By: Shelby Lum
Kane Stewart doesn’t own a car, and since moving to Nashville from California, skateboards around town, coffee in hand while making music with cousin Brad Shultz of Cage the Elephant.
Having family in an already established rock band can make things easier for newcomer Kane, but he said that Plastic Visions, a semi-offshoot of Cage the Elephant is different than his cousins’ group.
“It’s kind of a weird thing for me because my cousin Matt is the singer of (Cage the Elephant) as well, so talking comparisons with them is hard I think,” Kane said. But with family help, Kane has managed to churn out a self-titled EP via Brad’s own label Death Panda. Just a few weeks off the release of the EP on May 21st, Kane is looking to make a niche for himself among the surf rock community.
“It’s definitely very different from Cage the Elephant stuff…we make stuff not for any reason. It’s just coming from what I was feeling at the time and my emotions,” he said. “We kind of make weird music so you don’t really know what to expect. It’s not really conventional at all.”
Surf rock isn’t too far out of this California native’s comfort zone though.
After leaving the Golden State for some southern comfort and hospitality (“the atmosphere, of the people in general, the friendliness of stopping and saying ‘hi’ to a random person was shocking to me coming from California,” he said), he also left behind a family business making surf boards. The work in his family’s business didn’t bode well for Kane, who said he would much rather be surfing than making surf boards, but his life in California has transferred into his music and into his EP for Plastic Visions.
Having already dabbled in other creative endeavors, music was just another outlet to try. “Music’s definitely been a satisfying creative outlet for me,” Kane said.
The five track EP is short, gritty, and completely to the point with all the songs clocking in at under the three-minute mark, perfect for shorter attention spans, Kane said.
“Unless you have some music that is worthy of a six-minute song, it’s got to be something that’s really next level musically and that’s not really what we are about. We are more about attitude and just actually having a message…the music is really important to us,” he said.
Brad might have lent a helping hand in producing the album and loaning his guitar skills for the recording, but will not be part of the touring band. On the road it will just be Kane and his love for coffee fueling him through tour stop after tour stop.
As a new band, it will be Plastic Visions’ first time playing in Atlanta.
Plastic Visions is scheduled to play at 529 on Thursday, June 20th.
