An Interview with The Caballerials: On Relational Ministry, Musical Inspiration, and Steve Caballero.

We recently had a chance to catch up with the four-piece Christian pop punk band, The Caballerials from Hawaii. They put together their first EP back in 2021, Waxed Curbs & Suburbs, and then recently released their first round of new music last month with the single, “Legend.” Derek and Lyle come with years of experience in the Hawaiian punk scene along with Warren and Shaun, who have years in the metal and ska scene. It was a great time to talk about the origins of the band, the namesake and how they incorporate their faith into everything that they do. If you enjoy the days of nostalgic punk, then take some time and check out The Caballerials!

The Caballerials is:

Derek Watkins - guitar, vocals

Lyle Matsuura - guitar, vocals

Shaun O’Brien - drums

Warren Cabading - bass

Solid Rock Unplugged: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me! Can you tell me a little bit about how the band came about?

Derek: Back before COVID, Lyle and I were just chatting. For years, we had wanted to do a project together. We were in different bands back in the old Hawaii punk scene days. We had done a couple things together over the years, but later on in life, we both moved back to Hawaii and got saved. We thought it would be cool to do something that would be almost like a ministry. We wanted an outlet to play music and we wanted it to be faith-based. We wanted to bring in that old school, that punk rock culture, that skate culture, that shaped us growing up. 

Through music, we wanted to reach people in that scene. A lot of them are far from God, but also the kids that are going to church today that like that music, that like that style, to give them something that’s different than what the world has to offer, something more positive and spirit-filled. That was prior to COVID and that’s kind of how things shaped up.

Lyle: Yeah, kind of like a bunch of old friends who had grown up together. Then there was a season of getting married, having children, then wanting some sort of outlet. We still have that creative bug to write some music. We've been in pop/punk bands for decades. I’ll let Shaun and Warren talk about their groups. I don’t know if you’re familiar, but Hawaii had a pretty good metal and hardcore scene in the 80s and 90s. Shaun’s band Bloodbath/Theocracy A.D. was super good, just raw 80’s thrash. You’ll have to check them out. I think they got some stuff, like eight cassette recordings. It’s super duper good, just old school thrash, like Shredapool, like old school Metallica kind of stuff. 

So the band was just a project, a bunch of old friends getting back together who had gotten saved in the past decade or so and wanting to do something to scratch that creative itch, but also do something positive like Derek was saying. We’ve gone through a few different iterations of the group, but this one now, all four members are Christians and things seem to be more fruitful at the moment. So we’re pretty thankful to God, especially at this stage of the game, at middle age, you know what I mean!

Shaun: Me and Derek actually used to be on a worship team, we used to be at the same church. When I saw his tattoo sleeves, without even asking what bands he played in, I’m like “Hey, we should put together a punk band!” Then life happens and full circle, I ended up not working at that church anymore. Then I get a call from Derek and Lyle saying “Hey, we put together a band. We thought about you!” So we started jamming and then Covid hit! Right when we started, so it was pretty much just moot, it almost didn’t count. 

We had a different bassist, then after he got married, he left the band. Derek and Lyle were like “You know anyone who can play the bass?” I’m like, “Yeah I do!” Warren used to play in a punk band, used to play congruent with my metal band. It was called Jah Ska. We were a hundred percent ministry. Everyone in the band was solid Christians and we would minister to high schools, different churches, all the islands of the state. We even did a mini tour in California, up and down the coast. That was the late 90s, early 2000s, then I moved to the mainland. When I came back, that’s when me and Derek started going to the same church. Fast forward, we asked Warren and it’s like old times, because me and Warren played for eight years in the ministry and we could flow from ska punk to worship very easily, so we did a lot of high school camps and we had that ministry mindset. Now we can have that unity in the band. 

Warren: It was kind of unexpected! When we were playing in the ska band, I was an electric guitarist. After the ska band, I just kind of did ministry, just did worship, leading worship teams and stuff. When Shaun asked me to join The Caballerials, I was like, “Wow it’s been a while since I was in a gigging band again.” So that was kind of cool, just picking up the bass, just filling in those spots in there. I think with all of us the awesome thing is, there’s a point where we’ve all kind of flowed in ministry. Whether we’re currently doing it, like Lyle’s still in ministry at his church and Derek and Shaun and myself. I think keeping us grounded, in that sense really keeps us tied back to Christ. I think that’s super important, especially when we do these types of things where we’re getting outside and stuff. Our center, our foundation is always Christ, so I think that’s the awesome thing about it.

