{"id":187825,"date":"2026-03-11T22:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T22:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/187825\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T22:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T22:07:10","slug":"young-orlando-alt-rockers-catnap-take-their-new-songs-on-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/187825\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Orlando alt-rockers Catnap take their new songs on the road"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CatnapCatnap Credit: courtesy image<\/p>\n

Orlando alternative-rock trio Catnap, contrary to their name, are not snoozing \u2014 in fact, they\u2019re currently a blur of momentum.<\/p>\n

The young band, who only played their first show in late 2023 at the Orlando Girls Rock Camp Fest, are releasing a new mini-album \u2014 their second \u2014 Songs From the Darkroom, on Friday. Soon after, they\u2019ll hit the road to perform the new material with shows in Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

The trio of Nina Friend (guitar\/vocals), Julia Deason (bass, vocals) and Angie Benbeneck (drums) have a lot of history, meeting in middle school and starting on music in various incarnations right off the bat. This included early forays by Friend and Deason writing music for violin and cello.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn middle school, I started playing guitar, Julia started playing bass and then we reunited with Angie, because she was a childhood friend of mine and she had just started playing the drums,\u201d remembers Friend. \u201cWe just started playing together, guitar-bass-drums. And I think that\u2019s when we were like, \u2018Let\u2019s start a band.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur epiphany was probably writing \u2018Talk!\u2019 That was like, the moment we were like, \u2018Oh, this is good, we should probably keep writing more,\u2019\u201d recalls Benbeneck. \u201cIt was the first song that we wrote that was actually catchy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And thus with a lineup solidified, some songs already written and a name suggested by a helpful parent adopted, Catnap was born. Soon enough, the band ventured on to the stage \u2014 a uniquely friendly one \u2014 for the first time at the all-day Orlando Girls Rock Camp Fest, which mixes and mingles bands coming out of that summer\u2019s camp with more established bands from all over Central Florida. We witnessed the set, as well as a second show at Stardust Video, and the three musicians were completely locked in and at ease, belying their lack of live experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so excited when we played our first show, I could not stop smiling,\u201d remembers Benbeneck. From that first show, the band found a place within a burgeoning scene of young guitar bands that play shows together and, crucially, encourage one another. The members of Catnap eagerly rattle off names of creative comrades.<\/p>\n

\u201cMisspell is awesome. We love them. Every time we play a show with them, it\u2019s just like a big hangout and it\u2019s really fun for us. Same thing with S.MO.P. They started in the Girls Rock Camp, and I was there when they were writing their first song. I got to see the lyrics being written in real time,\u201d says Friend. \u201cWe have a lot of fun with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catnap\u2019s sound is heavy, hazy and catchy, bringing to mind the freewheeling days of early-1990s alternative rock like Helium and Juliana Hatfield and Tsunami and Belly \u2014 well before leaden bores like Candlebox and Puddle of Mudd ruined everything. This sound is all over their debut EP Talk! from 2023. The band cops to influences both expected and not.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first started, I think we were very obsessed with the \u2019 90s,\u201d admits Friend. \u201cSmashing Pumpkins was a huge inspiration at first. But I think recently, we\u2019ve expanded our interests and music.\u201d Deason, meanwhile, cites a collective interest in newer shoegaze and emo bands.<\/p>\n

Songs From the Darkroom is out on lucky Friday the 13th via Bandcamp and streaming, proof positive of their expanded listening palette. It was recorded in a proper studio, Greenwood Recording, with Kyle Hoffer\u00a0 \u2014 who has previously worked with Cathedral Bells and Hail the Sun \u2014 for a bigger, more intricate sound.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never done anything like this before,\u201d says Benbeneck. \u201cWe recorded our first EP in my house with one of my parents\u2019 friends, so this was a very big change of scenery. It was a lot of work and a very long process \u2026 but when we were all in the room, listening to it come together, that was really awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for the writing process, I would say that the lyrics on this EP are the most vulnerable lyrics that I\u2019ve ever written, and I\u2019m really excited to share that with people. The Talk EP is just 14-year-old us and this one shows a few years older us,\u201d says Friend.<\/p>\n

As we mentioned, this EP will be heralded into the world with a trio of shows where the band will be playing with friends made through previous gigs \u2014 notably OGRC alumni S.M.O.P. as well as Fawn and Misspell at the Orlando show at Conduit. But there will also be forays into Tampa \u2014 the Orpheum with Mossheads and Indigo Lane \u2014 and Jacksonville \u2014 Hard Love with Anthony Mikus, Kicklighter, Gnomes of Neptune and Echo Foxtrot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We ask about the influence of their Orlando music peers on Catnap; of late we\u2019ve noticed younger Orlando musicians seem to be really pulling for and supporting and inspiring one another in ways that maybe some previous generations were a bit more averse to do. (Trade secrets? Who knows.)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of watching local shows is honestly just watching the drummer, because I play the drums. I\u2019ve taken so much inspiration from them,\u201d says Benbeneck. \u201cMore than with bigger bands, I feel more connected to them. It\u2019s more relatable than some bigger band.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started the band when I was in eighth grade, and right around freshman year I started going to shows at Stardust, which is near my house. And that was eye-opening for me,\u201d says Friend. \u201cI had never been to shows before, and I went to my first Stardust show, and I was like, \u2018OK, this is what I\u2019m going to be doing every single weekend, where I\u2019m going to go with my friends, and this is where I want to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking past this week\u2019s burst of activity, the three musicians are just taking things one gig at a time. To that end, there may or may not be a chance to see them at a newer Winter Park venue in the near future. Much like the titular Darkroom, we just have to see what develops.<\/p>\n

Catnap with S.M.O.P., Misspell, Fawn: 7 p.m. Sunday, March 15, Conduit, 6700 Aloma Ave., Winter Park, conduitfl.com<\/a>, $16.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.<\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Cocktails\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe beloved horror-themed bar gets put to rest later this month\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Young\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tTheir second EP, \u2018Songs From the Darkroom,\u2019 drops on Friday.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"West\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tFor Ian Shelton, music is just as much about how it makes you feel as how it sounds\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

This article appears in March 11-17, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Catnap Credit: courtesy image Orlando alternative-rock trio Catnap, contrary to their name, are not snoozing \u2014 in fact,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[88103,88104,88105,139,88106,50641,141,140],"class_list":["post-187825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-catnap","tag-greenwood-recording","tag-ogrc","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-bands","tag-orlando-girls-rock-camp","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}