Pop Evil is a Michigan rock band that is gaining steam across the country. As the band is set to release their 2^nd studio album, War of Angels, they are poised to build upon their top 15 album Lipstick on the Mirror with top 10 single “100 in a 55.” Before the album has been released, it has already seen commercial success with its first single, “Last Man Standing” being featured prominently at televised UFC events and part of the television soundtrack for this year’s NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

Amy caught up with lead singer and a founding member, Leigh Kakaty. The two previewed the band’s show in Cincinnati at Yeatmans Cove on Tuesday. They will also be playing on Wednesday at McGuffy’s House of Rock on Wednesday. They spoke about the grind between albums and the hard work and passion that has been put into the new album.

Amy: I just had some questions about the new music that I am hearing on Octane all day, which is great. So we’ll start with the new album stuff. You got the new album coming out July 5^th right, War of Angels?

Leigh: Finally. We’re just excited it’s finally coming out. Obviously, being at Rock on the Range, you saw the big thing that I did.

Amy: Tearing up the music contract?

Leigh: Right, letting the fans know that we are at a new label. E-One Entertainment that is all about believing in Pop Evil and we are excited about that. Finally, it was going to come out June 28^th but Best Buy was going to give us a good circular look. So they wanted it out July 5^th. So we again made sure we did what they obviously want, the best exposure for the new album. Since we waited this long, we want the best chance for the album to succeed. So July 5^th it is. I can’t wait. The CD, some of them for our CD release show back in our hometown are at my house back at home.

Amy: In Michigan?

Leigh: They are in Michigan. So they are out technically. They are at our band house that we have.

Leigh: I haven’t seen it. I was actually in Michigan yesterday and I forgot. I forgot to have my friends that were coming from Grand Rapids bring them, we played in Flint which is about 2 and a half hours away. But I actually get to see it tomorrow in Baltimore for the first time. Hopefully things go well. But the point of that is that they are actually coming, they are out, they are finally here. I know the fans have been waiting but to be honest, the band members seem to have been waiting even longer. So we’re just excited to have the music a chance to be heard the right way and the way that we wanted it. So we couldn’t be more excited about July 5^th. Can’t get here any faster.

Amy: So tell me about “Monster You Made.” What’s the song about?

Leigh: “Monster You Made” is one of my personal favorites on the record. It means different things to different people, but you know it’s just one of those concepts of realizing you are doing something wrong, hurting people around you that you love the most as we have done in this band and changing your ways and realizing the most important things are what’s right in front of you. It’s just one of those songs that has helped me personally and I know it’s going to help a lot of people. And that’s why we play music and that’s why we write music. I just think “Monster” is along the same lines as “100 in a 55” and that it is very relatable. Some of my favorite songs growing up as a kid were some of those most relatable songs. So to be able to have one of those that will be relatable to people and fans and give a Pop Evil mark on this rock genre is very humbling.

Amy: Tell me how you’ve evolved with this album. I have the old album, the Lipstick Album, that’s what I call it.

Leigh: Everybody does. It’s very different. “100 in a 55” was written in 2005. So it was one of those songs that kept following and kept building and you could feel how big it was. Unfortunately, at the time it was written, Matt and Tony our bass player and guitar player, were not in the band. We were still kind of a part time band driving to Detroit every week trying to record and play gigs. We were demoing and recording with Al Sutton who had done Kid Rock. So we were driving there, saving up all the money we could, playing covers. And finally, when Lipstick on the Mirror was released, they were kind of still demos. I mean we didn’t have the money or the budget to get the big A-list producer to give the justice that we wanted the songs to have. So the success we had with Lipstick on the Mirror with recording and me and the band, they were just demos to us. Yes, we fine tuned them and yes we did the best we could. But we didn’t have the big major label budget that could get us the big pimpin’ producer that could get us that ultimate sound quality that we wanted. So on this record, our focus the whole record was the music. It sounds easy, but it isn’t. We wanted to make sure that we moved to Chicago for six months. No girlfriends, no friends, no parents. It was just all of us together, the five of us making the first record we always wanted to do together without any jobs, no part time jobs. This was a full time project. And you know Johnny K, who produced War of Angels. He totally brought us to the next level.

Amy: Was he with you the whole time?

Leigh: The whole time. He was with us the whole time. He was just incredible. He took us as his little brothers and was kind of like instead of being in the studio saying “Hey what did Disturbed use on this sound?” No, No, this is the exact mic they used, this is the exact preamps they used, this is the exact guitar amps that they used. So it was nice to be in a position where the music could get the best chance to win and sonically sound, sonically have the best quality that we wanted, that we always wanted. So to me, we’re calling it, and I know that I speak for the guys on this, this is really our first album as far as we are concerned. Not to take anything from Lipstick on the Mirror, it did what it did to get us here. It really is a testament of you have a song that connects, it doesn’t matter where you record or how you record. A song like “100 in a 55” and “Hero” those songs are still big for us today. It’s a testament to the band and our work ethic at the time that got us here. And we are certainly proud of Lipstick on the Mirror but we are just so excited for this new album to kind of put us in a different kind of mind state of what we are capable of and we look forward to a future with Pop Evil and our music.

