Josh Caterer
Encyclopedia
Josh Caterer is a Chicago
-area musician and songwriter. With his brothers, Eli Caterer (born 1975) and Matt Caterer (b. 1968), he was a founding member in 1991 of The Smoking Popes
, in which Josh plays lead guitar and sings. After his conversion to Christianity the Smoking Popes split up, and Caterer later founded Duvall. The Smoking Popes have since reformed.
, The Smiths
, Elvis Costello
, Mel Tormé
, and Frank Sinatra
. As a senior in high school, Caterer formed Speedstick along with his brothers Eli and Matt. This band would become the forerunner to the Smoking Popes.
of Frank Sinatra, initially as a joke. His singing is sometimes compared by journalists to that of Morrissey
.
Caterer became a Christian in 1998. A collapse due to a cocaine overdose at an all-night party and C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity
helped lead him to Christianity. He renounced his rock lifestyle, and began trying to introduce Jesus into the band's songs. Shortly after his conversion the Smoking Popes broke up, after Caterer became disillusioned when seeing Morrissey on tour with them. "I was realizing that he had a bigger budget than we did, but he was basically on the same treadmill that we were on," Caterer said. "It became a reality to us that this was going to be us, this was going to be me. It didn't seem any more fulfilling for him than it was for me." Caterer became heavily involved in his church, working at World Relief, a charitable, non-profit organization. He released a five-song EP of gospel music, Why Me, featuring solo guitar music. In 2001 he returned to the rock scene, founding a Christian rock band, Duvall
, which included other former members of the Smoking Popes.
In November 2005 the Smoking Popes reunited for a sell-out show at the Chicago club The Metro
. They embarked on a U.S. tour in early 2006 with the band Bayside
. Several older, pre-1999 songs were not played due to their expression of views incongruent with Caterer's Christian beliefs. They released a new album in July 2008.
Caterer performed alongside Bayside for the acoustic version of "Megan" on their new record, "Acoustic."
Monaco Yellow American Made Telecaster – Marshal ½ stack
Black Fender Acoustic Electric
After Break 2005-Present:
Inca Silver “Double Fat Strat” American Made Stratocaster – Marshal ½ stack and volume pedal
Jet Black “Double Fat Strat” American Made Stratocaster
Wine Red Gibson SG
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-area musician and songwriter. With his brothers, Eli Caterer (born 1975) and Matt Caterer (b. 1968), he was a founding member in 1991 of The Smoking Popes
Smoking Popes
The Smoking Popes are an American pop punk from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1991. They play punk-influenced pop music with crooning vocals...
, in which Josh plays lead guitar and sings. After his conversion to Christianity the Smoking Popes split up, and Caterer later founded Duvall. The Smoking Popes have since reformed.
Early life
Caterer wrote his first song around 11 years old. During junior high he joined his first band, Slavedriver. His early musical influences included FugaziFugazi (band)
Fugazi is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1987. The band's continual members are guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty....
, The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
, and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. As a senior in high school, Caterer formed Speedstick along with his brothers Eli and Matt. This band would become the forerunner to the Smoking Popes.
Career
Smoking Popes formed in 1991 and in early 1994 the band opened for Green Day. Caterer referred to his early songs, half-jokingly, as "pop nuggets". His singing voice changed from a punk shout to a vibrato when he tried to imitate the crooningCrooner
Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...
of Frank Sinatra, initially as a joke. His singing is sometimes compared by journalists to that of Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
.
Caterer became a Christian in 1998. A collapse due to a cocaine overdose at an all-night party and C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity
Mere Christianity
Mere Christianity is a theological book by C. S. Lewis, adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1941 and 1944, while Lewis was at Oxford during World War II...
helped lead him to Christianity. He renounced his rock lifestyle, and began trying to introduce Jesus into the band's songs. Shortly after his conversion the Smoking Popes broke up, after Caterer became disillusioned when seeing Morrissey on tour with them. "I was realizing that he had a bigger budget than we did, but he was basically on the same treadmill that we were on," Caterer said. "It became a reality to us that this was going to be us, this was going to be me. It didn't seem any more fulfilling for him than it was for me." Caterer became heavily involved in his church, working at World Relief, a charitable, non-profit organization. He released a five-song EP of gospel music, Why Me, featuring solo guitar music. In 2001 he returned to the rock scene, founding a Christian rock band, Duvall
Duvall (band)
Duvall is a pop rock band with Christian-oriented lyrics. They were formed in August 2001, including members of the Smoking Popes, who had disbanded in 1998. Founding members were Josh Caterer, Tom Daily, and Mike Felumlee...
, which included other former members of the Smoking Popes.
In November 2005 the Smoking Popes reunited for a sell-out show at the Chicago club The Metro
Metro Chicago
This page is about the concert hall; for the metro region surrounding Chicago, see Chicago metropolitan area.Metro is a concert hall at 3730 N. Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois that plays host to a variety of local, regional and national emerging bands and musicians. The Metro was first opened in...
. They embarked on a U.S. tour in early 2006 with the band Bayside
Bayside (band)
Bayside is an American punk rock band from Queens which formed in the winter of 2000. The band has released five full length albums since signing to Victory Records...
. Several older, pre-1999 songs were not played due to their expression of views incongruent with Caterer's Christian beliefs. They released a new album in July 2008.
Caterer performed alongside Bayside for the acoustic version of "Megan" on their new record, "Acoustic."
Equipment List
Early Years 1991-1998:Monaco Yellow American Made Telecaster – Marshal ½ stack
Black Fender Acoustic Electric
After Break 2005-Present:
Inca Silver “Double Fat Strat” American Made Stratocaster – Marshal ½ stack and volume pedal
Jet Black “Double Fat Strat” American Made Stratocaster
Wine Red Gibson SG
Personal life
Josh and his wife Stefanie have two children. They are active in their church, the Village Church of Barrington (Illinois), where Josh leads worship on Saturday nights.External links
- Interview with Josh Caterer by Harvest Bible Chapel
- Josh Caterer playing at North Central College Union:
- I Know You Love Me
- Megan