Friday, January 24, 1997
With two sweet albums and a litany of tours under their belt,
will Cake get the recognition they deserve?By Kristin Fiore
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
During his days as a Bruin, Vince Di Fiore’s only musical
endeavor was playing the harmonica on the way to class or track
practice. Eleven years later, a psychology degree and dreams of
being a counselor have taken a back seat to a trumpet and a rock
band. Is he biding his time as a rock star until he can break into
the glittering biz of psychology? Not likely.
Di Fiore is now the dedicated trumpeter of the Sacramento-based
band Cake, who brings its eclectic rock to the sold-out El Rey
Theater tonight.
"This is it now," Di Fiore says of his newfound career. "This
has happened, and everyone seems to have their heads down and
charging pretty strong at this point. That’s where I’m at." Di
Fiore is speaking of the rising success the band has had on MTV and
KROQ, as well as other alternative radio stations. Since only this
summer, Cake has gone from a relative unknown at Spaceland and The
Whisky to playing in KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas and selling
out the El Rey Theatre  not to mention their first single,
"The Distance," which has certainly gone as far as its name
promises.
"It took a while (to get noticed). Last year KROQ didn’t really
play us too much. Then they picked up on ‘The Distance’ and they’ve
been playing that a lot," Di Fiore says of the band’s first hit
from their new album, "Fashion Nugget."
He knows too well that this sweep through L.A. could turn the
band from "those guys who sing ‘The Distance’" into one of the
city’s beloved live bands.
"This is an important show for us. The L.A. crowd has just been
introduced to us, and we can prove that we’re a worthy band. I’m
preparing for it like it’s an important event, which it is for me,
anyway. It’s another night of music for a lot of people, but for me
it means a lot," he says. "I know that many people know us now
because of the song on the radio, and maybe they’ve heard the songs
on the album, but they’re going to need to see us live to
understand what the band is completely about."
Like most bands, Cake began as a live act. But unlike many, the
band lived in an atmosphere that fostered a modest but healthy
music scene. Its hometown of Sacramento may lack the big clubs and
big-time industry names of L.A., but it offers more opportunities
to play and a laid back attitude that is apparent in the band’s
performances.
"There’s a small music scene here  small but real visible.
If there’s any opportunities to play you usually find them out.
It’s not like moving to L.A. and not knowing what the hell’s going
on because the place is so huge. There was only a handful of shows
going on each week. Our music sort of organically came from a
strikingly small, but somehow thriving, music scene," Di Fiore
says.
The band’s personality and sound do lend themselves to a great
live show  both are easygoing and upbeat  and the
acoustic and electric guitars, along with Di Fiore’s trumpet,
create a full sound that is different from the album, but always
lives up to it. Most Cake audiences are usually too busy dancing
and singing to crowd the stage or the bar, much to the chagrin of
the bartenders. Cake, who built their following through the
strength of their live shows, do not take this for granted.
"We respect the audience a lot. We know that people aren’t just
standing up in a room late at night for nothing. Rock clubs ask a
lot of audiences, I think  to live through a whole work week,
or whatever. Or maybe it’s Monday night and you’re sacrificing a
little bit of your energy to go see some live music, and you end up
standing up, sometimes in a crowded circumstance," Di Fiore
says.
Well then, why does the crowd bother? (considering an L.A.
baptism is having an $8 drink spilled on your new $80 shirt at a
dank, dark, cigarette-ridden club on the Strip.) There must be
something that makes missing sleep and forking out $7 for parking
worth the crowd’s while.
"When people know the songs, there’s a kind of group thing that
happens. Everyone becomes part of a group, and it becomes more than
just watching a band. All of the sudden it’s the experience of
being in the same room with lots of other people that are singing
the same melody, reflecting in the same way. I suppose that’s why
popular music is popular  because of that communal experience
of feeling, of emotional togetherness or just togetherness. Because
everyone feels pretty alienated, you know," Di Fiore explains. This
may sound a bit pretentious, but anyone who’s ever been to a truly
memorable show would agree.
This sort of communion also has its roots in history, according
to Di Fiore. "We don’t have little festivals where we have folk
dancing with generations  young people dancing with teens,
dancing with middle-aged people, dancing with old people Â
dancing to the same music that the same town has been listening to
for the last 100 years," Di Fiore says in one amazingly long
breath. "We don’t have that kind of ritual, and we substitute that
with musical performances," he says, which may partially explain
"rituals" like moshing, lighter-holding or other practices that may
seem bizarre to "outsiders."
