About
“The Gorillaz of rock music.”
That’s a fair description used by one music industry exec when talking about The Imperfected, a band bus of ever changing collaborators with producer/bassist Chris Catero at the wheel. “I’ve been really blessed to have known, played and worked with some incredibly talented musicians and writers over the years. So, with The Imperfected I really wanted to put together an ongoing project where I could create music solely myself or involve lots of different people," says Catero. "A sort of "no rules" creative environment where I can consistently put out music under one flag. It’s rock n roll but it’s not premeditated nor completely predictable. The idea is to organically create some cool music and be in the moment when it arises.”
“One of the things I’ve always questioned is the seeming need for someone to put an artist in a tiny little musical box. What if there was no box from the start? That's really appealing to me. And very rock n roll."
For The Imperfected musical diversity is the modus operandi. While rock fans still wanna rock, they're now more broad and multigenerational. Playlists have bred eclectic tastes, with listeners becoming more responsive to a wider spectrum of music compiled together. The Imperfected fit this evolution. Today's independent artists secure placement on playlists with far greater ease than when they were completely stifled by corporate homogeneity. The audience in turn now finds more new music than ever before. And with a far more open ear.
"I'm just creating music that genuinely moves myself as well being something a little less expected for the listener, however that occurs.” says Catero.
Diversity is certainly a mantra for Catero. He wears multiple hats in the music business, among them being an artist, session player, producer, songwriter and videographer/graphic artist. He writes for production music libraries as well as at-hire mixing and producing, including an ongoing production partnership with producer/manager Alan Niven of Guns N' Roses and Great White fame. Over the years as a bass player he was an integral part of Metalblade recording artist Wardog and as well as radio-rockers Razer. As a hired gun he's toured with the likes of guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman and Dokken's Wild Mick Brown, as well as performing with Slash, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson and Alice Cooper. He also served as the artist relations director at Krank Amplification, the guitar amp manufacturer whose popularity dominated the metal scene from the mid 2000s to early 2010s. He's appeared in many musical product videos for companies, such as Epiphone Guitars and others.
The catalyst for The Imperfected's creation was the song that became the very first single, “I’m Vengeance”. It's a brooding and cinematic heavy rock slab originally earmarked for a library client. Its lyrical inspiration came after viewing the first trailer for Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” movie and a fanboy's love of all things The Bat. “At first it was somewhat just another song in my catalog. After taking on the Bat slant lyrically I started inquiring a bit to see if by chance I might be able to pitch it for some kind of use surrounding the movie. I missed on the movie but in that process I got an overwhelmingly positive reaction in general and was encouraged to do something with it regardless of its intended use."
"So having this very "me" standalone tune sitting in my catalog with no place to go got me thinking more seriously about using it in an artist capacity. Which was something I hadn't done in a while and realized I really missed. It turned out to be what kicked The Imperfected into motion.”
Armed with a whole slew of individual ideas needing an outlet, Catero got to work and has released a steady stream of songs since. The second single “Big Bang Boom”, a rowdy rocker on the subject of political megalomania, features a snarky video with Catero playing with himself (quite literally as he's in triplicate on bass and twin guitars) and a rapid fire offering of “where’s Waldo?” visuals that he describes as “examples of political douchebaggery with no sides taken”. The third single "Never Get It" was active rock mover, the first to fully feature a guest lead vocalist in John Holmberg, the popular radio morning show host of "Holmberg's Morning Sickness" on Phoenix's legendary rock station 98 KUPD. "High Fire" is stylistically very southern retro - a 70s styled dark blues slow burner that feels like it comes straight out of a Tarantino movie. If sex and sweat on a sweltering Texas night had a theme song this might be it. The accompanying video matches the heat. "Apocalypsis" finds Catero taking his cinematic trailer library skills and love of avant garde musical exploration and creating an evil slice of sci-fi cinematic doom. Composed entirely on bass with a myriad of production trickery, it's complimented by twisted throat singing and a quirky "Mystery Science Theater 3000"-esque video featuring his cat dreaming of world domination. Needless to say the musical palette has been broad.
The latest single "Need You Here Tonight" takes yet another stylistic turn, marrying dark heavy riffing to a decidely bright sounding and instantly catchy early 80s synth pop rock chorus. Featuring guest singer Matt Harris, whose dirty alt rock voice conjures thoughts of prime Jane's Addiction and Stone Temple Pilots, the song dances between shade and light in ways not typically found in most rock tunes. And the energetic accompanying video is just plain fun.
With a full slate of songs set to be released throughout 2025 the year is shaping up to be a busy one for The Imperfected. More to come!