Solid Rock Unplugged: So The Caballerials, that’s an interesting name! How did you guys decide on that name?

Derek: When Lyle and I were first chatting about forming a group, I said we wanted to bring something that kind of had a flavor of that old school nostalgic skate, punk skate kind of feel to it. We were just kicking around some names and ideas and we’re like “Oh, it’d be really cool to have something that would really capture that era and that vibe.” I started thinking of skate tricks that would be cool and for some reason Caballerials was one of the first that popped in my head. It’s better than The Shove-Its or The Kickflips or something kind of corny like that. 

Without even thinking about it at the time, the guy who created the maneuver, Steve Caballero, he’s a Christian guy and he’s one of the legends in that early kind of Bones Brigade. It felt like it checked a lot of boxes. I pitched it to the guys and it’s like “Oh yeah, that does work.” It’s fun, it captures that nostalgic aspect. It references a guy that’s a good Christian, he’s a brother, so it just checks all those boxes and it felt fun too!  

Shaun: It’s one of those “if you know, you know!” Steve Caballero, he’s a legend, hence the name of our new single.

Derek: It’s funny, there’s been a few instances, like we did a local tv spot back in 2021/2022 who was interviewing us before the song. Before we were filming, she had to really make sure she had the name right. I’ve heard people too, people who don’t know that it’s a skateboard move, they don’t know that whole thing. It’s funny hearing how they pronounce the name. But the ones who know, it’s like “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!” So that’s cool. 

Solid Rock Unplugged: What’s been the worst pronunciation you’ve heard?

Derek: Oh man, I don’t know!

Lyle: Probably that guy, that bar owner at the Lex said Cabalarios or something like that. “At the club tonight, there’s going to be a couple bands, uh, Cabalal…Cababallarios” or something like that!    

Derek: Yeah, it was something like that! It was enough where after the gig, we were kind of laughing about that one because we’re like “Oh! I wasn’t expecting that to cross my ears!”

Shaun: I would rather they just say “The Cabs!” then destroy the name! 

Solid Rock Unplugged: So, does Steve know about the band?

Derek: He does! He actually follows our Instagram page and we’ve had a few exchanges with him over the years. He’s been cool and super supportive. I think when we first recorded our EP, he even had something we posted in his reel on Instagram, like “Check these guys out, they’re in Hawaii, they created a band after me!” or something like that. It was pretty cool, when we post some updates, he’ll like the update and be super encouraging. It’s been cool that he’s been able to notice that we’re around and what we’re doing, so that’s been pretty rad. 

Lyle: We’ve exchanged some messages with him through Instagram and he’s super down to earth. I sent him the lyrics of the song when we wrote it, just because it’s pretty tongue-in-cheek. It takes some jabs at his height and stuff like that. He’s super cool, he thought it was hilarious. He’s a pretty amazing musician and artist as well. He’s kind of a jack of all trades. He dirt bikes and he plays music. If he’s not 60, he’s pushing 60 and he’s still on the ramp. He’s incredible. Super cool guy. 

Solid Rock Unplugged: With the single, “Legend,” are any thoughts of doing a music video and having him do tricks while you guys are playing?

Lyle: Oh that would be amazing! We’re kind of too embarrassed to ask him, to have this little band ask him. I think it was too big of an ask. He’s pretty busy…We were thinking of doing some kind of lyric video, with illustrations and stuff like that, but man, it’s time consuming. That's the tough part, right? Trying to get four adults to commit to practicing consistently. I wish we could do more, but yeah, unfortunately not.

Derek: It feels like we’re still trying to kind of, even though it’s been a long time, but Covid really slowed things down for us. We spent that time writing, then doing some recording, then with Cavan leaving the band. We also had a period of two years after the EP where we kind of set it on the side for a while because, you know, life. Now it feels like we’re kind of starting back up again, if you will. We’re really trying to get into a groove of writing a lot more music, which we’re in the process of right now. I think things will take shape, especially ever going to be able to shoot some videas and maybe getting some more photography and stuff out there. We’ll get there, we’re just taking it pretty slow. 

