Slow Caves Dig the Beach in New Video "Desert Minded"

We are pleased to debut the release of the new video for the song “Desert Minded,” by Fort Collins-based rock band Slow Caves. The song will be issued on the band's upcoming EP of the same name on the Grouphug imprint. Slow Caves, nominated for a 2016 Westword Music Award, formed in early 2014 when two pairs of brothers decided to put together a serious band. The brothers have been friends for a long time: Oliver and Jakob Mueller moved to Colorado from Holland in 2001 and met David Dugan and Jackson Lamperes in elementary school.

The quartet thinks of its name as a verb: “We like to imagine that our music is the sound of your mind slowly caving in on itself,” says the band.

Since its inception, Slow Caves has honed its sound and garnered a reputation for being a charmingly engaging acts unafraid to try out sounds and ideas as it followed its musical instincts to its current sound, somewhere between indie pop, surf rock and punk.

“The past two years we've been fortunate to play a ton, so we've been able to filter out a bunch songs that we didn't think made sense,” the band says via e-mail. “What's influenced the surfy vibe on a lot of the new songs is the idea of wanting to be by the ocean when you're trapped in the mountains. We used to get into a new band every week and want to write songs like all of these different bands. Now, we kind of have this idea of what we want to be influenced by and try to stick in that realm. The fact that we play offset guitars (Jaguars and Jazzmasters) also has influenced our playing. We use the [tremolo] bar a lot and try to get super-jangly and -chimey tones that make you want to be at the beach.”


Desert Minded is the band's sophomore release following a 2014 self-titled EP. And you can expect to be able to see the new material live either at the band's performance on Friday, April 22, at the FoCoMx festival at 10:45 p.m. at Hodi's Half Note, or at one of the three EP-release shows: The Downtown Artery in Fort Collins on May 28, in Denver at Lost Lake on June 4, and a to-be-determined date at the Moxi Theater in Greeley.

The video for “Desert Minded” was made with the group's friend Ethan Dayton. They wanted to do a dance video for the song with a message about being landlocked but longing for the beach. “The shots of us in the winter gear show us with the bummed-out, daydreaming of the beach, attitudes,” says Slow Caves. “Whereas the beach shots are the actual daydreams themselves. Not that we don't love Colorado, but we just really love the beach.”

Oliver Mueller once lived in Hollywood, and when Slow Caves was making its first EP, much of the recording took place there and so the band feels much of that energy and spirit through that environment is imbued in its musical thinking.

Expect a lot more from this band down the line, because it hasn't just developed musically. One look at its website and you'll see that the band's presentation of itself to the world isn't lacking in sophistication. That always puts a band ahead of many of its peers who are lacking in this regard.

“Social-media presence is key in this modern music world. We spend a lot of time researching other bands, local and nationally, and try and pick up the things we like and get rid of stuff that doesn't work,” concludes the band. “From an outside standpoint, when you go to band's website, what you want to see is simplicity. You want music, pictures, videos, tour dates and contact info. Make it easy! At the end of the day, what matters most for the band is if the music is good. Our music is evolving, but you don't get a second chance at first impressions. So everything else has to look and work well, so that hopefully someone will actually take time to listen to your record.”