Catcher

A musician originally from Conception Bay South is about to release his full-length debut album “Light & Shadow” under his J.D. Salinger-inspired moniker Catcher.

“In (“Catcher in the Rye”), Holden’s whole thing is phoniness. In the quote, ‘I just want to be a catcher in the rye,’ he’s referring to adulthood and the loss of innocence,” 22-year-old Trevor Bennett explained.

Catcher the band, he said, is a little more focused. His concern is about making choices with integrity and honesty.

“I’d like to be part of keeping things real and true,” he said. “And if there’s a message in all of it, it’s, ‘Be happy with yourself.’”

An emotionally driven songwriter, Bennett said many of Catcher’s songs are about endings, beginnings and false starts.

“There are a lot of breakup songs and a lot of it is very direct, personal-experience songs.”

He suspects it’s material many people will relate to.

He said he’s been influenced by language ever since his high school days.

Bennett started writing songs for the album about three years ago, then recorded several demos under the name Catcher.

“I started playing acoustic shows with some of the songs, just to get them heard kind of thing, and that led me to the boys who’ve ended up playing in (Catcher),” he said.

The band members are James March, Sam Murphy and Zach Hall.

When it came time to make “Light & Shadow,” Bennett had March record the drum tracks. He then brought the sessions home to his studio and did the rest of the recording. “The guitars, the bass, pianos and synths and vocals, and all sorts of other little bits and pieces here and there” on his own.

“It’s very much a Nine Inch Nails-inspired way of doing things,” Bennett said.

It’s a method that works for him, he said.

“I have trouble reining myself in,” Bennett confesses on his website (www.catcher.ca).

“I tend to start arranging and producing pretty early in the writing process. I hear things in a full-scale kind of way, and being comfortable with multiple instruments allows me to use different thought processes in the writing stage to flesh the songs out and to get them sounding on tape the way they sound in my head.”

Bennett said working with talented musicians such as March, Hall and Murphy makes live performance that much easier.

“Light & Shadow” will be in stores Tuesday and the CD release is set for Sept. 8 at Junctions on Water Street. There’ll be an all-ages show Sept. 9 at 2 p.m. at Distortion on George Street.

“The bar show is fun because you get a lot of your friends in there, but in my ideal world people don’t have to drink to enjoy the music,” Bennett said.

“So, performing for those who aren’t old enough to get into the clubs is nice, too. It’s a way of making sure everyone has an opportunity to get involved.”

Bennett will return to Memorial University’s School of Music in the fall to pursue a degree in voice. - The Telegram (St. John's, NL)

Trevor Bennett has been seen throughout the local art scene for almost as long as my memory allows from the time I first got involved and started paying attention. What's always been impressive about this guy is his passion and dedication. Theatre, musicals, an intensive program, and teaching, Bennett doesn't lack discipline in the least and it's been rewarded with the release of his band's first album in September 2007. I caught up with him to chat about Catcher and the many meaning of Light and Shadow.

Who's Catcher and how long have you been around?
I've been writing toward the project for over three years now - the live band has been playing together for about a year.

What can people expect from Catcher?
Lots of energy and interplay from the live show; the album is geared a little more toward layers and production. There are different sides to the project, it keeps things interesting.

Why do you do what you do?
it's the one thing that feels completely natural to me. I feel like I've maybe got something to say, and this is the most direct way of expressing it.

How difficult is it to balance these interests and real life commitments?
It can be tricksy. I'm working toward the end of my voice degree at MUN School of Music and the two can clash from time to time. It's not at all an easy thing to try and get by on songs alone, but you make it work 'cause you love it, hey?

What can people expect from 'Light & Shadow'?
Well, there's a lot on the record in terms of moods, styles, instrumentations. For the most part it's a rock record, but the production gets a bit involved here and there. I'm a big fan of industrial rock and large scale music, so I like to find room for vocal harmonies, pianos, strings and synthesizers and programming and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Why did you want to do this project so badly and where did the title come from?
I borrowed the title from an old set of lyrics that were supposed to belong to another project - I like the breadth of those two words. Liken it to the bel canto/art term chiaroscuro (light/shade), it's a balance thing. Light and dark are such universally identifiable opposites and finding your place between them is... well, it's life, really, isn't it?

What was it like to finally release your first full length album?
it's an incredible feeling of accomplishment - I'm doing something with my life (Mum, I swear!) It's validation, in a tangible form, of the work I've put in over the years - I have a discography, for ever and ever, amen.

