For Josh Hodges, lead singer of STRFKR, one thing the band’s current tour lacks is a tour cat. He’s missing his new kitten, which he got before the tour began.

“If there was ever a tour cat, it would be him,” the musician said of his pet.

Oregon-based “feel good” group STRFKR is set to take the stage at The Westcott Theater on Monday to tour their albums “Vault” volumes one, two and three. This music marked a change in the group’s sound. Fans can expect a concert that’s been crafted to their liking.

The “Vault” volumes offer a peek into how STRFKR’s music is written, said Hodges, who writes songs by messing around with sounds until he finds something he likes.

“(The albums) are a bunch of little ideas that I never ended up flushing out. They’re all pretty old songs that were a part of my collection of demos that I never finished,” Hodges said.

Now, the band — consisting of Hodges, Keil Corcoran, Shawn Glassford and Patrick Morris — is touring these albums. Their 2018 tour leg began in Santa Cruz, California, and ends in Columbus, Ohio, at the end of February.

Hodges said the band tries to rotate through songs to create unique set lists so that shows will have variety in their performances. They post polls on social media platforms to gage audience preference and respond to fan requests.

“We change a lot of (our performances) this tour, and we have a lot of albums now. Sometimes we aren’t able to play what people want to hear, but we try to rotate through songs,” Hodges said.

The band tries to build up intensity at certain points in their shows, something that the set list reflects. Hodges said he likes to talk with fans after the show to hear their opinions on the performance so the band can improve for their upcoming sets.

Hodges said he doesn’t have a favorite song to perform. Instead, he enjoys playing drums, although he said the band’s drummer Corcoran is much better. Hodges knows how to play simple songs — ones that are easy and fun to play on the drums — but he doesn’t do it often.

“There’s a joke among musicians that they want to be drummers and drummers want to be something else,” he said.

STRFKR is performing Monday at The Westcott Theater. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets can be purchased online.

The best part about touring, Hodges said, is traveling, especially with his friends.

“I love not having to think about real life for a while,” the singer said. “I also get to see parts of the country that I don’t always get to see, and I get to meet new people from different cities and countries I’ve never been to before.”

Published on February 25, 2018 at 8:25 pm

Contact Brooke: bnkato@syr.edu