Kicking Daisies Biography

Take infections punk-pop hooks, teenage enthusiasm and jaw-dropping musical skills, mix them all together and the result is Kicking Daisies.  This 18-and-under four-piece band, born in a Milford, Connecticut basement, has already appeared on national TV and played before sell out crowds in multiple venues across the country.  Now, band members Caitlin and Carly Kalafus, Duran Valek and Ben Spremulli are now touring this summer across the country at a wide range of venues from Six Flags parks, to The Warped Tour as well as clubs, fairs and festivals.  The current schedule is constantly updated at www.kickingdaisies.com

 
Ben Spremulli 7/21/96 -
Lead Guitar 
With hair flying and heads banging, guitars shredding and mind-blowing drum solos, the band has quickly gained a reputation for their energetic live shows, which usually end with the roar of a crowd-wide sing-along.  Most recently, Ben has added keyboards and programming to the KD arsenal of musical weapons and their sound has evolved to a more contemporary radio friendly pop while staying true to their rock roots.  Kicking Daisies has always been a fully-realized musical movement which belies their young age; however, with songs like the dance driven "Dangerous," a call and response between two young teens in love to "The Big Bang Theory," a tour-de-force of harmonies, to the reflective mid tempo power ballad "Breathing" the band continues to show songwriting maturity way beyond their years.

  
Duran Visek 5/3/95 -
Lead Vocals, Guitar
It all begins with 14-year-old guitar and keyboard prodigy Ben Spremulli.  The Bethel, CT native has become a favorite of both fans and the press, as influential magazine The Fader recently reported: "Crowd favorite was... or as my friend Vanessa calls him '1,000 Year Old Vampire Child, of teen-rock band Kicking Daisies.... Ben was eventually introduced to Grammy Award-winning producer Mike Mangini, who's worked with everyone from Joss Stone to the Jonas Brothers.  The two hit it off immediately, and began their search for a singer who could keep up with Ben's frenetic pace and skills.  Mangini helped find Duran Visek, whose charisma, vocal chops, guitar playing and natural frontman swagger were the perfect complement to Ben's explosive playing.  The two musicians instantly gelled and were soon joined by...
 
Cailtin Kalafus 1/14/93 -
Drums 




Caitlin Kalafus has already been hailed as one of America's fastest (and youngest) female drummers.  At age eight, Caitlin was pounding Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" on a borrowed drum set, and setting her sights on a kit of her own.   Fast foward six years and a million YouTube hits later, and Caitlin had become somewhat of a local legend after

  
 Carly Kalafus 1/17/96 -
Bass
demonstrating her drumming chops at NAMM, the annual gathering of musical merchandisers, where she scored an endorsement with Gretsch Drums.  When Caitlin was introduced to Ben & Duran, the three virtuosos hit it off immediately, and all that was left was to find a bass player.  Caitlin convinced her sister Carly to join them and things began to click immediately.  That first jam proved to be a pivotal moment for all.  As Ben explains, "It felt good to play together.  It might not have sounded great, but we felt great."  Since then, it was his first chance to truly appreciate the seriousness of their endeavor.  "We practiced every day, we were playing shows, meeting new people, and I was, like, 'Wow, this is hardcore,'" he recalls.  "Luckily, I got it all together pretty quickly."

Kicking Daisies has a simple philosophy towards growing as a band.  "We love recording, we love to tour, we love playing music!" says Caitlin.  "We all had to sacrifice to get here, we work really hard, and we want to stick together no matter where this goes."  And like all things Kicking Daisies, getting there is the fun part.  Says Duran: "That's pretty much the moral of this band: 'as long as you're having fun.'"

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www.KickingDaisies.com