Three years into it, things have finally started to click for local rockers Houdini’s Code. Earlier this month, the group played a couple of shows in Akron. In addition, the local alt-rock station 107.3 just played the band’s new single, “Believe,” for the first time (the song arrives on all streaming platforms on June 26).
“I originally thought ‘Believe ‘was about being angry that little things can get in the way of relationships, but I realized anger wasn’t really the truth underneath it. ‘Believe’ is about family and losing touch and friends,” says singer-guitarist Kevin Cedar over coffee one afternoon at Mojo’s, a coffee shop near his Bay Village home. The group’s new album comes out on Aug. 8, and the band will embark on a small tour to support it. The trek launches on Aug. 1 at the Northside Tavern in Cincinnati and then includes stops in Chicago, Green Bay and Geneva (for a private release party). The group will play in Columbus, OH, Bowling Green, OH and Youngstown later this year. “The truth is that I love these people and believe in them. I think the purest form of love is genuinely trusting and believing in someone, even when things are complicated. The song is about believing that people can find their way back to each other, but it is also about believing in this band and even just learning how to believe in myself.”
Cedar, who grew up in Ashtabula County, originally befriended fellow bandmate Shawn Davis back in fifth grade; the two would eventually start the rock band Green Tea when they were in high school.
“I was the drummer,” says Cedar. “But when we went to college, we went on our ways. We stayed friends throughout the years. I went from drums to playing guitar and writing songs.”
Last year, the group finally got around to recording songs that it written over the course of a decade. The resulting album, Escape, came out in March of 2024 on what would’ve been Houdini’s 150th birthday.
“There are versions of some of the songs we can’t show anyone,” says Cedar. “But as we got better, the songs progressed.”
The group recorded the album in basements and small apartments. It even rented out an AirBNB to cut some tunes, which recall ’90s alternative rock acts like Foo Fighters and Local H.
“It really was a DIY project,” says Cedar.
The group took a DIY approach to the music videos for the album’s three singles, too.
“I’m a videographer, and a lot of it was me positioning the camera and getting in front of it,” says Cedar. “It got awkward at times. We always make the videos funny because we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Cedar grew up listening to his father’s classic rock collection, but hearing Nirvana for the first time introduced him to a new sound and ethos.
“I was obsessed with them,” he says of the grunge group from the Pacific Northwest. “It never made sense to me how they broke through to the mainstream. They broke the whole system. The whole story is fascinating to me. Obviously, the Foo Fighters are also a huge influence.”
Houdini’s Code recently underwent a lineup change, and Cedar says the current lineup, which also includes guitarist Juan Lopez, bassist Clarissa Cuomo and drummer Miqe Smith, is particularly motivated. The new album also features drum performances from Kent Slucher (Luke Bryan) and Nik Hughes (Bush).
“We finally found the right lineup that matches the vision,” Cedar says. “We all have the same dream and the same delusions, which I think is the only way a band really works. We now have three guitarists and a bassist and drummer. We don’t just play the songs now. We jam and try to be a good performing band now.”
Cedar says the difference with Believe is simply that the group has gotten better.
“As a musician, the evolution of becoming good takes a long time,” he says. “You suck for a long time. I didn’t know how to sing or play guitar. I’m actually starting to learn. People around us now have the same passion.”
The group has employed publicity stunts in the past — it has embarked on more than one farewell tour — to promote its music, and Cedar says that will be the case with the new album as well.
“We thought about hiring magicians to perform with us,” he says. “We want not good ones. We want ones where people are stunned by how awkward it is. We’re still thinking of weird things we could do.”
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