M&C Interview: CAKE’s Vince DiFiore talks Sabbath, B-Sides, and the split with Columbia

By Ben Rhudy May 29, 2007, 15:56 GMT

As the band continues work on their next studio album, they have announced that two new albums will be released during 2007 through Upbeat Records: “Live at the Crystal Palace” (autumn 2007); and “b-sides and rarities” (spring 2007), which features Black Sabbath\'s "War Pigs" and Barry White\'s "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up”, plus other covers and CAKE originals. The limited edition “scratch and sniff” album art and appeal of the recordings to long-time-listeners adds to the “b-sides and rarities” album\'s uniqueness.

Since exploding onto the scene in the early nineties, Sacramento natives CAKE have dodged the wreckage of a collapsing music industry by staying true to form. As other national acts have faded away, CAKE continues to connect with a diverse audience that appreciates the humdrum rap-style musings of lead singer John McCrea, as well as the tight genre-jumping musicianship of fellow band members Vince DiFiore, Xan McCurdy, Gabe Nelson and Paulo Bauldi.

‘B-Sides and Rarities,’ the group’s first full release since 2004’s ‘Pressure Chief,’ is a compilation featuring various covers and unreleased tracks that were meticulously selected and arranged for maximum musical enjoyment. Each copy of the album will also feature “scratch-and-sniff” cover art, a feature which the band hopes will provide an olfactory experience to match the aural one. The album will be release on August 14th and is available for pre-order from the official CAKE web site.

The group’s much talked-about live album ‘Live at the Crystal Palace,’ recorded over two days at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, CA, should see the light of day in the autumn of 2007. CAKE will be touring throughout the summer promoting ‘B-Sides and Rarities’ and ‘Live at the Crystal Palace.’ More information about the band can be found at www.cakemusic.com.

M&C chatted with Vince DiFiore, the group’s multi-tasked trumpet player, who filled us in on CAKE’s upcoming releases, the importance of sound quality control and how a classic Black Sabbath song made its way onto ‘B-Sides and Rarities.’

M&C: What prompted the band’s desire to make a B-Side album after so many years of studio releases?

DiFiore: Well, I guess the beginning of the story is that we decided to get off of our label, Columbia, and we just decided to go it alone. The first thing we thought we’d do is put out a Live record, so we went to (Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace) in Bakersfield, CA and got a truck out there and got a good recording over two nights. It was really hard to listen to our own concert and feel good about putting a live record out there – it made us kind of queasy.

While we were sitting on that, we realized we had all these songs that were maybe put out on compilations at one time or that nobody had ever heard before, or were on soundtracks for movies. So we put them all together and started brainstorming, putting them in order, and as a whole they actually sounded good together. We decided to do that before putting out the next studio album sort of to flex our muscles as far as being to put something out there on our own.

M&C: Is it a gift to the fans?

DiFiore: Yeah, that’s sort of what it is. We want to give them something, really, because it’s going to be the most time ever between CAKE studio albums – the fifth one and the upcoming sixth. We’ve also got some people’s attention at the moment, so as not to take that for granted, we want to give something of interest to them and ‘B-Sides and Rarities’ fits that purpose.

M&C: After fifteen years of songwriting, recording and performing, what is the mission statement of CAKE today?

DiFiore: To keep sounding good live and to keep up the energy. Also, to not let down where we’ve succeeded.

M&C: And it’s always been that way.

DiFiore: Yeah, it really has. You know, we’ve never been detached from our audience. We’ve never had that feeling of being an island, of a band being an island. I mean, we do what we do, and if people like it, that’s great, but there’s also always been a connection between ourselves and the people that come to a show – something genuine. Instead of being really abstract and way out there, there’s been something grounded about it.

And the reason it’s been so long between albums is that there’s five solid albums of material, and yet it’s still very streamlined between each one.

M&C: …and you seem very picky about which songs make it onto your studio albums.

DiFiore: Yeah, (laughs) and so that pickiness continues. That the title of the next album – CAKE: ‘The Pickiness Continues.’

M&C: So what caused the split from Columbia…is that a story you can tell?