Amy: So you guys have been together for almost ten years.

Leigh: November

Amy: Like anniversary, exchange ring time. So where do you see yourself in ten more?

Leigh: Obviously, we’d like to be doing it at the highest level we can. But hopefully happy. I’d like to see hopefully in ten years that we laid a bit of a legacy down with songs that people all over the globe know and can sing and can bring them closer to the Lord or bring them closer to their families and friends and hopefully bring them closer to our band. I preach not only religion and family and all that. Music is religion to us. Music is what brought us here and music is what kept us together up until this point. Hopefully it will continue to do so. If not, you just have to stay humble and trust the Lord that he’ll continue you on the right path. With that said, I’m not thinking about ten years. That’s the one thing this business doesn’t allow you to do. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to see my family again. You play, you play, you play. You can’t make plans. There are no vacations. It’s really hard to ask a musician where he’ll be in ten years when he doesn’t know where he’ll be next week.

Amy: Except Cincinnati

Leigh: Well Cincinnati yeah. I’m certainly not thinking of ten years from now. We’re just going to keep grinding. We’re just going to keep making the best music we can. Making sure it’s rock n roll in all cases and from my end being a lyricist, that I can write songs that connect and hopefully bring people closer to themselves and hopefully make them remember what is the most important and that’s family and music.

Amy: So how do you guys write most of your stuff, lyrically and musically? What’s your process? Do you guys get together and do it? Do you do it separately?

Leigh: I think that’s the most common asked question from writing. We write it all. We’re not afraid to co-write. We have a song we did with Mick Mars on the record which part of being a musician is learning what other musicians are doing that you might not be doing that can trigger a melody, can help trigger a lyric, can trigger a phrasing technique that you weren’t think of. It’s kind of like being a parent. You watch how your grandparents did it, then you watch how your friend did it and say, “I didn’t think about that.” This whole business, I once heard Michael Jordan, we used to go to his basketball camp every year, and he told me once that all it is in this world is stealing people’s ideas. You know what I mean. Respectfully stealing their ideas, and making them your own. And finding out what is best for you and finding your place in the musical world. But we’re just going to keep writing. There is no set way. Every song is different. “100 in a 55” ended up being one of mine at the time where I didn’t even know if it was going to be a Pop Evil song, but the band loved it. “Last Man Standing” was one that Matt and Tony were working on and we didn’t know if it was going to be a Pop Evil song at the same time. The coolest thing about being in a band is that there are five guys that have musical inputs from five different areas, five different avenues and kind of meshing those together whether it’s all five of us at the same time, a couple of us at the same time, or just one of us. It’s about making those into a unique entity that is a Pop Evil song.

Amy: Then you play it for each other and get the feedback?

Leigh: We do. We get just as excited playing it for each other, playing it for our parents, our close friends. I remember playing “Monster” for our friends before it was even thought about, and “100 in a 55” for that matter. Each song has a life of its own.

Amy: So you’re going to be in Cincinnati. Is there anything you like to do in Cincinnati or you can remember having a day off?

Leigh: I haven’t had a ton of time in Cincinnati with days off. I’ve had some time in Columbus, I’ve had some time in Dayton, I’ve had some time in Cleveland. I just love Ohio to be honest. Being a Michigan guy, you always would think with the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio all the time, I wouldn’t. But some of the craziest, coolest Pop Evil fans in the country are in the great state of Ohio. It’s weird, growing up a sport’s guy, you relate different states to their sports teams. And now when you’re in a touring rock band that’s growing, it’s weird because some of the teams, and without saying teams that I don’t like because I’m a die-hard Detroit guy so I’m a die-hard Detroit Lions guy.

Amy: So we’re not going to talk about the Bengals?

Leigh: I don’t have any bad blood for the Bengals. Not to age myself, but I am guilty. I did do the Ickey Shuffle and I did want the Bengals to beat the 49ers that year. So I shed some tears that year. It’s just fun. It’s just fun to have those in state rivalries. The people that love rock music and that come and support. Ohio has been incredible and been nothing but Pop Evil love in the state of Ohio and I can’t wait for more good times in Cincinnati.

Amy: Any crazy Rock on the Range stories?

Leigh: There are so many. We actually had a lot of family there this particular Rock on the Range. There were not a lot of stories this time. Everyone was good because we had been gone. I think we had been doing the Papa Roach tour for the last two months. So we didn’t get a chance to do the Midwest, we were out on the West coast. Which whenever you get to the West coast, it’s unbelievable.

Amy: So everybody comes to see you since it is within driving distance?

Leigh: Yeah, we had a lot of fans. Nothing abnormal. The first one was fun, definitely stories before Rock on the Range and after Rock on the Range. But Rock on the Range is always so business, management always flies out, the labels all come out. It’s a good time. It’s kind of like band camp, where you kind of see all your band mates that you have been touring with over the last couple years. And you just get together.

Leigh: It’s just one of those things where you get that many great rock bands together with that many great fans and you just kind of have a special day, with all the excitement, it’s rare to get that all year long what Rock on the Range brings to you. Every band you talk to, every band member you talk to loves it, whoever has played it, it is an unforgettable experience. You wish it was Rock on the Range every day.