What kind of steps had to happen to make it come to life?
Many steps. I had James March - the drummer for the band - record the drum tracks first, then brought the sessions to my home studio and played everything else myself over the course of a few months - guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, programming, sequencing, trumpet, auxiliary percussion, and more vocal tracks than you can shake a stick at. Justin Merdsoy, a very talented friend of mine, did the mix. Then it shipped off to Toronto to be mastered at the Lacquer Channel by a sweetheart named Noah Mintz. Luke Merdsoy did a gorgeous job on the graphic design - allow two business weeks for pressing, and voila!

The album is even available on iTunes, how did that come into being?
tunecore.com. The market's opening up, whether bigger labels like it or not. The tools are out there to allow artists to create and produce their music, and the DIY marketing avenues are finally coming online. I've sold songs in Japan? Brave new world.

What's next for Catcher?
Shows, shows, and shows, I hope. I'd love to get the boys out to tour, and I can't wait to get this term over with so I can start writing again - I'd like to not have to wait three more years to get the next album finished.

Want more? Check out www.catcher.ca.
-Joshua Jamieson (dj mOxY) - The Current (St. John's, NL)

Things are about to get a lot busier for Trevor Bennett, leader of prog-pop phenomenon Catcher. He's also a MUN Music student, and the regional winner of the Canadian RadioStar National Songwriting Competition.

This victory means that he will go on to represent Newfoundland and Labrador in the contest's national finals, competing for a whopping $10,000 prize, among other career-bolstering amenities such as 30 free hours at the legendary Metalworks recording studio and a $5,000 National Radio Promotion Package.

"It's not the kind of thing I have any context for, so it's new and exciting and a little bewildering, all at once," said Bennett.

He says entering the contest was almost something of an afterthought for him. "Back in November, I was given a heads up about the contest itself, so I quickly did up a little packet with a few of the songs from the album I released in the fall, submitted them to [local radio station] K-Rock, and almost forgot about it until I was told that the winner was going to be announced on Stephanie O'Brien's show Under The Influence," says Bennett.

His winning song, called "Catch Me If You Can", is an accessible rock piece, but Bennett claims that no specific demographic was in mind when he composed it.

"This is art," he said. "There's no marketing involved on the creative level."

Despite the ideal climate for self-indulgence, Bennett remains level-headed in his desire to share his creative work with anyone who is willing to listen.

"This is the kind of thing that could get my songs to the kinds of people who'll like them, outside of my immediate sphere of influence," said Bennett.

"This island can be a tough place to grow from, so the exposure from this contest, and whatever comes of that, is welcome."

Even considering Newfoundland's small amount of mainstream musical breakthroughs, Bennett remains optimistic.

"We, as Newfoundland musicians, of all stylistic backgrounds, seem to have our work cut out for us," he said. "But whatever happens in the long run, it's my feeling that if you're pursuing music as a means to 'make it big,' you're absolutely in it for the wrong reasons." - The Muse (St. John's, NL)

After three years of bleeding, Light & Shadow, the debut album from local band Catcher, is ready for the universe to embrace.

Trevor Bennett, the band’s vocalist and creator, brilliantly produced Light & Shadow - an album that demonstrates both extremes referred to in its title, and exhibits the right placement of subtleties and selection of sound makers.

Bennett’s voice is the most powerful instrument of all. He can emote softly, but also blow you away with powerful screams. His vocals are drowned a little bit in the mix of track 11, "The Chase," but the rest of album will make you forget about this minor detail.

Blood is a recurring image throughout the album, but not in a gory sense. The lyrics "I hate it when you bleed on me," "Wipe the blood from your face," and "Bleeding on my knees" scream heartbreak. Heartbreak, while an obvious lament, is portrayed with vast instrumentation in a very professional and clever manner.

The album contains moments of nostalgia, rage, surrender, and harsh truth. It’s very diverse, with an amazing use of epic arrangements and drama. Many of the tunes have a crunchy industrial/metal sound, but are strategically divided with four instrumental electronic tracks. "Solitaire [Confinement]," "[Balance]," and "[Abbreviation]" are three theme tunes, and "Carina" has spoken word aspects. They all have a trip/trance groove that conveys the vulnerability of the broken heart. "Next Big Thing" is a stripped-down acoustic song that presents yet another element of Bennett’s musicianship.

It’s impressive how the album’s content reflects the theme of energy masses and moody vibrancies portrayed in the cover art. It is always nice to see something a little more creative than a mug shot on the front of a CD.

Like many artists’ first album, Catcher’s record is written lyrically from personal experience with heartbreak. Bennett has an striking ability to depict emotion through vocal performance and production.

This album furthers my pride towards the St. John’s indie music scene. Bennett has used some of the city’s premier players, such as Trailer Camp’s Jamie March, but his genius as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and truthful artist - the signature of the record - will secure a promising future for Catcher. - The Muse (St. John's, NL)