DiFiore: Yeah. It’s a very common story, I think. Instead of clinging to Columbia as if it was a life raft to us, we did the strong thing and said, “Hey, the music industry is crumbling, so let’s just do this our own way and get a fresh start.” There was always a good relationship with (Columbia). It didn’t sour or anything. We just felt like…I mean, shoot, it’s Columbia.

They’re working with people like Beyoncé, and we just felt like we were always crying for attention from them and wishing they would do the right thing with us. Not that they weren’t, but we just decided to get out of there, knowing that we have a good listener base right now. It seemed like it was a safe thing to do.

M&C: Do you think being on your own will affect the sixth album in any way?

DiFiore: You mean musically?

M&C: And in any other ways?

DiFiore: I think it will. I don’t think as many people are going to hear us. I really think we’re going to have to work our butts off to have as many people hear us as they did when we were on Columbia.

The way it’ll affect the music is yet to be determined. I’m hoping it does though. I hope we become like freaked out freakozoids, like thirteen-year-olds with hard-on’s or something. I hope that happens and I hope we throw caution to the wind.

M&C: And take some risks?

DiFiore: Yeah. I mean, that’s a lot to ask to give a final production to people who would probably just throw it in the dumpster immediately. So we probably won’t do much, but I hope we do a little bit of that. Each member is going to bring something different. I know that we’ve all, each of us, been growing and shedding in our own music and instruments, so we’re kind of coming to this next record as different musicians. As long as everyone is generous with their attributes and what they want to offer, I think it could even be our best record.

It really comes down to the songs, too. That’s always been a little out of my control, as John (McCrea) is the primary songwriter for the group, and I don’t mess with him. If he comes to the band with good songs, it’s just good for all of us. I’ve tried to talk him into doing some collaborative stuff, but I think he likes to incubate and get his own stuff finished before we try to do any experimental stuff. 

M&C: Did you consider the songs on ‘B-Sides and Rarities’ to be bad songs…did they just not fit anywhere?

DiFiore: It just didn’t really make sense to pad an album with covers.

M&C: Was it more difficult than usual picking songs to play for ‘Live at the Crystal Palace’?

DiFiore: You know, for that we played almost everything. For some reason we didn’t play “The Distance,” but we did play almost everything in our repertoire from the past four years. Sort of a slice of life from the Pressure Chief tour. Not really just the songs from that album, but all of the songs that we tended to do during that tour.

M&C: Are you all constantly working on new stuff?

DiFiore: Yeah…I mean, with the new technology and digital recording explosion, we all have Pro Tools systems that we work on. We’re always recording new ideas and songs, and it’s been a good way for everyone to show a different side of themselves instead of just focusing on John’s songs.

But when it comes time to do album six, when John comes into the band, it’s going to be back to that way of focusing in on his music. I think it’s good for us to have these experiences of doing our own things before we get back to that.

M&C: When I read the list of songs on ‘B-Sides and Rarities,’ “War Pigs” really stuck out to me as an interesting choice for a CAKE cover. What made you guys choose that song?

When John heard it, he decided he’d give it a go. It’s really one of those things that seems sort of like a goof, but ended up being a good thing to do.

M&C: So what’s the status on the live album?

DiFiore: I’d say it’s in mixing right now. We sat on it for a while in the hopes that when we listened to it again we’d like it ten times more than we did the last time. We ended up being really critical and cringing at ourselves and the way it sounded, but I think with the passage of time will really heal all of that.

And so what we need to do is just listen to all of the mixes and decide if we like them, and then just letting go of them. That’s a big thing to just say, “Ok, that’s a good representation of what we sound like.”

M&C: Is that why you’ve held off on doing a live album at all?

DiFiore: Yeah, I mean…we sound a certain way live and trying to encapsulate that and then to say, “Ok, this is our live show.” It’s not really fair to us, because it does take away a little bit of that special vibe of a concert to just can it like that.

Also, when you put out a live album it’s a bit like putting out a “Greatest Hits” album. We never wanted to do that. It’s like the death nail of a band.

M&C: The final nail in the coffin.

DiFiore: Yeah, like putting Saran wrap around the band and saying that’s it.

Click HERE to hear CAKE’s take on “Never Going to Give You Up.”