Shaun: As far as “Legend” goes, I can envision using actually his old videos instead of having to do new reels, because we’re talking about his past. So I could see that happening, where we just ask for clips of his older stuff. I have a friend who’s a professional videographer and he’s already reached out and said he’ll do our video for free, we just need the content.

Solid Rock Unplugged: How important is it for you guys to incorporate your faith into your music?

Lyle: I think that’s the number one motivation for doing the group. Being the age that we are and playing in a band, it’s definitely at the bottom of the priority list, in terms of life goes and everything going on in the world. I think providing, like Derek was saying, something positive and faith-filled to edify other believers out there, but also some people that may be on the cusp of looking. I don’t know if you guys have ever heard of people you go to church with or other testimonies of like the older heads, “Yeah, Stryper was so good, I had to listen to them alongside the secular groups!” Or whether that be Thrice or whatever generation you’re from. 

So I think that for us to throw in our hat, because the lyrics are not just full-on worship style lyrics, they’re kind of like a storyline and usually they have some kind of resolve, like some kind of prodigal quality to it. Just offering that and adding something positive and being a light in the scene to edify the believers and also maybe an entryway to someone who’s seeking God.

Warren: I think with the music, that’s the entry point. I think true ministry really starts, it doesn’t end with the music, but it starts there. It’s that one-on-one interaction that you have with whoever’s listening to it, the kids or whoever. That’s the open door where you can really seed Christ into their lives, whether from our experiences or our testimony, just from that viewpoint where you can really share and talk to people, building that bridge with individuals that you know hear the music and just really talking about it. That’s what’s where it really comes from, building that relationship with people. 

Derek: I’ll echo that. Having the music be something that it makes the introduction and we’re able to have that really relationship building conversation with people, that’s key. For me too, not growing up in the church, not that I’m writing these songs to myself, but writing these songs as if there’s someone out there that’s listening that was kind of in a similar spot that I was in. Maybe they’ve never heard of Jesus, maybe they don’t, whatever they’re kind of going through. Lyle was talking about songs having a clear storyline. The bands I’ve played in before, it was all about making tongue-in-cheek and just being kind of silly, but with this band, I’ve been really thoughtful and trying to be like “what’s really the storyline here?” 

With “Heartland Colors,” one from our EP, I was really trying to be like, how can I basically tell the story of the prodigal son in a way that could really reach or connect someone, like “Hey, you’re not too far gone, there’s always a way home.” So just having songs that, whether it outright preaches the gospel or just through storytelling, just gives us that in and then we share. It’s all kind of happening in the songwriting. For me, the songs I’ve been able to do, that’s the mindset I try to put myself in. Either, does this edify the body for current believers, or is there someone out there who’s going through some stuff and they can hear something like this and either be encouraged or at least be curious. Those are good door opening kind of songs and we’re hoping to use those as a ledge.

Shaun: One thing I want to mention, Derek and Lyle, they write the songs. When me and Warren were playing in our band, he wrote most of the songs. All three of them have a style of writing where it’s not just simple writing, it’s great stories. When I was learning the music for the EP, I finally got to hear the lyrics and I’m like, “Wow, this is good stuff!” It’s just good stories. I’m visual, I’m a graphic designer, so I can see the video in my head with these storylines. 

Like Warren mentioned, one thing that’s really important when we were doing our band ministry, like Derek and Lyle were saying, the music is to draw but ministry starts when the song ends. Were we cool to the sound guy? Are we helping take off our gear and helping the other band put their gear up? Are we interacting with the people at the bar? That’s the ministry focus, that we are starting to be more mindful of. Everyone’s going to these punk shows for whatever reason, to see old friends at the bar or to just find camaraderie within that punk scene, so we’re trying just to be a part, be mindful of the people that we meet. That’s half the fun of it too! Lyle’s really good with that. He’s like talking to an old friend from another band from decades ago and before you know it, he’s sharing the Gospel!

Lyle: Trying to, trying to!

Solid Rock Unplugged: With new music on the horizon, what’s the creative process like when you guys get together?

Derek: I think we’ve been trying to dial it in. I think it’s taking shape in a few different forms. In some cases, we’ll catch an idea and then do a quick acoustic demo. For the EP, there were a couple of songs where I just have my laptop and Garage Band to try to just get a sense of how to do different tracks, especially trying to arrange the vocals, how that’s going to sound. Lyle and I in the early days would spend some time on acoustic just trying to jam things out to get “Hey, what’s really the core of this song, like what does it sound like?” and then we would bring it to the broader band to make this a whole band style.

