In Conversation with French Cassettes ahead of their SLC show Friday June 28th  

San Francisco indie-pop band, French Cassettes is riding the high of their latest album release. The album, Benzene, deepens the well of the band’s bright and bubbly sound tightly tucked beneath the lyrical wit of singer-songwriter Scott Huerta. French Cassettes has embarked on a Summer Release Tour including a night in Salt Lake City at The DLC on June 28th.  I was lucky enough to talk with Scott all about the recent release, their tour, and the band altogether. 

Michaela: I saw that you guys played a little show in Texas last night. How did that go?

Scott: Yeah, El Paso. It was really fun. Love Buzz was the venue, a great little bar and everyone was super nice so yeah, it was fun.

Michaela: Where are you now? Are you on the road as we speak?

Scott: Yes!, We’re in the van we’re driving right now… We’re going to Austin.

Michaela: and you’re in the middle of a string of headline shows for the release of your new album Benzene. Do you have any moments from the shows so far that stick out to you or are particularly special as you’ve played this album for the first time for people?

Scott: Honestly, yeah. So far with shows it’s been incredible. With spending a lot of time trying to make this record--as cheesy as it sounds--just really special and unique, and because we got a lot of love for our last album Rolodex, we wanted to top it but make something that offered the same effects hopefully. A lot of people have been coming up to us and saying “This is my favorite song. This is my favorite song. This is my favorite song.” And there tends to be a bunch of different tracks off of the album which is usually a good sign I’d say.

Michaela: I’d have to agree… And you had a four-year gap between this album and the last.  What does the time between albums look like for you?  How important is it for you to take that time and make sure you’re giving every song the attention that it needs?

Scott: That is a good question to bring up, because I know to a lot of people it might seem like a break between this album and that album but it’s really not at all. Really what it is, is we—just like a lot of bands do— like to make sure the songs are harmonious and are cohesive, and we also don’t want to make every song feel like it’s the same experience. So, that’s what takes so long is we want to dive deep into the album but make every song unique.

Michaela: On your past album Rolodex, you have a song called “Utah” and being from Utah I’d love to just hear a little bit about that and the inspiration behind the song. Is it about the state? Is there a story behind it?

Scott: It is about the state, and I’ll give you the hot scoop here that I haven’t given anyone, but it is a tiny tiny bit based off of Keanu Reeves’ character in Point Break, because that’s his name “Johnny Utah”. But It’s loose… People come up to me and they get really stoked on it, and I don’t downplay it because it is ultimately about the place. But also, if you listen to the lyrics you quickly realize “I don’t think this guy is singing about Utah anymore.” but it is about that, at moments, and inspired by that place.  I had a Mormon family growing up, so we would take trips out to Salt Lake City and of course hangout there a lot. And it’s basically the homeland so it was spoken about a lot in my household and has always stuck out to me. 

Michaela: I love that, and I’m sure that will be an exciting song for you guys to play on the 28th when you make it out here.

Scott: What’s really interesting, is the very first time we got to play that song in Utah, the very very first time, we messed it up and had to start it over…but we’ll see…we’ll do it better this time.

Michaela: We just got more of the song! It was like an extended version…In the writing and recording process were there any moments where you really feel like you struck gold? I can think of some of my favorite moments like in baseball bat-the lyrics, or other moments vocally that sounded really fun to record…

Scott: Yeah I was proud of the “Baseball Bat” lyric because I don’t know what kind of person talks like that in real life. I remember…one that sticks out for me, is that sometimes people bring up the godawful yell in the middle of “Normal Day”. They think it’s a scream of passion but really it was of frustration, because I had got to that point in the song, and I had no idea where to go after that so it literally was just out of frustration and I was like “Oh, ok. I’ll just use that.”

Michaela: I think you achieved that feeling. I could definitely feel that through the song, It’s one of my favorites on the album.

Scott: Oh great, see I love hearing that.

Michaela: And also in the writing process, as far as I’m aware you start out with the rough idea, the skeleton of the song ,and then you bring it to the rest of the band?

Scott: Yes, correct.

Michaela: What does that look like? How much of the melodies and the composing happens in the studio with each other, and how much of that is brought in by you?

