Brandy Pettigrew interviews Pop Evil’s Leigh Kakaty about the band’s moving hit single.
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Recently I sat down with Leigh Kakaty, lead singer and songwriter for the band Pop Evil. I wanted to talk to him about their new single and video “Torn to Pieces” off of their album, Onyx. The song is a tribute to his father who past away in 2011.
Pop Evil is currently touring the United Stated. Leigh made time for me before their show at Iron City in Birmingham, Alabama. What I found was a kind, caring, man with an undying respect for his father. His words speak volumes.
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Good Men Project: With Father’s Day coming up, how has your dad influenced your life?
Leigh Kakaty: You know, dad was a big influence. You know he was my best friend and a big supporter of me following my dreams. Without my dad, I doubt I would be living the dream job and doing what I love. That would be being a musician and a singer.
GMP: It sounds like he really had a profound effect on your life. I saw an interview a while ago that said you were still trying to adjust to “Torn to Pieces” being a single, knowing that you’d have to sing it all of the time. How has it been for you, emotionally, connecting with that song?
LK: Ironically it’s been humbling. The human process, I would have never thought. I guess describing it would be, just knowing that you’re not alone. Sometimes when you have success, especially from a musician’s standpoint and a musical standpoint, all you see is tour bus walls. So your sense of reality is very squared. So kind of knowing that your fans go through similar things.
They are so supportive of the band and me, you know my dad, and the situation that I’m in. It’s been an overwhelming sense of healing that I never thought I needed.
Everyone deals with the death or loss of a parent, or the loss of anyone, in different ways.
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Everyone deals with the death or loss of a parent, or the loss of anyone, in different ways. I’m someone who just keeps to myself. I’m very secluded. I guess I never would have thought in my wildest dreams that this was something that I would have needed. Sometimes music and God works in mysterious ways. This song has always been bigger than me. It’s been bigger than the band. It just keeps getting bigger as it gets further out, as it gets further on as a single. But sometimes thinking about it I still fumble for words. It just still feels new to me. It has been something I just can’t explain or put into words. The fact that it’s a sense of healing in ways I never thought I needed.
GMP: It has definitely touched a lot of lives and will continue to be healing for them. I think that the video will only enhance the song’s message. The images in the video, of your dad in home movies and pictures, were a deeply personal addition. Was it your idea to use those?
LK: It was me, the band and the managers. They obviously wanted it to be about me and my dad. Finding the old footage was tough. It’s been easier for me to pretend like he was still back at home still living. I was on the road a lot anyway, so I guess it was my insecurities. I wasn’t really there anyway. I knew I wanted to immortalize him in a way where it would be something I could watch down the road and say, “Wow this is something special and I can be proud of.”
At the time making it, in my hometown of Kingston, Ontario. I was born in Kingston, probably lived there for about two weeks, before we moved to Michigan. So, I was born in Canada and raised in Michigan. I just wanted to go as pure honest with this video as I could. I wanted to show the fans a side of me that they would probably never see otherwise.
It was just really special where we shot it. We shot it at my cousin’s house, who is a famous architect. He built that house with his own hands. So I wanted to shoot it there. Everything from the house to the cars were Kingston’s finest. Dan Akroyd’s father actually put a lot of time, sweat, and tears into that white Cadillac. So there is a lot of history in that video. It just turned out amazing. We only had a day to shoot it. The band couldn’t get into Canada. Just because they’re a bunch of rebels, I guess. I guess because it was short notice. So this video just had a life of it’s own. It just turned out amazing. We were definitely going away from the script but I’m glad it turned out so amazing.
GMP: That’s great! I love the video and having such history behind each piece makes it that much more special. In “Torn to Pieces” are lyrics that I believe everyone can identify with: “I sit here in misery wondering if I’ll ever be, half the man you wanted me to be” What would your advice be to those going through what you’ve gone through?
LK: Sure. My advice would be just keep moving on. To anyone who has lost a loved one, those loved ones love you too. So what would it be like from their perspective? Their perspective would be your happiness. They would not want you crying over them. They wouldn’t want you to be sad or depressed. They would be watching us, from wherever they are watching from, seeing us succeed, seeing us happy, seeing us giving back and giving their love to someone else.
It’s what I’ve learned from the song, playing it every night now. Seeing the tears from guys, girls, old, young, and different backgrounds coming together on a song and giving them love from my father. To let them know this is the moment. It doesn’t matter how cool or uncool we are. We all go through this sooner or later. We are all human here and this is the power.
The duty of being human is how much love you can embrace people with, and that what really rises out of any situation is supporting each other and being honest with each other.
Hey, not everyday do I feel like breaking windows and turning the amps to 11! Some days I just feel like sitting around a campfire with my acoustic guitar and a PBR, it’s the Michigan way. So sometimes you just want to pass war stories about your loved ones and good times. Easier said than done, I know. But try to look to the great things and the fun stuff. I think that’s the hard part everyday. I know my dad wouldn’t want me to be crying and be sad. I try to embrace that.
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Check out Pop Evil: http://popevil.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/popevil
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/popevil
—photo Jamyme Thornton
Just beautiful
What a wonderful article. It reminds me, we all have to deal with loss the best we can and move on. Pain is a powerful motivator.