I think lately with Warren joining, we’ve been taking some more raw ideas into our practice space and “Hey, we’re going to run through this idea maybe a couple times, but let’s kind of see what happens.” I think that’s been really fruitful and it’s been a fun way to write. It doesn’t have to be near ready to go into the studio, let’s just get the core idea into the mix and see what the four of us can come up with. For the lyrics, we’ll kind of jot stuff down, we’ll do some music charts just to kind of have ideas handy and have that available while we’re writing. I think lately with Warren on board, we’ve really just been doing a lot more in the practice space and that’s been a lot of fun. 

Shaun: I just bounce off whatever you guys are doing and “Oh, that sounds great!”

Lyle: I think Derek and I have been writing verses and choruses for this new batch of songs, which it’s been years, so we’re really excited to try to do some recording and put more music out. Shaun and Warren, they’re the rhythm section, they have a really good chemistry. They’ve been jamming with each other for decades, so it’s real loose, man! Derek and I bring verses and choruses and then we just kind of jam it out. It’s real loose, it’s kind of vibe focused and we’re paying a bit more attention to dynamics. If the song is really heavy at the beginning, how do we maintain that energy? Derek and I made some bullet points of things we wanted to hit. We want the song to honor God, we definitely want it to have something unexpected in it, definitely want to have something that connects with people immediately. 

When you hear a band and you basically try to emulate them, as that goes on, your music palate changes. You get introduced to different things and in certain genres, there’s certain artists that you kind of click with. After all this time, we have all these different influences. Out here in Hawaii, there’s a big Hawaiian reggae influence. You might not hear that directly in our music, but Shaun and Warren, their ska leanings and stuff like that. It’s more interesting for us, for whoever the song originates with, instead of telling them “Hey, just play this. I want you to do 16ths here and the break here” to just let people bring their own style and kind of add their own seasonings to it.

That’s one really interesting thing about being older and writing music with people that you’ve known for a long time because you have more to pull from life-wise and also music-wise. It’s cool. That’s why the Bob Dylans and Neil Youngs can get together like “dude, I’ve been playing with this guy for literally 50 years. I don’t even have to tell you a key or nothing.” It’s kind of like that. I don’t know how to read music, so it’s all kind of vibe. Even though it’s very simple pop-punk music, and there’s millions of pop-punk bands, we still have our own style. Maybe it’s not the best musically, but at least it’s unique! We could probably go on in a different direction about this, but you got the AI stuff coming out, right, I think it’s important. People want something that’s tangible and honest with warts and all.

Warren: The awesome thing coming into the band, it’s Derek and Lyle, their songwriting is just awesome, so I try to go off with their theme and capture the heart of what they’re trying to say with the groove and what me and Shaun are doing. It’s a fun creative process. This is what the lyrics are about. This is the theme. How do I represent that through the rhythm section? Through the bass and bouncing off of Shaun and stuff. I just love their lyrics and stuff, so much poetry in it. I don’t know if that’s the right word to say, but yeah, there’s poetry in it. 

Shaun: I’m trying to hold back a lot. I used to be in a hardcore metal band, so when I was asked if I want to play in this band, I’m like “Yeah, for sure!” But the drummer they had before me was very technical and I’m like “I can’t do that.” But what I am trying to bring is super simplistic, yet heavy, but not choo-choo train, chugga-chugga, you know. So I’m actually trying to dial back and play as simple as possible with the heaviness behind it. 

Lyle: Yeah, he definitely serves the song. Warren, I think when me and Derek were jamming one of the newer songs, I didn’t know what to say, other than the vibe is kind of like the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. 

Warren: Yeah, I love that movie!

Lyle: That’s how we all kind of are, all kind of vibe based, very cinematic and visual. Like “Okay, this lyric could use a minor chord,” or something like that. But that’s the only way I could describe it. Like, “Oh, what should I play here on bass?” “I don’t know, the vibe of the song I want to sound cold and East Coast.” And he was like “Yeah I got you!” Then what he played kind of matched that feeling. I think that’s just a chemistry thing. That was a really neat thing. 

