An interview with the surprising front man of Pop Evil

Leigh Kakaty belts out a Pop Evil song. / Photo by Ben Hansen

By Ben Hansen

October 31,2008 | Recently I was given the privilege of sharing a few minutes with one of my favorite new front men, Leigh Kakaty of the band Pop Evil. Here is the interview that occurred.

Ben -- Sorry, Leigh, but I have to ask . . . how the hell do you pronounce your last name?

Leigh -- Just like Karate, but with another K. Kakate.

Ben -- So let's start in the beginning. How did Pop Evil come into being?

Leigh -- We've been playing forever. We started off doing cover shows while trying to save to get a good producer. Our plan was to finally get a record producer and get some exposure. Bands can make their own CDs -- but often it will just sound like a group of guys in a basement. We knew if we were going to have good music, we'd have to get a producer -- we were just kids making music. We were in the bars playing every weekend saving money. No money was split out -- we saved everything for this.

Leigh -- A good band presents a good story that people can relate to. High-profile producers helped to "Build a story." All bands seem to want to do is save money recording in their basement. We got out of our basement to play, and took criticism for playing covers -- when you play covers in bars, you play songs that people from all over the world know. From this, we understood and learned how to write good songs.

Ben -- You guys hail from Michigan -- the land of "double chins and bowling pins and holy Presbyterians," according to Anthony Keidis. What is the music scene like up there right now?

Leigh -- The music scene is tough since we're from West Michigan. Kid Rock and Eminem both came from Detroit in the middle of Michigan. If you're not Detroit, you're not considered doing anything by the music scene. People constantly told us, "Why don't you move to Detroit?" We like where we are from.

Ben -- So you are still on tour opening for Tesla. How has playing the last month with them treated you?

Leigh -- Yeah, we're still on with Tesla. They have been amazing to us. It's kind of weird how everything comes full circle. Troy (drummer, Tesla) was talking to us the other day about when they were opening for Bon Jovi years ago. Now he wants his son's band to open up for us. It's really cool.

Ben -- Do you have any crazy stories so far from the tour?

Leigh -- Tesla has so many hardcore fans that often the fans boo the opening band. Fortunately, the fans have been really good to us and open to our music.

Ben -- We were very impressed with your live show when the tour opened in SLC. There is a lot of passion and raw energy in your music and performance. Do you have a favorite song in the set that you do live?

Leigh -- My favorite song on the album is Breathe. We also just dropped a new song called Rolling Stone that has been the biggest live song on out tour right now. We just wrote it on the road -- we didn't have time to get it on the album, but hopefully it will be huge. We're excited to just keep writing as we tour, little by little.

Ben -- Did you have any idea that Hero would be the first big song off of the album?

Leigh -- Yes. When we wrote it, we knew there was something special, something magic about it. The song sometimes seems bigger than you. It was so big, and the band believed in it.

Ben -- I've heard that some of the other tracks are starting to break . . . any hints on what we are going to hear on national radio next?

Leigh -- We're getting ready for the national release of the single 100 in a 55 on Nov 4. It's been No. 1 back in Grand Rapids for around a year now.

Ben -- Leigh, what are some things that you do to vocally prepare yourself for each show?

Leigh -- What we try to do prepare is try to make sure we don't warm up. Chris Daughtry actually gave me this advice. You want to make sure that you warm up during the show itself, so you're not wasting your voice . . . when you're singing as much as we are, it's harder to warm up, and sometimes if you are really loud, you can tire your voice out. Basically it means taking care of your voice and always sipping tea, sipping water after every song. We even saw Kenny Chesney doing that -- he sips as much as he can during a show.

Ben -- I know that the album was written by the band as a whole -- take us, if you would, through the typical writing process on one of your songs…how does it all come together?

Leigh -- We try to be very open minded with whoever has the best idea -- that's what we go with. We don't worry about who did it, or who did this. The guys all really close, and it works this way. I write a lot of songs on my own that aren't necessarily Pop Evil songs yet, but as I get close to that I really try to listen to the other guy's opinions. They are very free to write lyrics if they want to, as we're all obviously free to write guitar lines. It's a really open and positive environment. At the end of the day, that's what writing a good song is about.

Ben -- Where do you see Pop Evil in five years?

Leigh -- I see us hopefully still playing and being more of a household name, and hopefully helping people with our music -- that's what it's all about for us. For us to get bigger and better, with a bigger fan base -- hopefully this means we have the privelege of sill touring and seeing the world and reaching out to new people and new generations. We've learned from the Tesla tour that these guys now have a whole different ambiance, where parents used to listen to it, now their kids are coming out to these Tesla shows. It's definitely cool to see that come full circle for them.

Ben -- I've seen you quoted before, stating, "Pop Evil is about making the world believe." I think that's a pretty powerful statement…Any final words for your new fan base in Utah?

Leigh -- Basically making the world believe is starting with people believing in themselves. That's what our song 100 in a 55 is about -- when I felt like giving up, I still believe in this rock and roll. It's like with us being a new band…if the music is truly good, and is meant to be, the music will save your soul, whether you are a rock star or someone who is just enjoying the music. It can help you get through a tough time in a relationship or when you're having a tough time financially -- that music is always there for you. That's what I meant when I say Pop Evil is reminding people about believing -- believing in themselves, and in music. Hopefully, at the end of the day, whether they like Pop Evil or not . . . that's what we stand for -- believing. I can't speak for other bands and what they stand for, but I can definitely speak for our band, and it's about helping people believe that Pop Evil is a lifestyle -- a way of life for us.

Leigh -- Whatever normal was, we never really fit in collectively for the 6 of us, but music helped give us our identities in kind of an ironic way. We were able to find our place through the music, and get our confidence and self--esteem. The name itself is about making it believe. Just because there is "Evil" in the name . . . look past these things. There is always meaning in everything that we do.

Be sure to check out Pop Evil's new album Lipstick on the Mirror on iTunes or at your local music store.

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