CAKE

By Jeanette Madden
Music Editor

As they approach their twentieth anniversary, CAKE’s adherence to their original guiding principles has only grown stronger. Formed in the early nineties, CAKE’s democratic processes, self-reliance, and lucid yet ever-inventive music has made them a nation-state unto themselves. “We listen to each other and grow from our association,” said one of CAKE’s founding members, Vince DiFiore. “This album represents a band that has created its own story together.”

DiFiore went on to explain to the Reader how CAKE got together. “There was a great music scene in Sacramento,” DiFiore said, “maybe a little more than there is now. It seemed to be riding on the wave of what was happening in Seattle and then down to Portland to Sacramento, you know what I mean? It was that time. I was playing an improv jazz night and that’s how I got invited into CAKE. John came that night and asked if I wanted to attend a rehearsal. John was having a reset. He’d had a couple bands in Sacramento already then he moved to Los Angeles to give it a spin there. It didn’t really jive in lots of ways so he came back to Sacramento and regrouped with a new bunch of guys and a different idea for the music. I think maybe making it more like musical roots, different styles of American music.”

“That’s how it all started. There were maybe six or seven guys in the band at first and then all of a sudden it got tight and was a five person unit. We kept doing gigs around here and put out ‘Motorcade of Generosity’ with ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle’ on it. We sent that around to college stations and they started playing it and also I think the record got to Europe a little bit. Capricorn Records picked it up and started playing ‘Rock ‘n’ Lifestyle’ and that’s really what broke into the scene right there.”

The Sacramento angle was surprising. The Seattle and Portland scenes were well known but learning that it trickled down to California was new.

DiFiore explained it like this: “It’s surprising. Sacramento is a little bit like living someplace in the Midwest, one of those great Midwest states. That’s just how the central valley feels. But, you’re so close to San Francisco and the route from L.A. so it feels all of that but it’s very much like living in the good old U.S. of A. anywhere.”

DiFiore also explained what he felt is the biggest difference between ‘Showroom of Compassion’ and ‘Pressure Chief’. “There was a long period of time in between albums. Everybody’s been asking that, right? Not the question you just asked but why did it take so long in between albums. I’ve been sort of defensive or apologetic or whatever, just explaining why it took seven years. There’s a practical reason why it has been that long. But I think now, the even better way of thinking about it for me is it’s the longest period of time we’ve had between albums. In ‘Pressure Chief’ we were on Columbia and you have to turn in the record. It’s time. So we got it together, just like any band does that’s on a contract; you get it to the label in three years.

DiFiore went on: “But now, this group that we have now had seven years to say something as a group. That’s what really sets the two apart. Willie Nelson said if he has to sit down and write a song, he’ll write a song. That’s the way he looks at it. And that’s probably the case for John, too. He’s writing songs all the time. He probably doesn’t feel like next week all of a sudden getting together with us and making another album. We would all like to be back in the studio soon making more music but there does seem to be something natural about the way things go.
As far as CAKE’s influences, DiFiore said “A journalist wrote this and I think it’s a really good description: the band sounds like a combination of if Hank Williams, Sr. and Sly Stone were at a party together playing AC/DC records backwards. Everybody listens to music, they love music, and they brought whatever their inspirations were into the band.”

And did he think CAKE would still be together twenty years later? “I kind of hoped.” DiFiore said. “I didn’t dare to think one way or another but I must have hoped that would happen, to really go for it and it’s always been one year at a time. Things are good and if you don’t take it for granted it seems to perpetuate itself.”

“We’ve done something like twenty shows for three or four years in a row and then worked on the album for the last three years. We put out something called ‘B-Sides and Rarities’ before we put out this album. It’s an artsy craftsy project that’s kind of do it yourself project that’s gone haywire.”

Finally, how did it feel having ‘Showroom of Compassion’ debut at number one on the charts? DiFore did a lot of laughing when he answered that question. “It was a good week to release it.” He said. “It set an all time record for being the lowest selling record at number one. That makes it even more memorable.” Just call it the 61* of record albums.
Listen to Sick of You from ‘Showroom of Compassion’ here: http://www.cakemusic.com/songs/showroom/cake.sickofyou.mp3

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IF YOU GO:
Where: Sokol Auditorium, Omaha Nebraska
When: June 2, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Cost: $47.55 per ticket – purchase here: http://bit.ly/iPt7j9

CAKE’s website:  http://www.cakemusic.com