How do you afford your Rock ‘n’ Roll lifestyle?
For Sacramento, Califor- nia’s Cake, the answer has been some 13 years in the making. Set to play Calgary’s Blues and Roots Festival this month, the self-described gurus of “hardcore easy-listening” walk a fine line between commercial success and continued musical integrity. With vocalist John McCrea’s trademark deadpan delivery backed by a band as equally comfortable paying homage to funk, blues or classic country, as they are to disco or rock, Cake has avoided being pigeonholed into a single genre, maintaining their signature sound. It’s McCrea’s personality, unifying such apparently disparate elements as a lonely trumpet line or a pulsating bass rhythm into the genre-spanning sound, that is unmistakably Cake.
Outliving various member changes, Cake’s success can be measured in a steady string of college radio hits, including 1994’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle,” 1996’s “The Distance” and culminating in widespread radio and video play for “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” off 2001’s “Comfort Eagle.” With an October release slated for Pressure Chief, their second major label offering since signing with Columbia records in 2000, Cake is poised for their highest commercial success to date.
Yet speaking to trumpet player Vince DiFiore, it’s clear Cake hasn’t let success alter their low-key approach.
“There’s a philosophy we believe in that familiarity breeds contempt,” says DiFiore from the band’s studio in Sacramento. “People really like to see the train wreck. They like to see people be successful, but they also are very entertained by seeing the demise. I think we’re trying to avoid that kind of backfire.
“We’ve seen what it takes to be a media darling. The kind of thing about making yourself up to be a Muppet [in order] to be a part of the Rolling Stone scene. I think it’s something that’s not for us. If our image was embraced as something that people would want to put on their bedroom wall that would just be bizarre.”
Known as much for the satirical social commentary buried in McCrea’s often sarcastic lyrics as they are for their musical flexibility, Cake has managed to remain on the dissident fringe. Pressure Chief promises to offer fans more of McCrea’s distinct outlook.
“If you are a political-minded person, you could interface with this album and let it colour your political thoughts,” explains DiFiore. “And at the same time if your mind is not on politics, you probably wouldn’t find a trace of politics in it. That’s sort of a clever thing about John’s songwriting, in that at face value it looks like the dynamics of an interpersonal relationship. But then there’s some sort of worldview that’s attached, that’s embedded in the lyrics somehow.”
One of only two original members still with Cake, DiFiore has seen his own duties in the band increase, from laying down his characteristic horn melodies to providing background vocals, percussion and keyboard lines. He views his own expanded role as a symptom of the band’s growth as a whole.
“We’ve paced ourselves,” explains DiFiore. “We’ve become better musicians, better part-writers. We don’t want all our songs to sound the same. We want a kind of a different flavour to each song. But it’s not something that’s conscious at all.”
Surely there’s room for a little self- indulgence?
“We’re not rock and roll animals,” chuckles DiFiore. “We’re just regular looking guys trying to make good music.”