Scott: It’s kind of like 50/50. With some of them it’s kind of arranged ahead of time and then it’s “Who wants to sing what? Which part?” and it’s live. But it’s honestly kind of silly that I’ll make such extensive demos sometimes to bring to the guys, because it seems like such a waste of having such talent in the band. Like “Why wouldn’t I just bring it to them in the first place?”  But I think I just end up locking myself in my room for extended periods of time and I end up doing it. It’s not like I’m saying “I’m the one to do it.” It just kind of happens that way. It’s really fun because I’ll think I have a really solid harmony on a demo, but then I’ll bring it to the guys and we’ll break it apart and we’ll realize it’s not a harmony at all. And They’ll say “I don’t know how you got away with this.” So they definitely help me dial in the harmonies for it to actually make sense.

Michaela: That’s one thing that stands out to me about you guys as a band is all the moving parts working so well together… I saw on your Spotify bio a little bit behind the name of the album “Benzene” and it’s a nickname for you it sounds like?

Scott: Yeah, it’s based off of a nickname.

Michaela: …and do you feel like the songs as an album are reflective of you as a person more so than other collections of songs in the past?

Scott: I think so for sure, yeah. Just because of the state of mind I was in. Because for Rolodex I was like “I’m going to write these songs as French Cassettes” and on this new record I was still thinking that, but I was also like “It’d be nice to wear it a little bit more on our sleeve on this one”, if possible…It’s  funny you bring that up about the name because I didn’t know what benzene was when I first saved the files on my computer and it  just stuck. But I remember the first time someone commented on it, they asked “Are you Ok? Why are you singing about chemicals? Are you alright?” and I didn’t know. I didn’t know what it was. Our show in Phoenix was the first time someone was like “Are you just a really big Breaking Bad fan, or what’s going on?” because there’s this one episode that’s based around benzene or something like that, I have never seen that episode.

Michaela: I wanted to talk a little bit about your music videos. They all feel like they’re a part of the same universe. They’re all very colorful and larger than life. Do you have any inspirations for concepts going into the music videos? Do they come from the songs themselves or do they  take shape on their own?

Scott: Well, honestly since we started getting serious about making albums that’s the first thing everyone said, was, “It’s just so colorful!” you hear the songs and just see a bunch of colors when you listen to them. I always took that as the highest compliment. That is what I was kind of hoping for. So of course, when it came time to do music videos we were like “Let’s see if we can highlight that”, and every time we’ve done a music video it's colorful and playful. We found a couple different directors, and it's funny you say the same universe, because two of them were by the same director and she actually said that. She was like “I kind of want it to secretly be the same universe and you’re the same person” and I said, “I love that.”

Michaela: Yeah! It definitely paid off. It all reads that way ...I was surprised to see how long you guys have been a band. It’s been, what, over 15 years?

Scott: Yeah, me and Mackenzie (lead guitar/keys), we were the core members starting out and we met when we were 16 and we started in 2006.

Michaela: When you guys met, who were some of the artists that you were inspired by and based the early version of the band around?

Scott: Well, I mean, I would be lying, and everyone else my age in an indie -rock band would be a liar if I didn’t say The Strokes. Definitely, when we first started out that was just the band that everyone wanted to be. But if you want to cut a little deeper, I always wanted to be The Strokes but compositionally influenced by Brian Wilson-The Beach Boys, Jeff Lynne-Electric Light Orchestra. The more harmonies the better, the more tracks. That’s changed over time. I still love those people but “the more the better” is not my motto anymore.

Michaela: How has the relationship between you and the band changed over time? Do you all work together in the same way? How has that dynamic changed?

Scott: I think we’re less afraid to critique each other on ideas. I think before it was: if any one had an idea, we would just do it. Which is cool in its own way, but it’s also cool to be able to say “ I don’t think that works” or “let’s maybe try this” and obviously it’s important to criticize but also be incredibly open at the same time. Otherwise, it’s just criticism to be critical. But yeah, that’s different now. We’re more comfortable letting people know what we really think about their ideas. It’s always positive.

Michaela: Well I’m glad it's all positive and it's only improved, and not the other way around.

Scott: I know, I’ve heard of that happening and it sounds like a nightmare.

Michaela: And it looks like you guys are staying busy with festivals and more shows coming up. Any that you are especially looking forward to?

Scott: We always love Austin. We have Austin tomorrow, it's one of my favorite places. Denver has always been so nice to us. We love going there. But also I have family in Salt Lake City so I’m excited to hopefully see them.

Michaela: Well I'm happy to see you guys are busy, out and about, and I hope you only continue to have fun and grow as you keep playing shows and making music. We’re excited to see you on the 28th!

Scott: I appreciate all that… That means a lot, thank you.