Caveboy is a band driven by the past, future and determination. Their music is a raw emotional world that commands attention. The trio have mastered how to merge real life experiences into their indie dream-pop. In every song you hear each struggle and triumph it took to get their elevating sound. Formally known as Diamond Bones, Caveboy shifted their dynamic and encompassed their new start with their self titled debut EP released just last month.

Photo by Remi A

Made up of Michelle Bensimon (vocals), Isabelle Banos (bass) and drummer Lana Cooney, Caveboy is a band that plays with the idea of strange, while showcasing what’s good about being on the other side of normal. After a listen, you’ll be right there with them.  

After falling in love with their track,Something Like Summer, there was so much I wanted to know. Simply, about them finding their new sound and new personas as Caveboy. Before their previous show in Toronto, Michelle, Isabelle and Lana and I took to a coffee shop to talk about their new band, sound and how the response has been.

The band represents who you are now, who are you guys now?

Michelle: I think who we are now is a representation of what Caveboy is. Before we were called Diamond Bones.  We changed our name and revamped the band a little bit. Caveboy is who we are, it’s this primal, raw, passionate, getting your hands dirty kinda people who love music and love what we’re doing.

Lana: Diamond Bones was kind of a start for us, to hone in on what we wanted to do with our sound, with our performance and image. Once we felt like we’d outgrown that we shifted to Caveboy, it was a fresh start for us to focus in on what we were intending to do with our music.

How come you felt as if you didn’t relate to Diamond Bones anymore?

Michelle: I think Diamond Bones was just something we came up with, to be honest, very quickly. Not necessarily with any true meaning.  When we came up with the name we liked how to sounded and we did find the meaning in it. But it didn’t come from any meaning. I think with Caveboy, like Lana said, is that “fresh start” and that need to connect to every part of what we were doing. Not just the music, but how we look, and the name is such a huge part.

Lana: It’s the identity.

Let’s talk a little about the EP, how long was the EP in the works?

Lana: The EP was a combination of a lot of work. Originally it was supposed to be a full length album and we set out to start working on that a good two years ago, maybe more. So it has been a long process, but every moment of it really counted. It allowed us to really figure out what we wanted to do. Even though it took a few forms, we went through a lot of changes with it.

Is there a particular song that you find relates to you all the most?

Michelle: I would say, Something like Summer. Its been written for a bit now, but it’s something that’s really fun and it really represents Caveboy. It’s [Something Like Summer]  about growing up and growing out of things. We often play it last and it’s this hype moment, where we give everything that we have left in us. It’s the punctuation of our set. We love the feeling and it gets us to the finish line.

How has the response been to the change?

Lana: With the name change came a new kind of response than from what we were doing. First off, we changed our name so we had to tell everybody what we were doing. People were pretty receptive and accepting of what we were doing and now that we’re Caveboy and playing as Caveboy, people are really understanding what we’re doing, what we’ve been working towards and what we were going for.

What do you like seeing when you look into the crowds at Caveboy shows?

Isabelle:  I’m fortunate enough to not have to be focusing on singing lead the whole time. So I get to really have little moments and look out, those moments when I can sneak a stare into the crowd and see what’s going on. I just love seeing people as lost in it as we are. Whether their eyes are open or closed. If they’re looking at us or looking at the ground, just in it.  Just having a great time. If we had anything to do with that it’s just the best feeling.

After seeing them perform they do just that. They draw the audience in and make them remember their name. If you haven’t yet, check out Something Like Summer.