Seattle rain tinges tunes darker for Mad Caps

Storm clouds darken skies, and they've done the same to Ted Rader's tunes.

At least partially.

Last fall, Rader's band, Vegas-born punk blues duo the Mad Caps, moved to Seattle, partly so that drummer John Realmuto could continue his pursuit of a master's degree in engineering.

Already, the climate change has affected their songs.

"Being stuck inside when it's gloomy outside definitely has an influence," Rader says. "You can kind of see where that whole Northwest sound came from, where it was kind of dark and heavy.

"The move up here was a hassle, being broke, figuring out where to live, figuring out where to practice, trying to find gigs," he adds. "All this stuff that went on in our lives kind of came through in the music, where it's more of like a punk attitude, like, 'Screw this, let's play rock 'n' roll.' So, the newer stuff is a little bit more aggressive, it's got more of a garage rock, psych feel to it."

Before they left town, the Mad Caps had developed into one of the city's more heated live acts, a sweaty, primal energy release, and also dropped one of the best Vegas discs of 2011 with their self-titled debut, where Rader unleashed some serious guitar hellfire.

But Rader wanted to get out of his comfort zone, and Realmuto's decision to continue his schooling in the Northwest spurred the Mad Caps' move.

"It's really been positive in a lot of ways," Rader says. "It hasn't been easy, because we have to start from ground level again, get established, meet people, play the crappy gigs, whatever. It's a good reality check. It's good to get away from your hometown a little bit and see what else is out there."

Rader says the main difference between the Vegas and Seattle scenes is that the latter is predictably oversaturated with acts and as such, it can be harder to raise eyebrows there.

"It's a little stoic sometimes," Rader notes. "I think the people here are just really used to there being a lot of bands and a big music scene. So it's kind of like, 'OK, another band, cool, what are they about?' The best compliment I've gotten from several different people was that no one from Seattle was doing what we're doing."

Next Wednesday, the band is returning to town for a Fourth of July show at the Bunkhouse. (They're also playing the Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Aug. 30.)

These two may live in another city now, but clearly, this city still lives in them.

"We played a show a couple of nights ago and someone told Johnny that they could tell that we were from out of town, which I liked," Rader says. "We're still Vegas boys. We're just doing it somewhere else right now."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com
or 702-383-0476.