Nor Osborne, Staff Writer–

On any given day, you might find this group of friends holed up in a corner of The Nest, playing Minecraft as they listen to punk music and laugh together. What you might not know is that they’re more than just a group of friends, they’re Denison’s newest band. 

The group, Cat Eat Cat, consists of Noa Holland ‘27 on rhythm guitar and main vocals, Jakob Loche ‘27 on lead guitar, Robert Adams ‘27 on bass, and Ferris Renfroe-Floyd ‘27 on drums. 

Made entirely of first-years, the band met and formed fairly recently. 

“I met Jakob at Aug-o and we instantly clicked, and we started talking about our art,” Holland said. “I’m mostly a visual artist but I love music to death. Jakob is a very talented guitarist so we thought we should start a band.”

They soon after recruited their friend Robert Adams to be a bassist. One day while discussing music over lunch, they piqued the interest of Renfroe-Floyd. 

“I was at Curtis and I overheard them talking about alt music and wanting to start a band. I immediately ran over and was just like ‘I’m a drummer! I’m a drummer! I can drum! I want to start a band!’ And the rest is history,” Renfroe-Floyd said. 

The band likes playing with a more experimental sound in an alternative genre- or as they referred to it- “freak sh*t”. 

“We all have similar tastes and like a lot of music together, but we all occupy a different space in terms of what kind of alternative music we like,” said Loche. “I think it really works to the band’s benefit, we’re able to bring in so many different types of songs and techniques not everybody knows.”

“Most of the bands here focus on classic rock, jazz, and pop covers- which are all awesome. We wanted to go away from that, though, just to give some more variety to the music on campus,” Holland said.

Cat Eat Cat loves experimenting with a variety of unconventional ways they can create music. They run their guitars through Adams’ laptop to utilize a virtual pedal  which allows them to include a variety of different types of sounds in their music. In one song they’re working on, Loche uses a drumstick to play guitar. They also plan on pulling from Holland’s experience in orchestra and bring out an electric violin for some of their songs. 

Cat Eat Cat made their debut opening for another student band, Doghouse, in February. Their set list included “Security” (Amyl and the Sniffers), Deformative (Black Eyes), “Two Beers In” (Free Throw), “Holiday” (Green Day), and “In Bloom” (Nirvana). For most of the members, this was their first time performing outside of a school-function setting. The group expressed exhilaration at the large turnout and hugely supportive environment they were met with. 

“When we were playing some stuff definitely went wrong, but because of the energy of the crowd and the energy all of us were putting into it, it ended up being amazing,” Adams said.

The bass drum Ferris was playing on kept falling down so Ferris had to keep trying to fix it mid song- but it was almost unnoticeable because of how awesome the crowd was. I wouldn’t have had it go any other way. It was a great experience.”

As for the future, the group plans to perform as much as they can in future semesters. Beyond playing publicly, Cat Eat Cat has begun to dabble in writing original pieces. 

“Doing covers is really great, but it’s almost like you’re reciting something. Whenever we’ve started working on our own pieces, it’s been like talking, instead of just reciting. It’s a whole different level of creative fulfillment,” said Loche. 

“Listening to each other, building off of each other as we improvise is incredible. I’ve never played with a group where we’ve been able to jam together so effectively,” agreed Adams.  

More than anything, the band wants to keep playing and help foster a community that will keep welcoming new bands, especially bands that specialize in genres Denison’s music scene has yet to experience. 

“I really want to encourage new artists and new musicians to do things they might be out of their immediate comfort zone. Everyone should get a chance to create the art that they want to. People who want to start a band but aren’t experienced and aren’t sure if they’ll have an audience- please reach out. We’d love to help,” said Holland.