Features

Philadelphia’s Catbite is back—and they’ve got something to say. After nearly three years without new music, the genre-blurring ska-punk quartet returns with Doom Garden, out now on Bad Time Records. Packed with infectious grooves and layered with introspection, the EP marks a bold new chapter for a band known as much for their energy as their evolution.

With a massive 2025 tour on the horizon—including dates with Yellowcard, Hot Water Music, and Less Than Jake, plus festival stops around the world—Catbite is poised to bring their revitalized sound to an even wider audience. We sat down with the band to talk healing through songwriting,and what fans can expect from this next phase of the Catbite universe.

PRT: You recently released a video for 'Die In Denver,' a campy homage to horror B-movies. Was that the director’s vision, or are you all longtime fans of the genre? And if so, do you have a favorite classic?

TIM: to be honest, horror movies scare me haha but when I had the idea for this video, I told our director, “Scooby doo, meets scream, on ice/in an empty arena”

PRT: The song is taken off your new 'Doom Garden' EP, your first release in three years. Why the choice to release an EP rather than a full-length?

TIM: when there’s only  6 new songs on the record, it makes it easier to put all, or most, of the record into the set. And we really really like these songs, so we wanna put them all in the set and play them live along with the classics 

PRT: You recorded 'Doom Garden' with Sarah Tudzin, who’s worked with artists like boygenius and illuminati hotties. What did she bring to the table?

TIM: she’s really nice and funny and super easy to work with in the studio. The had so many cool ideas, but was never overstepping, or forcing her ideas onto our songs. she also had so many studio tricks to bring our songs to life. 

PRT: You’ve said the EP’s songs came from a more self-reflective place. Were there any realisations about yourself while writing the lyrics?

BRIT - Totally! I realized how much I am not as okay as I thought I was!!!! I think (I know) I’ve put off for a long time digging deep into trauma that I experienced as a child but had managed up until now to ignore it to the best of my ability. But that shit creeps back up in unexpected ways and that’s definitely happened to me in several different aspects of my life. It’s hard and upsetting to write songs and know like wow I’m kind of a mess of a person but writing it out has helped me to start the process of moving past and that’s what I’m trying to focus on. 

PRT: What made you decide to open up more in your lyrics, instead of keeping those personal reflections to yourself?

BRIT- I don’t know if it was a conscious thought to be more vulnerable with these songs. Previous songs I’ve written were about past and present relationships and that too is vulnerable but I think writing about how you see the bad in yourself is somehow more terrifying to put out into the world. Admitting that I think terribly of myself is HARD. Especially being in the spotlight you want everyone to think everything is great and fine and you’re happy! I think these songs would’ve found me at some point in life and it just happens that it’s right now  

PRT: I read that you were all inspired by the Hieronymus Bosch painting 'The Garden of Earthly Delights.' What about the painting struck you the most that made it a fitting influence for the EP? 

BEN: The inspiration there is a little retroactive. We were on tour in Europe last year (after we wrapped recording), and we had some time to kill in the Netherlands. We visited a gallery of Bosch’s work in the church he would have attended back in the 16th century, which included some updated pieces by modern artists interpreting his work into their own styles. We all collectively realized that a lot of the mood and themes of Bosch’s original work as well as the contemporary interpretations fit really well with the songs we had just recorded; Bosch’s frustration with the nature of humanity -how people treat each other and themselves -is still persistent and something that we’ve felt ourselves struggling with even 500 years after these works were created. So as soon as we left we were doing a brainstorm in the van about how to weave some references to Bosch into the album title and artwork. It turned out our friend Nicole who was putting the art together was in the middle of a Bosch phase herself, and had already taken a lot of inspiration from him for the drafts she was working on. 

PRT: You have guest contributions on the EP in the form of Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump and Sweet Pill's Zayna Youssef. How did those come about?

TIM: we knew we wanted a guest vocal for this song, and had a few people in mind. Some reasonable, and some crazy like Patrick stump. But we totally just shot our shot with Patrick. I still can’t believe it, but we knew he liked ska, and I knew he was aware of us, so we found a way to reach out to him, sent him the song, then waited. A few months later he emailed us telling us he loved that song and wanted to sing on it. Then he just sent us 31 vocal tracks and 1 trumpet tracks of him doing all these awesome vocal parts! 

TIM: and Zayna is a good friend of ours! We’ve had the pleasure of getting to know her and her band Sweet Pill from playing a show together and just hanging at shows in Philly. She was our number one pick for guest vocal in this song, so we sent her a message and she said YEAH!

PRT: There is an impressive amount of ska-related jokes out there. Do you have a favorite?

ska music blows *insert picture of a horn*

I have a buddy who has a “Ska’d for life” tattoo so my favorite ska joke is making fun of him for that

PRT: It still feels like you either love ska or hate it and there's not a lot of middle ground. Why do you think the genre has people so divided?

TIM: not really sure, I think a few millennials listened to the wrong ska bands and decided it was all bad and dorky, and it just became a fad/trend to hate on it. Gang mentality, people love to hate on things that other people hate on  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯..im just happy that a lot of the younger generation are discovering ska and really digging it. Even people my age (millennials) who used to shit on it all the time are getting stoked on some of the active ska bands.

BRIT- I don’t know why there is any hate on any music but especially ska. The power behind the origin of ska alone should have ppl hype and where its gone from there! The story of ska moving through waves is so cool and most genres can’t say they’ve gone through that. There will always be haters and ppl who like to be music snobs and that’s SILLY!!!! Enjoy what you love and let others do the same!!

PRT: You’ve always been road warriors, and your upcoming tour schedule reflects that. Do you have a personal routine or ritual that helps you stay grounded while touring?

TIM: I just absolutely love touring, it’s always when I feel my happiest. When on the road, I listen to  lots of good podcasts or audiobooks when I’m driving. I also try to take advantage of all the good food wherever I am, good food = happy brain. And lastly, I try to go to the gym every morning that I can when we stay in hotels 

BEN: As often as we can we like to do side quests while we’re on the road. Roadside tourist traps, scenic vistas when we’re driving out west, taking a walk to an old town square when we’re overseas. The routine of touring is mostly being in the van or being in the venue, so any way to get some fresh air is always welcome. 

BRIT- WASH MY FACE BEFORE BED! it’s a must for real!!!! Nothing worse than waking up with face full of crusty makeup and bad skin