Photo Credit: Mario

In March New Zealand’s The Cavemen were taking on Italy promoting their latest release, Born to Hate. We were able to catch up with them right before they hit the road to talk about how much these rockers love Little Richard, their beer sound and much more.

Kendra: A couple of years ago you all packed up and headed to London. How did that open you up musically, being away from home but also being in one of the birthplaces of some of the most badass punk bands ever?

The Cavemen: We’d done our dash in the land down under. We chose London for three reasons: there’s a larger gig-going crowd for our kind of music, it’s better connected for touring and it’s heavily polluted. Britain’s music history certainly shaped us. Tough Brit invasion bands like Them, Pretty Things, early Stones and our great uncles the Troggs certainly warped our minds from a tender young age. Later on, groups like Slade, Gary Glitter, T-Rex and The Damned made that early mutation permanent!

Kendra: One can’t help but notice of all your influences, Little Richard…He sticks out among the rock bands. What about his style do The Cavemen utilize in their own sound? Perhaps it’s his stage presence?

The Cavemen: Little Richard is our greatest idol, to us he’s the pinnacle of human civilization. Style, attitude, energy, charisma and a healthy dose of genuine derangement. He is the original rebel and the most outrageous rocker of them all. He was a flamboyant, black wild man in every white conservative family living room in the 50’s corrupting the world’s youth!!! And talk about stage presence?! He is somewhere between Jesus Christ and Charles Manson with commanding a crowd.

Kendra: Speaking of stage presence. You guys are heading to Italy in March. What can fans expect when you land down there?

The Cavemen: Italy can expect a shock to the system and some cheap laughs! If it’s a freak show they’re after then they can expect to get their money’s worth.

Kendra: Going back a bit. You dropped Born to Hate back in December 2016, and because you guys happen to be big fans of beer – if you had to compare that record to a specific brew, which would it be and why?

The Cavemen: We like the drink. The free piss is the glue that keeps us together… VB (Victoria Bitter) comes to mind. It’s Australian but was the cheapest and most potent beer we could get our grubby, underage hands on back in NZ. Some say it tastes like ear medicine but we find it a refreshing drop and it’s probably just as much to blame for our warped ways as Little Richard is! Why it’s like us? It’s best enjoyed in a graveyard after dark.

Kendra: Lastly, other than this Italy run, what other plans do you guys have for 2017?

The Cavemen: Got a busy year planned. After Italy, we hit Portugal in April with our buddies The Parkinsons. Stay tuned for more video debauchery, European festival madness and fresh, low-brow records throughout the year. We’ve almost conquered Europe, next stop: the Chernobyl nuclear reactor!