cast·a·way <[b>kast-uh-wey, kahst]
–noun
1. a shipwrecked person.
2. anything cast adrift or thrown away.
3. an outcast.
–adjective
4. cast adrift.
5. thrown away.
[Origin: 1520–30; n., adj. use of v. phrase cast away]
—Synonyms 3. pariah, outlaw, leper.
CA5TAWAY is a punk rock/metal/alternative outfit located in San Jose, CA. Tired of the current trends in the genres they represent, CA5TAWAY take a unique approach to their sound that is more indie than heavy, while still raw and uncompromising. Jeff's thunderous drum sound creates a backbone of epic proportions, locked tight against Steve's thick, plunky bass sound. Scott's massive buzzsaw guitar tones roar over the top of the rhythm section, topped off with Randle's manically vaudevillan vocal delivery, somewhere in between Serj Tankian, Jello Biafra and Dennis Lyxen.
CA5TAWAY's live shows are intense, a manifestation of rock n' roll vindication and sheer love of playing. Always ones to rile the crowd, the band plays hard, fast and loud. You'll never fail to see Randle wandering among the audience during the set, serenading up close and personal, embracing the audience and pulling everyone forward when at all possible. "It takes everyone in the room to really make a successful show," claims Randle. "No matter if it's five people or fifty or five hundred, if we can pull them all together and make them a part of what we are, even just for that moment, then we've done something truly outstanding. That's what it's all about - bringing people together to become something more than individuals."
Formed in early 2007 by members of venerable San Jose band S.A.D.F.I.S.H. , all the members of the band are veterans of the scene and the music community. Dissatisfied with their sound and direction after almost four years of playing and touring, the members of S.A.D.F.I.S.H. elected to retire the band and the concept in favor of something new, something more ambitious and more challenging than had been previously attempted. "Randle was writing most of the songs at that point," says Jeff. "It worked all right for a while, but after Scott joined the band the music started changing. The themes we wanted to use in S.A.D.F.I.S.H. were no longer working. So we decided to do something about it." Many months were spent trying out many different avenues and methods, none of which seemed to work. "We were approaching a dead end - we hadn't written anything we were happy with, we were arguing with each other all the time. Things just weren't adding up," tells Randle. "I could tell after a while that I was cramping everyone's style, so I ducked out for a minute. And I'm glad I did. That's when the boys wrote our first three songs!"
From there, the rest of the songs started pouring out. But they still needed a name. Randle had been toying around with a side project at the time tentatively called CA5TAWAY, but once things started picking up with the band again the side project was scrapped in favor of focusing exclusively on the band and the name was transferred onto the band. With a new name, a new sound and a (re)newed focus, Randle, Jeff, Steve and Scott were ready to truly begin.
The band returned to the scene in August of 2007 and has not looked back. After several successful, high profile gigs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, CA5TAWAY are now taking their music into the studio for their first formative recording effort. This will be the most ambitious project on the part of the members to date, and will see all of them taking their talent to new and undiscovered heights. "It's time to shake things up a bit once again," stated Randle. "We're something new, something different. We've really been able to embrace that. But now it's time to figure out how we did it and duplicate it, over and over again. We've come so far, but this is only the beginning. It's time for the movement to begin."
And begin it has. Stay tuned - the best is yet to come.
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