summertime jamz: the cayucas interview;

summertime jamz: the cayucas interview;

January 29, 2013 · by · in

Is it too early for sunny, summery music? I think not. Cayucas is a band from Santa Monica, California, which will be releasing debut album Bigfoot in April on Secretly Canadian – a label which, as home to Damien Jurado and Magnolia Electric Co., already has something of the status of royalty around these parts. The band, led by Zach Yudin, has a new single “High School Lover” out on 11 March. The video, which features a giddy live action stop-motion effect, is as sweet as the song.

Yudin answered a couple of questions for me around the turn of the year, when the band’s first single “Cayucos” (note the spelling, which is in fact the correct version of the sleepy little seaside town in San Luis Obispo County from which the band takes its name) was doing the rounds. As I am a terrible person, I’m only getting around to posting them now – however, as I prefer this song I’m going to kid myself that it was intentional.

I’m having some trouble deciphering whether Cayucas is a band or a solo project. Was that intentional?
It started out as a solo project, but now we are playing as a full band.

Three words to describe your sound…
Vintage, catchy pop

What influences you?
I think I’m most influenced by hearing songs that I like, and wanting to recreate a similar vibe.

I assume that the name of the project is a reference to the same Californian beach that you serenade in your first single, albeit with a slightly different spelling! Why did you pick the name?
It is, I always thought the town was spelled Cayucas, so that’s how I originally spelled it. It was originally just a song title, when I was asked to consider changing the band name that popped up as an option and I liked it.

It must be really exciting to be signed to Secretly Canadian, given the label’s back catalogue – what drew you to them?
My manager told me about them, when they became interested in my music. He had really good things to say about the label. I was a big fan of Richard Swift and when I realized he was on the label, I was happy about that.

And what are you listening to at the moment?
There’s a radio station in LA called KDay that I always have dialed. It plays mostly 90s hip hop. I’m always in my car.

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