CoolJunkie Interviews Casxio

September 29, 2009 9:24 AM
by Marcos Colón

The music scene across the nation today is completely different to what we had before. Now, the average American seems to think they could be a musician, regardless if they know how to play any instrument, or even hold a note for longer than five seconds. Thousands of MySpace profiles that consider themselves ‘Artist Pages,’ are getting in the way of the real talent that’s out there. But then there are the bands that manage to work their way through all the bullshit, being able to surface to have their music be heard by any and all. That’s exactly what’s going on with up and coming LA-based quartet band Casxio. Their fusion of Prince-style funk and contemporary disco-style flavor is a fresh breath of air that soon everyone will discover. It can be said that this is CoolJunkie’s favorite band thus far this year, and that’s before their first EP has even been released. That’s right boys and girls, good things are to come.

CoolJunkie recently got the chance to chat with Casxio frontman Lucas Guerin about the release of their new EP, what it takes to come up with a good band name, and how you may be a corpse if you don’t dance to their music.

CoolJunkie: What’s been on the band’s agenda lately?

Lucas Guerin: On the agenda right now is our EP release. We’re getting ready for that. We’re also prepping our shows for our big dates out East for CMJ. We’re also learning a lot of the songs from the album that we’re currently finishing as well. We’re trying to learn those to include them in the live shows.

CJ: When’s the EP set to drop?

Lucas Guerin: The date for the EP is the 20th of October for a digital release.

CJ: Any date for the album yet?

Lucas Guerin: Nothing yet for the album. We’re still in the mixing process and we’ve been doing it for a while now. We really want to make it a really, really great album.

CJ: How did you guys get together?

Lucas Guerin: I’ve been writing for the band for a while now, since 2005. In 2006 I decided that I had prepped enough and written enough for me to get a band together to play shows. I started looking around and I met Eric through a friend of mine that went with him to NYU. When they moved out to LA we played together once and jammed a bit and it worked out. We had another keyboard player when we first got together in 2006, but she had other things in mind that she wanted to do so it didn’t work out. But Andrea sort of fell into our laps which is great. She’s a classically trained pianist and she’s just perfect for what we’re doing. Then there’s Zach, who’s sort of this whacky, crazy friend of mine who I’ve always known, and I always knew I wanted him as a drummer. I basically hounded him until he decided to join the band.

CJ: As far as the band name goes, how did that come about?

Lucas Guerin: I came up with the band name. The band name is the hardest thing about forming a band. It took me forever to figure that one out. It was frustrating and at one point I thought, “Man, I could really care less, with all the band names that are out there.” But it does. Casxio came up because there really doesn’t have to be a meaning behind a word. The sound of the word is what really mattered to me, when I came up with the name Casxio. I really liked the word, I really liked the sound, and it looks cool too! (laughs) I put the ‘x’ in there because it looks cool, but also for legal reasons of course. (laughs)

CJ: I watched the video for your single, Boiling Point, and it was fantastic. Who came up with the concept for that?

Lucas Guerin: The concept was created by Hilton Carter, he was the director and his production company is called Fresh Kill. We actually shot that in a day in the middle of nowhere.

CJ: Is it pretty safe to say that there will be more videos to come?

Lucas Guerin: Yes. We actually have a couple of other videos that are going to be released fairly soon.

CJ: You guys are currently pretty established out in Los Angeles. How’s the music scene out there?

Lucas Guerin: There’s a lot going on out here, and there are a lot of bands, just like any big city. I don’t know how many bands there were back like 20 years ago, but I’d be curious to see what the stats would look like as far as the number of bands in big cities. When I started this band almost all of my friends were in bands, and it was strange because it was so easy to start a band. I had friends in bands that didn’t know how to play any instruments, and then I had friends who were in bands that didn’t even use any instruments on stage. It’s just so easy these days. The scene is all over the place.

CJ: Would you say that it makes it more difficult to get noticed when the scene is like that?

Lucas Guerin: It definitely does. You have to be creative in the way you market yourself and you do have to look at the business side of music making, probably more now than ever because everyone’s got a band, everyone’s got a myspace page. You have to really search for and come up with ways to set yourself apart.

CJ: It seems like you guys have some disco influences from the sound of your music?

Lucas Guerin: Yes, well I definitely have disco influences, Chic for one and also Niall Rogers. The first style of music that I got into was jazz and funk, so I was listening to that stuff incessantly for a long time. That’s when I really started to play guitar and that’s naturally how I write.

CJ: As far as the rest of the band goes do you guys have similar musical influences or are they diverse?

Lucas Guerin: I don’t think any of them really listen to a lot of the music that influenced me. When we had all gotten together to start the band I’d tell Zach, “Play a fill like Sly and the Family Stone.” And he’d say, “I’ve heard of the name but I’m not too familiar with the music.” I’d just be blown away! (laughs) They were listening to all sorts of stuff, but not the stuff that I was listening to, but it slowly came along.

CJ: You’re music is catchy as hell and can basically be played at any type of party environment. Basically, if you don’t tap your feet to it or move a little you must be a corpse. Is this something that you guys strive for?

Lucas Guerin: Well it’s not something that I’m thinking about when I’m writing. I’m thinking about creating a groove more. But if people want to dance, they’ll dance. Sometimes it depends on the act that come before or after your. If the crowd is not going to a show expecting to dance then good luck, but if you’re playing with a bunch of DJs then you’re going to get some people that are down to dance. But I agree with you, if you’re listening to Casxio play and you’re not moving your head or stomping your foot your probably are a corpse. (laughs)

CJ: You guys are coming to the east coast soon right?

Lucas Guerin: Yes! We’re playing CMJ and we’re currently getting ready for that.

CJ: What can everyone expect from you for the remainder of the year?

Lucas Guerin: We are finishing up the album which is sounding amazing and it should be coming out pretty soon. Also the EP is coming out next month that have three remixes on it which are ridiculously good.

Click here to hear more from Casxio.