An Interview with Cult Goddess, July 2025
How did you come up with the name?
The name came from a misheard Donovan lyric. The original lyric was “crazy CALLED goddess” but I heard it as Cult Goddess. I like how it sounded, so kept it as a band name even thought there isn’t much significance to it. I like the idea of people interpreting it however they like.
How would you describe your sound?
I try to be careful about how I describe our sound because we draw from different genres. When I tell people that Cult Goddess makes Psych Baroque Pop people look at me sideways. The best way I describe us is a specific kind of psychedelic music (think sgt pepper & not so much jam bands or lots of effect pedals) our type of psychedelic is a mood that is baked into the songwriting. Then the baroque part comes from our arrangements of the songs. We utilize a string trio which can break out into these counterpoint sections drawing from Bach. Of recently I also have been trying to capture an old Hollywood sound that I feel has been lost a bit. Finally this is all seen through a modern lense which comes through in our recorded music.
Cult Goddess is the brain child of Caleb Hickman (Me! Lmao) After a few failed attempts at running a band with various people, I decided to start my own band that I could call my own. This way there would never be issues with creative differences etc. I am very fortunate and grateful that I met the incredible people in my band who are whiling to play my music and support me. I can go into a little bit of the background of each member and how we met. I’ll start with Emie Leclerc who was the first to join. She is originally from Quebec and is fluent in French and English. She travelled to New York City to become a doctor and surgeon. We met at an open mic in the lower east side where she mentioned that she played violin which is when I pitched the idea of joining Cult Goddess because I was trying to put together a string section to accompany a rock band. The second member to join was Liv Seltzer. He is New Jersey born and moved to New York to work for various record labels and do a lot of behind the scenes stuff in the music industry. He has been playing Cello from a very young age and we met through an ad I posted to Facebook. I would say (and I don’t wanna speak for him too much) that he had a interest in playing with us because it was a way to utilize his talent as a cellist to play something other than classical music. I also get a sense that Liv loves the chaos of gigging around the city and the thrill of high energy performance. Liv also has his own band. They are called Good Looking People and we’ve played a couple of shows with them and I would describe them as a bit more grungy, emo, and a bit slowed down. They’re great!
Next is Dora Banyai. She is originally from San Francisco and moved to New York to pursue a career as a Broadway Chamber player (viola). I’d say she maybe sticks out the most in the band because she’s a bit more “clean cut” than me. Maybe I feel a bit dirtier than her lifestyle wise but the more I get to know her the more I discover Dora’s wild side. She definitely digs Cult Goddess music and is super committed to making us sound as tight as possible. I’d say we have a good cop bad cop thing going where she isn’t afraid to voice an opinion when it comes to our practice which takes some stress of me which I really appreciate. I also found Dora through an Ad on Facebook. The next player to join was Matt Kleitz. We were briefly co workers at a coffee shop in the East Village. I would describe him as soft spoken and quiet but a total beast at Bass guitar. Music is definitely Matt’s life blood and he just loves to gig and support other peoples music. He also has a solo project called Alter Piece which I would describe as hard rock. I’ll say me and Matt have played at some pretty bizarre gigs and I appreciate him always being down for the ride. Lastly is Keina Matsumoto. She originates from Japan and we met because she was a regular customer at my job. When I found out she was a drummer and how good she was I knew she needed to play with us and after a couple of months of bugging her she finally agreed. Music has been apart of her life forever and is a server in the day time and drummer at night. Another interesting fact about her is she is pregnant! After I found out I said to her “if being in a band ever gets to much to balance with a pregnancy let me know and no hard feelings if you have to quit” in which she replied that it has always been her dream to play drums in a rock band while pregnant which I find hilarious and super punk rock!
That kind of sums up how the band was formed and I hope none of my band mates read this and get mad at how I described them lmao!
How did you develop your sound as a group? Was it more individual contributions or more cohesive and together?
I would say the songs at their core are developed by me but that doesn’t mean the band doesn’t contribute. We’ve developed how we work together. The fastest ways of sounding tight. Figuring out what equipment to use to sound the best. And writing charts that are not too out of reach for someone’s specific ability.
