Kadooge

About an hour due west of Chicago lies the Fox River. This is commonly thought of as the point where the suburban strip malls and cul–de-sacs of Chicagoland end, and the rest of Illinois­, miles and miles of corn dotted with rural hamlets and college towns, begins.

Straddling the Fox River is the City of Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois, which along with many of the other old river towns along the Fox, doesn’t really feel like a suburb of Chicago. The people of Aurora move at a different pace, and make up a very tight-knit community. This closeness extends into the network of veteran musicians that make up Aurora’s own vibrant music scene. Pat Goode, the vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the band Kadooge puts it plainly: “We all basically knew each other from years of playing out. We’ve all either been in, been fans of, or are friends with people in different bands from around the Aurora area for a long time….Tony (Montana) is one of the few drummers around we haven’t tried hitting up. So we hit him up. It turned out to be the one of the best musical decisions I’ve ever made.” Through the introduction of mutual friends, Quentin and Aerie Dover auditioned and completed the lineup. Pat was previously a member of national touring band 5 Year Jacket, Tony is a seasoned drummer who’s played with a number of different bands and artists in L.A. and Chicago, and now operates his own recording studio out in Aurora. Quentin and Aerie are both long-time musicians and also music teachers, both heavily involved with world music. You can find them performing with Northern Illinois University’s gamelan ensemble and Chinese orchestra – as Aerie puts it “Chinese traditional (music)– it’s like acoustic heavy metal.”

The sound of Kadooge draws from the band’s many different influences and musical interests. The arrangements are based in solid hard rock, mixing ethereal and metal flourishes with dynamic tempo shifts, reminiscent at times of Porcupine Tree, A Perfect Circle, The Deftones, and System of a Down at its heavier moments. Pat reflects on the band’s chemistry “Our sound represents all of our wide ranges of influences, but it’s also a result of our remarkable chemistry together. We compliment one another, both in tone and style.”

Tony chimes in: ”Being that we all have different influences, we kind of just let everybody do their own thing, and it blends together great all on it’s own.”
This is definitely the sound of accomplished musicians; all the elements work as layers, and the band has a keen sense of dynamics and ensemble playing. Tony’s drumming is precise and dynamic, bringing a progressive feel to the pulse of the songs. Pat’s’s driving rhythm guitar work provides an excellent foundation for Quentin’s tasteful lead work and textures, Aerie’s basslines are melodic, often providing movement and counterpoint to the guitars and vocals. Atop of the music is Pat’s vocal delivery, a mix of Jack White and Maynard James Keenan’s work in A Perfect Circle.

“For the most part, I like to bring ideas and cultivate them as a group” Pat reflects on the songwriting process. “ Some songs, though, you have to write on your own. They’re too difficult and personal to share until they are done.” Tony adds: “Now that we have become comfortable as a unit, everyone is starting to throw in their ideas to create new material” Having access to a recording studio and the ability to record their own material definitely shows on the quality of the audio production of their EP.The recording was done at Spiral Groove Studios, owned by Montana: “There was a lot of experimenting done on the guitar tones mixing various guitars from Gibson, Ibanez, Fender, and Jackson with various amp heads and cabs from Marshall, Mesa, Orange, Vox, and Sunn.”

The first track on the EP was written from Pat’s personal experiences with anxiety. “Hold My Breath is a song about suffering from and eventually overcoming frequent panic attacks.” Says Goode. “If anyone reading this has ever had them, you know what I’m talking about. During them, you feel like you can’t breathe, and are basically holding your breath. There’s a line in the song that says, “I spend my time becoming accustomed to the only thing that I know.” It’s about the reoccurring, strange, but familiar feeling like you are going to die. Not the brightest subject, but for me I learned to handle them and eventually they went away. The song is sort of a celebration of that victory.“

The second track, “Broken Up in Pieces” a driving hard rock tune, in Pat’s words is “basically about being beat down in life, and finding peace with it. It’s not necessarily about surrender as it is about being able to pick up the pieces and move on, a bit stronger than before.”