Derek: It’s fun too, especially with Warren and Shaun going back so many years, and Lyle and I going back so many years. Kind of dual tracks. Lyle and I listened to a lot of the same music growing up. I think some of that music is new to Shaun and Warren and vice versa. But it’s cool that we have two different styles, but in the same family. There’s sometimes I’ll think of something when we’re writing and I’ll look over to Lyle and be like “Hey, it’s kind of like Beach Slang meets Menzingers, you know that one song?” And he knows exactly what I’m talking about. 

Shaun: And then I have to do my homework!

Derek: Then we sometimes have to do a little bit of translation because I know Shaun doesn’t listen to those bands. So there’s a little bit of translation. But I think the cool thing about that is, it’s not carbon copying certain sounds. We all have our own inspiration. Then there’s how it all comes together in the mix to kind of become it’s own thing. So it’s fun to have that organic process of either “Hey, it’s like this one song, or this one thing” or texting each other ideas. Just the whole creative process with the band as it currently is today. Especially when we get in the practice space, it’s just a lot of fun. 

Lyle: It’s funny after all this time, still laboring over what three chords to use. I know you’ve interviewed a whole bunch of metal bands. I have no idea what their time signatures and all that kind of stuff, you know what I mean? For us, it’s these three chords, it’s still what inversion to use or something like that. The guitar players, Lou Reed, John Reis from Rocket From The Crypt and the Hot Snakes, even Bob Dylan, their power came from their strumming hand, not necessarily from the technical things they were doing. Even Mike Ness from Social Distortion, their power comes from their strumming hand. But those guys are some of the best, there’s so much feeling in their sound and tone. You know what I’m saying? So I think as somebody who’s super duper basic, those are the kind of things I like to translate through our music. Yeah, I can’t shred!

Derek: Yeah, like Lyle said, I’m a self taught kind of guy. I don’t read sheet music. Which I think is also kind of a limiting factor to me. Sometimes I’m like “Shaun, can you play this beat?” And I had to mimic the beat with my mouth, because I’ve got no idea what technical drum term this means. I’m just going to make the sound. So there is that, but I think there is, like Lyle was saying, there’s a lot of polished pop punk out there. Especially nowadays with the advancements and all the recording technologies.

I’ll be honest, I’m a fan of the glossy stuff, just as much as anybody else. But there comes a time where it’s just very synthetic. It does tend to really just sound the same across a lot of groups. We’re just trying to keep it simple. But at the same time, we’re trying to keep it unique enough to our sound. I think our sound has been evolving over time. I think we’re closer now than we ever have been to, if we heard ourselves on the radio, be like “oh, that’s a Caballerials song.” We’re not quite there yet, but I think we’re getting there. 

Solid Rock Unplugged: I’m hearing a lot of influences. What would you say your biggest influences are?

Derek: For me, musically but also from the craft of songwriting, definitely groups like Gaslight Anthem. Listening to really early old school Springsteen, that’s what really inspired me getting back into this band. I really want to put the time and effort into creating quality lyrics and telling a good story. Yeah, Gaslight Anthem has been huge for me. Other acts like The Menzingers, Get Up Kids, and a band that I don’t know too many folks know called Driver Friendly, a really good pop up band. Just those kinds of bands have been really influential on the craft of songwriting, but also the overall sound. 

Shaun: For me, its the gap between bands. I just played for worship, not just my church, but for many other churches on the island. So yeah, Feel Welcome. But then I listen to Diamonds to Dust, so that’s a huge gap from Feel Welcome to Diamonds to Dust! But, I just enjoy all kinds of music. I’m pushing 60, so I don’t want to just be stuck in a musical era, because I really do enjoy music, all styles. So I try to keep my mind open and anything Derek and Lyle throw my way, like Beach Slang, I’m loving it! It’s just so much music to listen to and not enough time. 

Warren: I think for me, coming from a Ska background, it was like 311, No Doubt. Bands like Acceptance, Thrice, Paramore. I’m really into that fusion of genres where you just kind of make it work, kind of like that 311 sound, that No Doubt sound. Like Shaun, I’m just influenced with a lot of different styles of music: funk, jazz, lounge, and of course worship. I think that shapes my playing style. Then, in a sense, it’s like that ingredient that you add to a bowl of soup. You know, this little herb here, little herb here, or this little salt or pepper here kind of adds flavor to the overall dish. 

