The Chicago band California Wives combines indie rock with melodic pop undertones and touch of 80s style synth haze, resulting in mellow but catchy tunes that have garnered comparisons to 80s supergroup The Police and modern pop purveyors Phoenix. Their five song EP Affair is available as a digital download over at Amazon. Members Dan Zima and Jayson Kramer answered our questions for the band and told us about a show that made Jayson’s lips tremble, literally.
Kelly: Tell us the story of how the band got together…
Dan Zima: Three of us, minus Jay, had been in a band together since high school. We started California Wives as a side project of that. We’d mess around once or twice a week, and when the main act fell apart we had this to start working on. We wanted another person, someone who played keys because we already had a synthesizer but barely knew how to use it. Jay practiced with us and it clicked.
K: How would you describe your sound?
DZ: I feel like we’re a rock band that tries to integrate synthesizers in a way that sounds native to the music, which a lot of rock bands are doing anyway.
K: Who are some of your sonic influences?
DZ: We all kind of bonded on the idea of sounding like New Order. But we’re not as smart as them, so what we got is what we’re capable of. I think there’s a good amount of The Cure in us too.
K: What has been your biggest accomplishment as a band so far?
DZ: We played Schuba’s in Chicago for the release of our EP Affair. We planned and put all of it together, put a lot of work in, and it went exactly how we wanted. It sold out, the crowd responded really well, we played really well.
K: What are your goals for the upcoming year?
DZ: We’ve got some new songs, and we’ll keep writing as we go, so we want to have a follow up to Affair out in early Spring. We’d like to play SXSW, and we’re talking to some people about showcases there, so setting that up and doing it well would be good.
K: What has been your favorite city/venue to play in?
Jayson Kramer: We’ve enjoyed playing in cities throughout the midwest, but of course we have to show Chicago some love. It’s our home town and we’ve grown up playing the venues here. It’s always nice to play a show and recognize some familiar faces in the crowd, so that’s probably why we get so excited for shows in Chicago. As far as venues go, there are so many great places to play in Chicago. Schubas, Bottom Lounge, The Beat Kitchen, and Hideout are just a few places that have been great to us over the last year.
K: What’s on heavy rotation in the tour bus/ on your ipod?
JK: It’s always interesting to see what ends up on the band ipod while on the road. I think it changes depending on the time of year, but there are some bands that consistently show up on our playlists. Bands like Cut Copy, The Strokes, and shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine and Chapterhouse are familiar sounds in the van. On our last trip, I personally was listening to a lot of Blur and Neil Young, but we all enjoy a solid 80′s one hit wonder from time to time.
K: Who is your favorite new artist?
JK: Lately, we’ve been listening to a lot of Wild Nothing. Personally, I’ve been listening to the newest record from Pantha du Prince quite a bit.
K: What would be your dream collaboration and why?
JK: I think there are a few producers that we would love to work with. Dave Fridmann (MGMT/Flaming Lips) and Nigel Godrich (Radiohead/Beck) are two producers that have incredible vision. It would be incredible to work through our songs with them. There are so many others that I’m not mentioning here, but the recording industry has so many visionaries that any opportunity would be outstanding.
K: Tell us your craziest/most embarrassing band story, and make it a good one.
JK: Tour is always unpredictable, so there are a lot of stories I could tell. But one show that sticks out to me at the moment is a show we played in a small art gallery in Milwaukee. The gallery was upstairs and all the bands were playing downstairs in the basement. The space was so small and there was only one mic for all the bands. We could barely fit on the stage area and the cords from our instruments were all over the floor. Joe (our drummer) was tucked back into a corner so dark you could barely see him. When I went up to the mic to sing the first line of the first song, the mic sent a surge of electricity through my lips. I don’t know what was wrong with it, but the whole set I was dreading every time I needed to sing a line. But the crowd was incredible and so energetic that in the end, none of that other stuff really mattered. I think we’d all play there again if given the chance.
