#professorcaveman

Vol. 2 (2014)

Vol. 3 (2017)

Vol. 4 (2018)

I have had an amazing life playing basement shows as a bassist and trombonist with local  New Brunswick bands. Since the bands that I play in were growing into the local scene at nearly the same time as professor caveman, I have had the amazing experiences to play on the same bill as them on numerous occasions - practically at every basement-show house in New Brunswick. 

After about a year of not seeing Professor Caveman, I happened to run into them at the VTX Studios Central location (which I have an apprenticeship with where I am setting up equipment, mixing, and the like). Dan(Bass), Jon(Keyboards), Jem(Drums) and Rob(Guitar/lead vocals/bandleader) came to the studio and performed there for an Instagram live-stream. 

Photo:  Professor Caveman at the 2018 North Jersey Indie Rock Festival.

Even before the live-stream begun, the energy in the studio shifted when all of the Caveman members were there. Hanging out with those guys reminded me of the buzzing aura that always emanated from basement shows that we played together; during this quarantine, I have never missed the smell of cheap beer, sweat, and bile so much. The feeling of this multi-strand connection of the community of local musicians was nothing short of surreal; the time seems to fly by so quick when we talk that I could spend days wasting time with these amazing human beings. 

The energy from the band was reminiscent of basement show times during the live-stream as well. Although there were a total of seven people in the studio (including the band-mates), it felt as if they were playing for a packed show. The synergy of Jem on the drums and Dan on the bass laid a hypnotic, rock-steady foundation for Rob’s emphatic singing and psychedelic rock sounds and lines. Jon’s electric keyboards acted as the harmonic glue of the piece while providing organ and synth textures similar to Pink Floyd and the Doors mixed with the stylings of Division and other Alternative bands paired with funk grooves.

As a collective, Professor Caveman puts out an energy that I find to be one of the many faces of the local New Brunswick scene that makes me proud of saying where I am from. Setting up sound, recording, mixing, filming, and chopping it up with the guys in Professor caveman made me realize that I can get so caught up in what is the hottest in terms of production quality and what is popular in a global sense that I can lose sight of the amazing and beautiful things that are happening right in front of me in New Brunswick. These local artists are forever going to continue building on their craft and create amazing things whether anyone is paying attention or not because these guys all have their own love and inspiration with who they are and who they resonate with. The experience of creating raw and pure emotion and translating it to sound in a way that is influenced only by their own thoughts and inspiration is something truly special.