Lyle: For me, I guess I like the poppy alt-country kind of stuff, like Ryan Adams. In the punk world, The Weakerthans. But the music that inspires me is the Christian hip-hop, because of the boldness. They’ve got to write a lot more lyrics than we do, you know what I’m saying? There’s a guy named Miles Minnick, there’s a group from maybe 10 years ago called Beautiful Eulogy, like Brian Braille. There’s this rapper Z and EGR that are really good. There’s a guy named Cephas that’s really good. I think he’s from Ohio or something. But they’re so good! It’s different than the emo and pop punk kind of stuff. That kind of witnessing through music, as a believer, gets me really pumped. That energy, I’d like to put into the song that I make, but I do lean towards kind of pop punk and alt-country, classic rock, and stuff like that. 

Solid Rock Unplugged: You guys have talked about new music, besides “Legend.” How close are we to this new material coming out?

Derek: Pretty close, I think. We’ve been making some progress on a couple of songs. We probably have four to six songs to work through. Kind of getting back to the process, I think historically for me, in previous bands, it was always about go and try to do a lot at once. But now it’s like “hey, let’s just take the time. Let’s spend some quality time, song by song.” Maybe that takes an entire session, maybe that takes a few sessions. But we want to kind of give it some room to breathe and let that creative process flow. I’d say we’re close on a couple. 

We’ve got a couple more that we want to try to get locked in. We’re playing AudioFeed Fest in July. So the goal is to have at least another four plus songs in the queue for the set for the show. We’re trying to see if we can get some studio time next month. Maybe that’s another single, maybe that’s another couple songs, we’re just going to play it by ear. 

Solid Rock Unplugged: Are you thinking of a full length album or another EP?

Derek: I would say what’s probably most realistic would be another EP. But we may even do a string of singles. I don’t know if we really landed on how it’s going to take shape. But I think at the end of the day, I think the single theme, a lot of bands are kind of going that way. I think it’s kind of cool, for bands that I follow to get continuous music updates. I’d love to have the full album, but if they’re dropping a really killer single once every couple few months, that’s awesome as well. So we’ll just see how it goes. 

Lyle: It would be nice to do a full album, but I think realistically that might take us another three years, under the pressure to put more material out. It’s cool because you get stoked on something, then you write a batch of songs and it’s got a certain kind of theme or vibe. I’ve heard groups like Newfound Glory say oh, we wanted to write a really classic Green Day style anthemic pop punk song. So this album was a collection of more of that style. Then we were more in a metal mode, or we’re more in a playing fast kind of mode. 

So this next group of songs, I think they fit together as a whole, which is an EP. I think that would make the most sense to maybe do a single and then do another EP because this collection of songs kind of fit together. Then we can see what goes next after that. But we got to prepare. We got to represent Hawaii well at AudioFeed. So that’s kind of our focus right now. It’s only a few months away. I’m hoping we’ll do a single before AudioFeed, then we’ll check with Paul and Small Step to see what the schedule is and then release the EP. That’s what my hope is, but you never know! Our pressure is on ourselves to represent. 

Solid Rock Unplugged: Speaking of AudioFeed, any other touring plans this year?

Derek: Not at the moment. AudioFeed’s the only thing we have on the calendar, but we’re always open for more shows. I was even telling Lyle, it’d be cool to even get involved with some local churches. A lot of the churches on the island do youth camps and stuff. I think any opportunity for us to play and do our thing as a ministry, obviously a lot easier here in the states than it is on the mainland, but we’re always open to see what God has in store. But nothing is on the books. 

Lyle: Hopefully when we go to AudioFeed, we’re going to get to meet some of the Small Step roster for the first time and that would be super cool . I think that Paul is starting to get more traction with his label. He’s found a market for that nostalgic style of pop and a certain age demographic. So that would be cool to do a Small Step tour with some of those groups and jump on with some of those. Where God guides, God provides!

Shaun: I think it’s just absolutely amazing. We’re all getting older and there’s a point where every single one of us thought, “Okay, I’m done with the band thing and will probably just play for church.” Then God allows this to happen. Then we get signed by a label and then we get asked to do a fest. It’s hilarious! It’s great. God is so good. He’s like “Hey, I didn’t forget you guys. I’m going to redeem some of your past.” I think it’s so great. So we’re taking it a step at a time, that one small step. I think we just need to be aware of where God wants to lead us. Then we just have to walk through those doors and be obedient. God’s going to open up any kind of touring or anything like that. 

