older. I can’t think of a specific band that we’re all in agreement on, but HUM & Helmet might be in that conversation.
Again, I can’t speak entirely for everyone, but there are bands and artists that everyone seems to be inspired by, but there are also others that are unique to each of us. For instance, Joey is a huge fan of anything related to Danzig, I love everything Walter Schreifels has ever done, and as long as I’ve known Ross he’s been really into Converge. Pat listens to a lot of straight-up hardcore and metal bands with crazy indecipherable logos and Mike seems to listen to everything, which if I’m being honest, is probably the easiest way to answer this question, as it applies to all of us.
If you could put together the ultimate show bill with you and 4 other bands/artists, from any time period or genre, who would you choose?
I’m just saying the first 4 bands that come to mind – The Clash, Beastie Boys, Rancid, and Quicksand. You can also throw Youth of Today in there as a secret opener! And it would take place at 924 Gilman. That would be a seriously wild gig.
What’s going on right now and what’s coming down the pike?
As of right now, we’re going to focus on playing shows when we can, including another weekend together with our friends, No Lights and No Plan, later this summer. If you haven’t heard either band, do yourself a favor and check out both of their new LPs – they are incredible! Speaking of records, we’re also writing for a record that will be released on GGT Records from Seattle. We haven’t officially announced that, so I guess that’s a bit of an exclusive drop. We’re taking our time with that, so I imagine it won’t come out until late 2024 or so.
Thanks, Nikki & Matt, for taking the time and interest in Caged View and including us in Today Forever. It means a lot!
