She Craves a little rock in Baton Rouge

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By Kaiya Morrison

Music is seen as much as it is heard, and in the digital age, fans are one click away from learning as much as possible about their favorite band. Some fight this, but the vast majority of modern musicians are embracing it, and are finding new and unique ways to offer more to their fans. One such band is the Austin-based rock band She Craves, who will be performing at North Gate Tavern on Friday, July 11.

Members Christine Ely (vocals), Matt Cole (guitar), Ben Mills (drums), and the band’s newest addition, bass player Roger Wuthrich, are currently working on a new album, which they will release in October of this year.

“It’s going to be an interactive disc,” Mills said about the album. “The music industry is changing dramatically, and we figured we needed to do something different to stand out from the crowd. I think the industry is going in the direction of entertaining you more than just with music.”

All of the members in She Craves are seasoned musicians, having been in dozens of bands between the four of them. However, they all agree that this band is the one they have enjoyed the most.

“To me, this band is the entire package,” Ely said. “We all want the same things and we share the same mentalities, both in business and artistically.”

The musical vision for She Craves is to produce edgy songs that have a pop rock sensibility.

“We want to play high-energy pop rock music,” Mills explained. “It means catchy songs that are radio friendly, but not trying to sell out. We were all raised on music like Cheap Trick and U2, but we’re not trying to write any one way, it’s just what comes out of us.”

In near stream of consciousness fashion, Ely said nearly 75 percent of her lyrics relate to relationships, both from personal and observed experiences.

“The band will come in with an idea, and we’ll go in the rehearsal room and lay down the basic idea,” she said while explaining her writing process. “I’ll make a CD of it and then take it in my car and just start driving around with it to see if it brings anything to mind. The lyrics tend to end up being about whatever I’m feeling at the time.”

Along with evolving packaging concepts for the new album, Mills explained that much has changed for the band since forming.

“We’ve grown as a band,” he said. “We’ve been together for two years now, and we now know each others styles. We have more strength than before. When we recorded our last album, we had only been together for two months, so it was rushed. Now, we feel good about these songs.”

Adding a new member was another reason Mills sighted when explaining how the new album would be different. Wuthrich was brought on to replace former member Tim Brown, who left the band to spend more time with his family.

“I played with Matt before in another band, and we remained friends,” Wuthrich said when explaining how he came to join She Craves. “I always went to the shows to support them, so when Tim quit, Matt called me up and asked if I wanted to join the band.”

“It was sad to see Tim leave but Roger has been an incredible addition,” Mills added. “When Tim decided to leave, there was really no other person we wanted to add than Roger.”

Feeling as solid as ever, She Craves will continue to work on the album, while also working to expand their exposure in Baton Rouge. Since performing their first show in Baton Rouge eight months ago, She Craves has returned a handful of times, and they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“Baton Rouge is the closest town we’ve found that’s like Austin,” Mills said. “People really seem to be into music, and it’s a really good vibe for people who are into rock ‘n’ roll.”

Originally Published: Issue 692 - July 9, 2008

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