Solid Rock Unplugged: You guys keep talking about this nostalgia. When I was listening to the EP, I was imagining myself 20 years ago, playing Tony Hawk. It just sounds like a summer EP, like you’re driving around with the windows down. 

Derek: That’s so cool to hear. That means a lot and it’s super encouraging to hear that. Lyle, when you were talking about trying to communicate a song or a collection of songs, and it kind of has a vibe. Garrett, you nailed it with the EP. I think even as we were writing the songs, it’s like, “This is summertime. We’ve got our boards in the back. We’re going to the beach. We just got out of class at UH, and we’re going to go paddle out.”  It was that kind of vibe. It’s cool that it seems like that’s coming through. 

Lyle: All those legacy groups, like the Face to Faces, the Dropkick Murphys and those types of groups, you go back and listen to those records that are now doing their 30 year anniversary of some of those albums. But the songs are strong! The melodies are strong. These songs are classic for a reason and as punk gets older, the best stuff will still rise up, just like any genre. To write a really classic punk rock anthemic song, it’s not that easy, you know? Those guys make it look easy. That’s super duper awesome.

Solid Rock Unplugged: What’s one message you would like to give your fans?

Shaun: We have fans? Cool!

Lyle: I would say, God loves you. Whatever challenges you’re going through, Jesus went through himself. He took on the whole human experience. So there’s nobody else in the world that knows to the T what you’re going through, but God does. If you need help or need encouragement, we’re happy to be some sort of resource. We’re not therapists or social workers. We’re broken people that love God and want to encourage others. So if anyone wants to hit us up for prayer, or just to chat us up as regular dudes. We’ve got a love for people and it’s a lot going on in the world. So if we can shine any light on the truth, on the hope of the gospel, then even in this little pop punk band that we have, that’s what I would personally like to convey with our little platform. 

Derek: I think Lyle captured it really well. The only thing I’d double tap there is, if you’re someone who’s come across our music and you’re going through some stuff, hit us up on a DM. Instagram might be the easiest way. We love to engage, we love to chat. Whether that’s sharing the Gospel or even dabbling a little bit in apologetics and defending the faith. Lyle and I, we keep some text threads with guys we’ve known for years going back to the Hawaii punk scene that in some cases are atheist or agnostic. We love to just chat about skateboarding, sports, but then also theology when it comes up. Just like Warren was saying too, it’s really about the music is the first step. The path of discipleship is really just that connection. We’re trying that, either through a text thread with some folks that we’ve known for a while, or if you’re out there and you come across our music and something resonates with you or something troubles you, or you’ve got questions, hit us up! We’re happy to chat. 

Lyle: I was going to quote Shaun. Friendship evangelism, right?

Shaun: You hit it, that’s exactly what I was going to say. It keeps me relevant with this generation. I’m all about friendship evangelism. I’m just so grateful for this platform to be relevant to the younguns. Because, I’m as old as a lot of people’s dads. I’m like they’re grandpa’s age! But when I say I’m in a punk band, they’re like “Oh, what?” So it gives me an open door, an open avenue to speak some relevance into the conversation. 

Lyle: Shaun’s definitely the most popular of the four of us. He’s got thousands of friends all over the world, everybody loves him. He knows just about everybody. He’s like six degrees of Kevin Bacon, but it’s the six degrees of Shaun O.

Shaun: It’s my age. People say that I owe money to Moses!

Solid Rock Unplugged: Anything else you want to share?

Lyle: If we could just thank Paul and Small Step Records for all the input, taking a chance on us and supporting us. We really appreciate him. All the other independent Christian outlets like yourself, all the extra efforts you put in. Just you guys existing, and me finding Brotality through you guys, that’s a win! People are going to find things that they would have never known existed because of resources like yours. So I want to give a shout out to you guys for sure, man. 

Derek: We appreciate the opportunity and we appreciate anybody who’s out there listening. Like I said, we’re happy to be here, happy to be doing this. Hopefully we got a lot more music and opportunities coming our way. We just look forward to engaging and connecting with as many people as possible and sharing the good news and sharing some encouragement!

Go check out The Caballerials on Facebook and Instagram. Read our review of their newly remastered EP, Waxed Curbs & Suburbs and go stream it over on Spotify!