Catatonic: First Cape Girardeau, then the world

For many bands it's a struggle at first to realize the true identity of the group. But for Cape Girardeau band Catatonic, this has never been a problem.

"We wanted to dominate the world," said Jeff Prost, guitarist for the band, of the band's goals. "And we wanted to play good music and be original."

Catatonic was formed in 2004 by Prost, drummer Gabe Austin, bassist Greg Bartosik and singer Aaron Walker. After Walker quit the band, Lance Ferrell joined the group on vocals.

According to Bartosik, the band was formed with a single short-term goal in mind.

"We just wanted to play a Tool cover song for a class project we had," he said.

Through playing out often, Catatonic has been able to cultivate a fan base here in Cape. Bethany Henson, a fan of Catatonic, was attracted to the band for a variety of reasons.

"They played the type of music I'm into, the emo/pop/rock/alternative music, unlike most local bands in Cape Girardeau," she said. "They also were not too hard or too screamo, or even too folky."

Henson added that, while she was a fan of the band before singer Ferrell joined the group, she likes Catatonic much more now that he's a member.

Catatonic recently released their debut CD, "Red Light in My Head." The recording process, done by Brandon Drury, was both a very arduous and fulfilling process.

"It was very long, and there was a lot of fighting," said Bartosik. "We did a lot of stuff and we learned a lot of stuff the wrong way most of the time. But it came together and we were pleased."

"We were real picky," said Prost of the recording process. "It took six months, but it was fun, too. Because it took so long we've already written some new songs."

"I am really impressed by the CD, I think its great," said Henson. "It's very easy to get lost in the songs and not realize you are playing it over and over again."

Catatonic, fitting right along with their plan of world domination, has some big goals for the next year.

"We hope to be out of Cape and on some sort of label, big or small," said Prost. "We'll get out of Cape, get on tour, and see how it goes."

The band would also like to try to record in either Memphis, Los Angeles or New York, said Bartosik.

"We would just like to get that contract so we can keep on going forever," Bartosik added.

Anyone interested in seeing Catatonic live should keep an eye on their website, www.myspace.com/catatonic, or check out their CD release party Nov. 4 at Breakaways.

"Their live shows are great. You can chill out through some songs and you can rock out on others," said Henson. "The power of Lance's vocals really comes through in a live show."