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PD Profiles: Cactus Day Job By Matt Spence

It’s nine o’clock on Saturday night, and the performance area at the back of VisArt in Charlotte is jumping to the sound of indie rock. The space is filled with teenagers who dance and sing along with the band at the front of the venue – Cactus Day Job. Barely visible over the heads of the sold-out crowd, this group of four Providence Day seniors has come a long way since its formation just ten months ago.

In October of 2021, Chloe Heneghan, Charlie Hardy, Christian Smith, and Ian Hamilton decided to form a band, so they met at Hardy’s house to practice a few songs they knew. Over the next few weeks, they rehearsed a few cover songs from bands like The Strokes, Her's, and Pinegrove. They also wrote some of their own songs, drawing from their knowledge of jazz, rock, funk, and country.

While they worked on their repertoire of songs, they struggled to come up with a name for their band. Smith, one of the guitarists and vocalists, recalls that he and Ian Hamilton, the bassist, sat in a car for over an hour, brainstorming. Smith says, "We just kept saying words and putting them together, looking for some sort of combination. After an hour, we came up with Cactus Day Job and went with it."

Last December, Cactus Day Job played their first gig and opened for a Charlotte band. Since then, Cactus Day Job has steadily gained fans and recognition. They have performed ten times over the past eight months, and their Instagram account has more than 450 followers. Initially, they opened shows for other bands, but they are now the main act. Heneghan, the band's drummer, says, "When we first started, I was reaching out to everyone to see if we could open for them, and now we're getting requests from other bands asking if they can open for us."

We didn't become friends to form the band; the band formed out of our friendship. – Christian Smith
Christian Smith plays guitar and sings for Cactus Day Job.

THe band

Each member of Cactus Day Job is an experienced musician.

Ian Hamilton (class of '23), pictured here, says that when he was young, he wanted to play the bagpipes. So, his parents made a deal with him: if he learned to read music, he could play whatever instrument he wanted. Hamilton never did pick up the bagpipes, but he learned to read music and started playing the piano and clarinet in Lower School. In Middle School, he took guitar lessons for a few years, but when quarantine hit, he picked up the saxophone, the same instrument his father plays. Hamilton says that he practiced eight hours per day, and he had a great teacher who taught him music theory. Hamilton plays the saxophone for the Providence Day Jazz Band, but he plays bass guitar for Cactus Day Job. Although he has only played bass for a year, Hamilton says that his background in music theory made the transition to playing the bass fairly easy.

Chloe Heneghan (class of '23) is the drummer for Cactus Day Job and the PD Jazz Band. She started playing the drums in the third grade after her teacher told her mother that she thought she'd be good at it. Heneghan's parents bought her a drum set soon afterward, and she has played ever since.

Last summer, Heneghan traveled to Michigan to participate in an intensive program in Jazz Performance at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Like Heneghan, Charlie Hardy (class of '23) studied at Interlochen, where he concentrated on Popular Music and Performance. He also participated in an intensive online program through the Berklee School of Music. Hardy started playing the guitar in second grade because his father did. At Providence Day, he plays guitar in the Jazz Band, and he is a guitarist and vocalist for Cactus Day Job.

Christian Smith (class of '23) grew up playing saxophone, but he now plays guitar and sings for Cactus Day job. One of the inspirations for switching from the saxophone to the guitar was his friend and bandmate, Charlie. Smith and Hardy became friends through Middle School Band. One day, Hardy was at Smith's house, and he picked up a guitar that was in Smith’s room and started to play. “He was playing all this beautiful stuff, and my jaw hit the floor. I was so taken by how good Charlie was that I wanted to start playing.” He started learning by watching YouTube videos, and then when COVID hit, and everyone was quarantined, he started practicing six to eight hours a day. Like Hardy, Smith participated in the Berklee summer program.

The Creative Process

While many high-school-age bands are content to play covers of popular songs, Cactus Day Job performs many of its own original compositions. The process of creating a song starts when one of the band members brings an idea to rehearsal. The band listens to the idea and then kicks it around for a while, with each person adding an element. Generating a song this way can take a long time and is often frustrating. Hamilton says, “Sometimes, it’s a real struggle. Sometimes, we really do hit a wall, and everyone loses some motivation. But, once you find the change that was needed, and everything starts working, it feels really good.” Heneghan adds, "When we're working on a song and everyone figures out what their part is going to be, and you know that you've got it, there's this feeling in the room." "It just clicks," added Hardy, "and it feels really good."

Christian Smith and Charlie Hardy perform at VisArt.

It's the feeling of creating and playing together that Christian Smith values the most. While he enjoys performing for an audience, he says, "For me, it's all about being in the practice room. [I love] connecting with them, being on the same page and working towards a common goal."

On Stage

When asked about how it feels to play in front of an audience, Heneghan admitted that she initially hated performing because it made her so anxious. But, as she gained confidence through Jazz Band, she came to love playing for others. She recalls coming off stage after Cactus Day Job’s first concert last December: “[I remember thinking] this is what I’ve been looking for. I felt so good about myself and about what we had just done. It was an indescribable high, and I felt on top of the world.” Hardy added, "It's very satisfying, arranging these songs that came from these really big ideas and getting people to dance to them while we perform them. It's like, 'wow, we did that. We made something.'"

Chloe Heneghan plays drums for Cactus Day Job.
[Playing for an audience] is probably the best feeling in the world. – Chloe Heneghan

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You can see Cactus Day Job play when they open for the PDaddieS on November 10 at the Visulate Theater. The PDaddieS is an ensemble of dads who have children who are current or former PD students. The PDaddieS describe their music as an interpretation "of classics [that combines] solid harmonies, screaming lead guitar, and tight rhythms with acoustic guitar and a sprinkle of horns."

Created By
Matt Spence
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