@brandonspeck
Cathercist guitarist Taylor Roberts, center, at a show in Birmingham, Ala. on July 17, 2014.

@brandonspeck

The stage is Taylor Roberts’ desk. And he never wants a chair.

The Cathercist guitarist is confident in saying the rest of the band – vocalist Zack Sawyer, guitarist Daniel Ferguson, bassist Mikhail Cintgran and drummer Matt Marciana – feel the same.

“We want to be rock stars obviously, but we want to do this comfortably, as a career,” Roberts said from Iron Horse Cafe in Birmingham, Ala. “This is what we’re good at. We can’t function in a 9 to 5 job at home. We love the open road and our goal is to stay true to what we love and do what we love.”

That’s where things are headed for a band Roberts labels “not too light, not to heavy.” The Gulfport, Miss. alternative/metal outfit has something for everybody he says and is touring in support of “As Hope Expires” and has dates that include much of the Gulf Coast and Alabama through September.

“Obviously we want to get overseas and do things like that, but we want a career,” Roberts said.

None of the members have jobs right now and they want to keep it that way. Octane picked up “If Anything At All” and you can see the video for “Disconnected” on the band’s website, Cathercist.com. Both albums – including 2011’s “Untimely Death of Zack Sawyer” are available on iTunes.

The band is paving – and paying – its own way, trying to jump in recent line with Coast successes Three Doors Down and Atomship representing Mississippi’s coast. That means producing a stage product that sends fans to the merch table. There are good nights and bad nights, but Roberts says most of the good nights come thanks to the energetic live show.

“We’re still able to stay on the road and that’s the most important part. People have been coming up, buying shirts and one thing that we emphasize to people is the merch aspect is how we survive,” Roberts said. “It’s a roof over our heads at night. It’s food in our stomach. It’s gas in our tank.”