Pop Evil’s Leigh Kakaty Talks MI Sports, New Music, Matt DiRito’s Departure + More with GRD

West Michigan's own Pop Evil are rocking the Intersection in Grand Rapids Sunday night!

Get our free mobile app

It's always awesome to welcome Pop Evil back home and to catch up with singer Leigh Kakaty, who stopped by the GRD studios this week.

Since Leigh is a HUGE Michigan sports fan, we had to chat about the Detroit Lions (which as we all know, are having a rough season...) and the University of Michigan/ Michigan State game over the weekend.

Leigh talked about going to games being a great release, particularly now, as Pop Evil are starting work on a new album:

I'm a fan of sports, I try to support the teams that support the band and try to get out there and give myself a bit of any release that's away from music for a minute, I think is something that I need... It's nice to kind of refresh your mind. We're on the verge of writing a new record so I want to be fresh when I'm back in there doing the music thing and ready to go. So the sports have been a nice release.

At different point in the interview, Leigh talked about what the band has planned for next year, saying,

Somewhere in there we gotta get back in and record and finish this album... We're ready, man, new music is being written, and it's awesome already.

Pop Evil will be wrapping up their Versatile tour, in support of their album out earlier this year, in the next few days. Then early next they'll be touring with Shinedown and Ayron Jones.

Now, fans who are seeing Pop Evil for the first time in a while will notice a lineup change. This is what Leigh said about the departure of bassist Matt DiRito this past summer.

When COVID hit, things change. We tried to get Matt back, Matt decided to not come back on his own terms. So whatever it was to him, we didn't talk, we had never really discussed specifics after that. I just know that bands change and logistics and how we get things done, there was sense of urgency, now [more] than ever before. There was a lot of guys that found different jobs and found more consistent work. Whether that was Matt or not I'm not sure... but the reality of it is, people's goals have changed... We were among a lot of band's that band members decided not to come back... The band's gotta keep playing, we gotta keep pushing on, and we did. In some ways we've been stronger since. I think the four of us that remained we really made a commitment to really step toward each other rather than stepping away because of that loss with Matt. We realized just how fragile this was and to lose a brother like that and someone who'd been with us for so long, it's tough."

Since Matt's departure Joey "Chicago" Walser of Egypt Central and Devour the Day has joined Pop Evil on the road. Listen to the full interview below for Leigh's thoughts about what's next for the band.

And don't miss Pop Evil at the Intersection this Sunday, Nov. 7! They'll be joined by Like Machines and Avalon Black. Get your tickets here.