The last time we spoke with Cavity bassist Dan Gorostiaga, his band was gearing up for an April 10 benefit show he insisted would be a one-time reunion. But since then, the local sludge legends have already played one show at New York City club Saint Vitus back in September and are now gearing up for a December 18 concert at Churchill's with plans to write and record new music for the first time in more than a decade.
"We only got back together because a longtime friend [Priya Ray, of Kreamy 'Lectric Santa] asked us to play to help her raise money for a handicapped-accessible van," Gorostiaga says. "The five of us found the chemistry was still there. We practiced half a dozen times and played and said, 'Why not keep doing it?'"
That April show at Churchill's saw a packed house that was evenly mixed. "There were a lot of people that we hadn't seen in a long time, and then there were also a lot of younger people that had heard of us but never had a chance to see us play."
Still, Gorostiaga insists this isn't a true reunion because the band never officially stated it broke up. "Five years after we stopped, we'd still get emails asking us to play. Since we never put out a press release that we broke up, it was kind of a mystery whether we broke up or not."
Cavity's hiatus started in part because Gorostiaga went to New York to finish his master's in fine arts. In the past decade, he has been teaching art and now resides up the coast in Hobe Sound, which is still close enough to South Florida for him to make the long drive for rehearsals and gigs.
"I spend half my creative time doing art, the other half on our music," he says.
Now, Cavity is back where it all started, in the studio trying to pump out some new material. "It is a very slow and heavy drone," Gorostiaga says. "We're also looking to redo some of our early material."
Gorostiaga and the rest of Cavity are excited to return with a set the band specially curated for its hometown. There's only one concern: "It's the night that the new Star Wars movie comes out, so I hope anybody shows up."
Cavity with Xela Zaid, Other Body, and Trench. 9 p.m. Friday, December 18, at Churchill's Pub, 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami; 305-757-1807; churchillspub.com. Admission is $10.
