West Michigan’s Pop Evil soars to global success, looks “UP” with new CD set for release in Grand Rapids

The chart-topping rockers unleash their new album at The Intersection’s “Rock the Lot” on Friday after releasing the song, “Ghost of Muskegon,” in a hometown nod. (Story, video)

 

After playing 250 shows a year since 2006, touring the globe to raise its international profile and racking up three consecutive No. 1 hit singles at rock radio for its last studio album, Pop Evil is ready for more.

Indeed, lead singer and founder Leigh Kakaty insists the hard-rocking band with roots in West Michigan is only now hitting its stride with release later this month of “UP,” Pop Evil’s fourth studio album, which was spearheaded by renowned Seattle producer Adam Kasper of Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and Aerosmith fame.

“We’re stoked,” Kakaty said in a telephone interview this week from an Illinois tour stop, noting the band moved to Seattle for four months early this year to lay down new tracks in the acclaimed Studio Litho and London Bridge studios where bands such as Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band have recorded.

“You’ve got to bring your A-game because of all the greats that have played in those studios. It was amazing to absorb that energy that is Seattle. … We were able to do things in the studio we weren’t able to do in the past.”

As a result, the band found itself “taking different chances and having more fun” with the follow-up to 2013’s “Onyx,” an album that cemented the group’s current lineup of Kakaty, guitarists Davey Grahs and Nick Fuelling, bassist Matt DiRito and drummer Chachi Riot.

The band was focused, Kakaty said, on giving the new songs “a more groovable beat.” It seems to have worked: Sales of the first single from the album, “Footsteps,” hit 25,000 in just three weeks, with more than 1 million streams of the song online. (Watch the video for “Footsteps” below.)

“I feel like we’re really getting our sound honed to separate us from the pack. We don’t sound like any other band in the (active rock) format,” Kakaty said of “UP.”

“We got into it to have fun and this album was definitely more fun. It’s got that pulse, that beat to it. We’re always constantly thinking about our live show. We wanted to do new things that elevate our live show and give our fan base a more enjoyable experience.”

Pop Evil will display that live show when the band officially releases the new CD on Friday as part of The Intersection’s outdoor Rock the Lot Concert Series in Grand Rapids. The 6 p.m. concert also features Aranda, Red Sun Rising and Torrid. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of show, with details online at sectionlive.com. (Akron Ohio’s Red Sun Rising also just released a new album, with the single, “The Otherside,” rising up the charts.)

Pop Evil also will play an acoustic show at the f.y.e. store at Grandville’s RiverTown Crossings at 1 p.m. Sunday. Those who pre-order the new album “UP” at the f.y.e. will receive a wristband for the signing session and exclusive acoustic performance while supplies last. First come, first served.

Pop Evil, which remains based in Grand Rapids and Muskegon despite all of its travels, even pays tribute to those roots with a new eerie-cool single, “Ghost of Muskegon,” that Kakaty says makes reference to the fact that even though the band has become a globally recognized act, it still sometimes feels relatively unknown in its hometown. Listen to “Ghost of Muskegon.”

‘IT’S ABOUT BEING ON THE ROAD’ … A LOT

Kakaty, who grew up in North Muskegon, has called the band “a blue-collar rock ’n’ roll grinder,” demonstrated by the group’s grueling road schedule and Michigan-bred work ethic.

“If you want to be in a rock ’n’ roll band in this day and age, it’s about being on the road. We’re constantly touring,” said Kakaty, noting the band played to audiences of 100,000-plus at European festivals earlier this year and plans to play Australia and Japan in 2016. “We’ve become more of a brand, a worldwide-known entity. We’re excited. We want to keep spreading this thing worldwide.”

Although they spend much of every year on the road, band members relish the handful of days they get to spend back home in Michigan, usually during the summer and around Christmas.

“We’re one of the rare bands that did it the old-fashioned way. We all literally grew up in my garage in West Michigan, and when everyone told us to move away … we stayed,” Kakaty said. “We not only come from Michigan, but we come from West Michigan. We’re from Grand Rapids to Muskegon.

“It’s a certain pride and respect that we have for Michigan. We appreciate how important our hometown is and what it means to our success and our drive for success.”

With a re-energized confidence in their music – sparked by a “very positive experience” in working with Kasper – that drive for success and the band’s mission to “fight for rock music” continues in earnest.

“We feel very blessed and honored and lucky to be where we are. Now that we’re here, we want to seize the moment,” said Kakaty, insisting band members are taking care of themselves physically. “Everyone is focused. You can see the fire in everyone’s eyes. Everyone is ready for the long haul. We want to be able to look at each other and say we own the moment.”

VIDEO: Pop Evil, “Footsteps”

Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC