Casxio Interview: SXSW 2010

Casxio frontman Lucas Guerin feels like a 17-year-old girl. In his band's debut EP 'Seventeen,' he evokes teenage angst in the key of funk, disco and soul, paying homage to Prince with the group's unique brand of androgynous disco anthems. A rightful fixture of the Los Angeles dance party scene, you may have also heard their music on reality TV melodramas like 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians.' Now, they're gearing up for their showcase at SXSW by promoting free beer and dance lessons at their set. Spinner caught up with Guerin to get some tips on creating a kick-ass dance party and how to prepare for a week of chaos in Austin, Texas.

Describe your sound in your own words.

I would say it's funk, R&B and rock. We're singing kind of jaded love songs with a lot of pent up aggression. It's definitely got that upbeat dance sensibility as well.

How did the band start?

The band started a few years ago I guess the typical way -- I needed some musicians. I looked around, put the word out. We found each other through the Internet and friends. Zach, the drummer, I knew him for a while and he was the drummer I wanted, so I went after him and got him to play for me. It's not a very exciting story. We didn't meet saving the world or anything.

What are your musical influences?

I would say a lot of disco and R&B from the '70s and '80s, like Sly and the Family Stone. A lot of new wave stuff, too, like Talking Heads are a huge influence. And a lot of subtler influences, like Philip Glass -- I've been listening to him for a long time now. I don't listen to too many contemporary artists, although when I heard the MGMT album, I thought that was inspiring. It was something new and fresh and it'd been a while since I'd heard something like that. Dave Fridmann did a f---ing amazing job producing it and they write some really great songs. Music and artistic ideas have been recycled as long as art has existed, but it's what you do with it. You make it your own. It's what you recycle.

Both your EP and title track are called 'Seventeen.' Was that year something of a rite of passage for you?

When I wrote that song, I was writing it from the point of view of a seventeen year old girl because I think at the time, I was going through something that made me feel like just some ruined, heartbroken seventeen year old girl. And so I realized that we all have this little seventeen year old girl that's going to come out of us every once in a while when we get our hearts broken or we lose someone. That's where that idea came from.

What's in your SXSW survival kit?

We've been at SXSW two years now. Most of it is just planning ahead of time. You have to be prepared when you head out there. You have to have a place to stay, transportation taken care of. For bands that are going for the first time, I would say plan ahead -- see if there's any gear you can pick up in Austin so you don't have to travel with it. Also, when you arrive it's chaos -- it's ridiculous. It's not like CMJ [in New York City] where it's all spread out. SXSW takes place within a few blocks and it's just hundreds of bands playing at the same time. In fact, there was one year we were playing a set on a rooftop and just 25 yards away there was another band playing on another rooftop at the same time. So it's like a jumble of sound. Expect chaos and maybe that'll help you prepare for it.

Do you feel a sense of competition to get noticed at a festival like SXSW?

People in the business who are looking at bands have an agenda once they're out there. They know who they want to see. I would say put up flyers and posters, go out a lot and talk to people. There's no guarantee when you're out there that anyone's going to check out your show. And I mean, even with posters -- we had posters last year and we got written up in L.A. Weekly or something. I forget what paper it was, but we got written up because our posters were everywhere. We hired this kid to put up our posters and he put them everywhere he could. So when we showed up to South By, all we saw everywhere were our posters and we were like, "Jesus Christ!" This kid did not stop and we only paid him like $150. But the funny thing is -- and the point of it is -- even posters aren't a guarantee that anyone's going to come to your show, because these guys wrote up a story about how many posters we had up and you know, the name was ubiquitous at SXSW, but they didn't even catch the show. They saw the poster, but they didn't go. I really think people have an agenda. They don't give a s--- who's playing. They know who they want to see.

Your EP is out this month. Was that a longtime coming?

I mean, we've been around for a while. We've had a few smaller releases -- a few demo recordings -- but nothing like this. So yeah, I guess it has been a long time coming. We're more excited about the album we just finished. We just finished our first full length album and we're kind of shopping that around right now. That's the main reason we're coming down to SXSW -- we have something finally. We've worked our asses off trying to get it right. I'm very certain that we've finally got it. I'd like to put it out within the next few months, but I don't know. We'll see.

What do you think makes for a successful dance party?

A good deejay. For a good dance party, you have to have a good deejay and, of course, alcohol helps -- plenty of booze. Then I think you've got yourself a pretty good dance party. Oh, and an equal ratio of girls and boys. That also helps.

Your songs have been remixed quite a few times. What are your thoughts on the remix culture?

I'm all for it. I've given it a shot a few times, actually. I think it's a great form of re-expression or whatever. Recycled expression. But some of the things deejays do ... some of the remixes are just out of this world -- I mean they're so good. Sonny Moore did a remix that is just unbelievable. And the way they're doing it these days -- they're using less and less of what we've got and they make it their own. They really do. They rewrite the entire song basically and just use the vocal track. So it's really reinventing is what it is -- it's reinventing the meaning of the song. Its making it completely their own. I think it's great and it's great for the band. It promotes the idea of the song.

The video for 'Seventeen' is very androgynous, what is your day-to-day style like?

I have two pairs of jeans, four sweaters and one has a hood on it. I have a pair of sneakers that I wear that are Pumas. I have a beard. I don't know ... I don't have a crazy fashion sense or anything. When we perform I'll coordinate with my guitar player and we'll do something, whether it's a suit or something a little less conservative. It changes depending on the venue we play. We look at what it's for, what songs we'll be playing ... you'd just have to come out and see.

What's next for CASXIO?

Right now, I've just been writing and writing. I'm halfway done with the second album already. As far as the band goes, we're just going to be playing shows. We're planning to go out to the UK and doing some European dates as well. I can't wait to go overseas. I've been waiting a long time to do that. So I think around June or July [2010] we might try and make that trip.


Nada Alic is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.