How do you deal with creative block as a band? How do you continue to come up with new sounds/ideas as a group?
To be honest I get kinda depressed when I get writers block. Starting from scratch can be a scary thing for an artist. I always carry around this fear of never being able to write another song or losing some sort of magic as well as feeling like an imposter and knowing nothing about music even though I’ve done this my whole life. I deal with it by playing around with music ideas and themes and trying to think things up in my head until everything comes together into a cohesive piece of music. Drugs helps with that ;)
Tell me about your recent songs!! What was the process of curating and arranging each piece? What were some of the main ideas/themes behind them that you wanted to convey?
Our most recent release had 4 songs on it. The opening track is called Crown Jester. That is a fun, up-tempo song with very abstract lyrics meant to convey psychedelic images and pictures. The second song is If You Wanna Be, which is a song of commitment and love written for my girlfriend Ava. The Third song is called My Waking Life - This song is about growing older, how bizarre life can be sometimes, and a type of depression that everyone feels at some point in their lives. The final song to end the EP is called She is Like Candy. This is meant to be a very decorative pastel colored track making comparisons to a girl and sweets/ candies.
You all play some fairly non-traditional instruments for a pop-based band! What was the inspiration behind picking them up? Were you classically trained or was this a personal hobby/choice?
I am personally not classically trained but I’ve had several years of experience arranging music and songs. I wanted to put together something that had a string section because I have such an affinity for that kinda thing. I also feel that strings are in more songs than you realize and I wanted to bring that forward and shine a spot light on that type of sound. When a group of string players play well together (like cult goddess does) it can be a very beautiful emotional sound.
You're based in NYC! Does your location have any inspiration or influence over your work/process? What is it like building yourself up in the NYC music scene?
I definitely think being based in NYC contributes to our influence. Whether it be certain verbiage we use in lyrics. Or understanding the “competition” Knowing whats in demand and what isn’t. Something that can be really difficult about this city is working with the venues. No matter how cool or musician friendly the venue is they are always going to have unfair ticket splits which means no matter how many people you bring to a show or how many times you pack a room the venue is always making more money then the bands. Obviously this isn’t about the money but hey no one likes getting robbed lmao!
Describe the average band practice! What does your creative process look like? How do these songs go from ideas to music?
Our practice is a bit of chatting and catching up. Focusing on weak point in our set. And running through an entire set. We usually practice once a week before a show to freshen up.
Which song of yours was the most fun to write & make? why/what was the process?
I’d say my personal favorite is the song “If You Wanna Be” off our latest Ep. I was tinkering with some of the musical themes for about a month. I wanted to write a love song reflective of old Hollywood soundtracks and the soundtrack to Willy Wonka. After taking a decent amount of MDMA I sat down and finished the thing. It was actually incredible because the whole thing just flooded out of me in this very organic emotional experience. I was able to take these chord progressions and bits and pieces of lyrics and put them all together to make a cohesive piece of music. Definitely a Cult Goddess favorite but I will say all of our songs get the same love and treatment. When I write something new I try not to be repetitive or have our catalog sound the same. I try to have each song stand alone. Whether I accomplish that or not is really up to the listener.
What helps bond you as a band?
I’d say what bonds us is bizarre and chaotic gigs. Whether it be our sound guy showing up high on ketamine or someone fainting (that happened at our last show, we had to call an ambulance, they are feeling better now they just got too high) These kind of situations give us a sense of going through something together as a team which I think brings us closer together.
What is the current big goal? What does the future hold/what are you working towards right now as a band?
I think the BIG goal of every band is to transition from day job to a full time band where every band member is financially taken care of, but that seems almost impossible in 2025. The short term goal would definitely to build a bigger following (Cult following) That’s a play on words lmao.
And also do a tour and record our first album! I will say I believe in this band, the music, and I think in time these goals can be reached. Your readers can help us get there by streaming our music, following us on Instagram, and coming to our shows.
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