Di Fiore whole-heartedly enjoys his role in what he sees as an
evening of storytelling and musical give and take. "That’s what
people want  to be inspired  to have stories told to
them with some musical accompaniment. … That’s why it’s fun to
play in this band, because we have an acoustic guitar player who
writes great songs with melodies that will keep the audience
engaged, and I get to play along with it all  to put a
trumpet part in where there’s room and say what I can say in a
space that’s available, then back away and let the guitar and voice
do their thing," Di Fiore says. "We’ve always been pretty
thoughtful about arrangements in this band and never wanted to
crowd out any instruments. We always leave plenty of room for the
story to be told."
Thinking of performances as story sessions and communal
gatherings helps the band create a more casual atmosphere and
breaks the barriers that can arise between artist and fan. Cake
members never play the roles of "rockers," the type who stomp
onstage reeking of vodka and yell, "(Insert incorrect city name
here), are you ready to ROCK??" For this, their fans are eternally
grateful.
"We always try to serve them as best we can without succumbing
to rock conventions. We try to be as musical as we can," says Di
Fiore, who deftly pins down the other main difference between Cake
and many other guitar-based bands  the guys can play.
Di Fiore began the arduous trek to stardom in the fourth grade,
when he started trumpet lessons. Though he would pick up everything
from the harmonica to the acoustic guitar, he returned to the
trumpet upon graduating from UCLA and moving to Sacramento for grad
school. After such horrid experiments as "an AC/DC band with a
trumpet" and a stint in the jazz Bub Orchestra, Di Fiore joined
singer, guitarist, songwriter and founder of Cake, John McCrea, in
1991.
Di Fiore’s trumpet adds unusual elements to the band’s songs,
from Mariachi-style accents to eerie counter-melodies that play
against the guitars. He gleans his ideas from a vast array of
talent, as do the other members of Cake, which makes for a musical
eclecticism he feels is a benefit of the times.
"One amazing thing about living in the 20th century is that we
have access to so many different types of music. If you’re a
guitarist, there’s always 20 guitarists at your fingertips to play
at any second if you want. For me, as a trumpet player, I can go
back to the ’20s  people like Louie Armstrong or King Oliver,
all these great Dixieland players  and then go all the way up
to the present day. … That’s not something musicians have always
had access to," Di Fiore says.
All of these disparate ideas come together in the recording
studio and hashing them out can be a dicey endeavor for many bands.
Those who survive, however, do so with a greater sense of who they
are and how to achieve a balance, both musically and
personally.
"Every time we go back in to record, we’re much more prepared
for it. It’s the practice, learning how to work together and
cooperate, having an open exchange of ideas, not being hurt too
much if a part is cut, being gracious about accepting other
people’s ideas. All those things get better with time. We had a
better time doing the second (album) than the first one, and I
anticipate that on the third album, we’ll have grown a lot in our
relationships with each other and in our own musical ways. … Each
individual is going to be able to bring a little bit more of their
developed style to the record," Di Fiore says.
Aside from production ideas, he would also like to contribute
songs to the next album, a task mostly reserved for McCrea, who
wrote all of the songs on the first album and all but one on the
second (except for the three covers).
"I’m hoping to get at least one song on the next album. I’ve
never written a song for a band as accomplished as Cake, but I
think that if ever I were going to write a song, now would be the
time. The band is really based on the strength of John’s
songwriting. … Now’s my opportunity to do a little songwriting,
too," Di Fiore says.
For now, though, Di Fiore has little time to think of writing.
In February the band is going to Europe for the first time, and the
next single, a cover of Gloria Gaynor’s "I Will Survive," may
shortly be climbing the charts, not to mention shows, videos and,
of course, interviews. But Di Fiore puts this all gracefully into
perspective.
"All this stuff that’s going on with publicity and selecting the
single and making the video … when it comes down to it, my ass is
grass unless I’m really on top of my trumpet playing."
CONCERT: Cake plays with Abe Lincoln Story and September 67
tonight at the El Rey Theater. The show is sold out, but the
intrepid among you can call the venue at (213) 936- 4790 for a
miracle.
Vince Di Fiore and John McCrea play at KROQ’s Almost Acoustic
Christmas
John McCrea, Victor Damiani, Greg Brown, Vince Di Fiore and Todd
Roper (l. to r.) are the members of Cake.