The brooding third track, No Surprise, “is about not being surprised to see the end of the world in a societal sense. It’s about our drive for possessions, our loss of privacy in the name of protec - Rock in Chicago

Aurora, Ill.-based quartet Kadooge starts each of the three tracks on its self-titled debut EP with a basic hard rock arrangement before shifting into more active and elaborate instrumental passages. Lead vocalist/guitarist Pat Goode conveys his emotionally-charged lyrics with a strong voice while guitarist Quentin Dover frequently takes off on new adventures. Bassist Aerie Dover and drummer Tony Montana also help listeners navigate the shifting tempos on the engaging “No Surprise” and “Broken Up In Pieces. - Illinois Entertainer

Having apparently built quite a strong following for their live shows in their native US, Kadooge! are rock band who have now taken to the studio to record their first full length album, titled ‘Nothing is Almost Everything’.

As you can tell from the single above, the band are heavily influenced by proper, old school guitar rock – full of great shredding and duelling guitars. It’s a dark art, often lost in this day and age, but still one which can impress and stand the test of time.

These intricate riffs aside, the driving power of rock music like this is often missing from today’s artists, and makes a welcome return here. If this kind of form is kept up through the album as a whole, it might be time to dust off the air guitar. - Unfashionable Male

An Illinois based four piece with a heavy rock sensibility, Kadooge! are a band who are more than meets the eye. Taking plenty of inspiration from the guitar shredding bands of old, they are musicians who also strive to create something a little different.

By adding a touch of the unusual – in this case the added musicality of world music thanks to aficionados Quentin Dover (guitar) and Aerie Dover (bass) – Kadooge! avoid direct comparisons to the likes of Queens of the Stone Age and Iron Maiden by layering in extra melodies, tiny touches that prick up your ears just as you think the music is settling into a familiar groove.

It’s a nice, subtle touch, and a great way to keep the interest when their genre is so well-worn when done in a straightforward way. Details like this, often missed by independent bands, are exactly what sets them apart for new music lovers. - Indie Music Magazine

Kadooge - Nothing is Almost Everything

1/9/2015

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Kadooge

Nothing is Almost Everything
self-released; 2014

3.5 out of 5

By Jerrica Tisdale


In 2013, Kadooge, an Aurora, Illinois based rock band, met by chance. This led to the formation of a band fully committed to challenging the audiences' emotions or ears. Their EP Nothing Is Almost Everything bursts with guitar solos and passionate vocals. It's fused with blues, grunge, and pop elements. The album fearlessly tackles important societal issues such as conformity and passivity.

Nothing Is Almost Everything uses instruments and sounds as its main tools of communication. The sounds tell the tales, and the lyrics give the basic background details. Kadooge's stellar instrumental skills are the stars. An abundance of the songs on Nothing Is Almost Everything offer intricate sound choices and delicate lyrics. However, "Middle Man," "Last New Low," and "My Shell" represent Kadooge at their best.

"Middle Man" voyages through musical realms. It weaves instruments and soundscapes with layers upon layers. It drops some, adds others, and repeats until it reaches a fast fiery conclusion. These musical techniques help communicate the song's message about not living a middle, or unsatisfactory, life. "Last New Low" gives a more upbeat sound and message than many tracks on Nothing Is Almost Everything. It's the most catchy song on the album.

"My Shell" does the best job of having provocative lyrics and pulsating sounds. The song's sound and lyrics compliment each other: you understand their connection. The song starts off with a pulsating heat beat that gets more intense until to band busts into the mix. From there on out the band rocks out pretty hard as you are treated with some of the best guitar action on the album. - Even Ground

“No Surprise” shows that Kadooge - from Illinois - can fly straight as an arrow towards their musical target. Make no mistake, it’s still a mid-west rock song underneath the metal encased riffs, mystical lyrics and macho vocals but the intention here is clearly to make some proper stadium style noise. - Bluesbunny Music Reviews