You Will Fall in Love With Cabeza’s Spaced-Out Maze of Sound, But They Still Are Not Coming for Drinks at Your Mom’s House
Photo by April Massey
Cabeza is not coming to your party. Family, political rallies, planning coat drives, and dropping truth bombs on stage does not leave room for much social life. While making music and supporting local causes is a priority for the band, drinking in your mom’s basement is not. Describing themselves as “Loud and obnoxious yet thoughtful and delicate,” Cabeza sits comfortably in their contradictions. Lead singer and primary songwriter Craig Lodis has an adversarial relationship with his frontman position. While Ray Dyer, the band’s gregarious drummer, is the group’s spokesperson. The pair’s strange juxtaposition, teamed with bassist Dick Dyer’s kind stoicism, serves Cabeza well. The group’s spacey, earthless sound is tethered by Lodis’ straightforward lyrics that often reference political and social causes. A revolving door of bandmates and the frustrations of never being able to complete a classic four-piece lineup has added an element of loneliness that saves Cabeza from classic jam band cliches.
Nevertheless, 2022 saw the group expand its performance schedule and release the single “Stumble Bumz.” Although they began 2023 by losing another fourth member, Cabeza has persisted in their plans for local domination. At the end of January, we spoke with lead singer, Craig Lodis, to discuss the band’s comeback, the toll of losing bandmates, and what is next for the group.
Dick Dyer, Ray Dyer, and Craig Lodis performing with Cabeza at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey
AM: Cabeza started as jam sessions between you and Ray?
Craig Lodis: I played in the band San Souci for a while. That fizzled out as bands sometimes do. I work with Ray’s wife, which is how we met. Ray and I started playing in my unfinished garage; the cops came shortly after. We have had a rotation of band members. Not on purpose, but it is hard to get schedules and personalities to mesh. All kinds of other issues. COVID as well.
AM: Because of that, do you consider Ray and yourself the band's core?
CL: Yes, definitely. When COVID hit, we parted ways with two band members. That is when Ray and I started to weave more electronic sound into our music.
AM: What kind of toll does it take to rotate members constantly?
CL: It is a bummer when it happens. We will get a decent amount of momentum going, but then everything comes to a grinding halt. I do not expect to be best friends with all my bandmates, but they come to my house to play music, and we hang out. We are losing a friendship as well. We did recently lose another member. I do not want to go into too much detail, but it was bizarrely abrupt. It was gross and stressful. I felt bad for them, but it was also creeping me out.
AM: So when it happens in a way that is more than just conflicting schedules, does that cut deeper for you?
Craig Lodis performing with Cabeza at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey
CL: Yeah, it is different. Ray is a ball of energy and always positive, which is a good counterbalance for me. Honestly, the thought of finding people on Craigslist to play music with— I was like, Fu— that. But, thankfully, Ray did it. Now we have Dick in the band, and we have found a handful of other people that way too.
AM: I have talked to bands that got together from Craigslist, and I would have never guessed that.
CL: It has been a mixed bag for us, but what else are we going to do? We rehearse in a soundproof room in my garage. When COVID hit, we had two bandmates that were not taking it seriously. It was like, “We can agree to disagree, but you are not coming over to share this space with us.”
AM: You all have families to think of as well. You are not a bunch of single guys with guitars.
CL: No, not at all.
AM: How does that affect the way you operate?
CL: We all have jobs and kids. The band is the one thing we have time for outside of that. We have two hours a week, so we have to be efficient and intentional. We are not going to get hammered during practice. We have young kids, so we are not going on tour. We have to figure out how to continue playing music and make it fun.
AM: Making those two dynamics work together can be challenging.
CL: Sometimes you romanticize going on tour, and you envy that. But it does not sound so great when I think about being away from my family and friends.
AM: I want to return to when you started incorporating electronic sound into your music. You began as a straightforward psychedelic band; talk about that evolution.
CL: I used to not like electronic music. I hated Girl Talk; I thought he was a hack. Then I saw Sylvan Esso at The Neurolux right before they got big, and it was amazing. I became more open to that kind of music. I bought Ableton and started working with that. I had a bunch of stuff on a hard drive. When we lost those two band members, Ray and I still wanted to play together, so we figured out how to incorporate what I had into our music.
AM: So, were you trying to find a way to move forward with more stability?
CL: Yes. It was definitely that. I am used to singing and playing guitar, which is rad and fun but different. With Sylvan Esso, one of them makes beats and is mostly twisting knobs on stage, but they are great performers. So, how do we do that?
AM: That kind of music is having a renaissance right now.
CL: I am getting deep into synthesizers and taking online courses in sound design and mixing. I love rock bands, but heavy rock guitar is getting stale. The ‘80s are in vogue again. Stuff that was considered cheesy not that long ago.
AM: A surge of younger bands is coming up in the Boise scene. How does playing with them feel while being in a different place in life?
Ray Dyer performing with Cabeza at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey
CL: It can feel like we are out of place sometimes. We are not in the scene, staying out till one in the morning all the time. Going to bed at 9 p.m. is late for me. I am fu— exhausted. I have a four-year-old and a one-year-old at home. Being a mentor in the scene would be wonderful, but I am not connected enough to do that. I would like to in the future. It would be rad to produce and record for people.
AM: Could you ever get to a point where you feel like it is time to be done?
CL: Never. No way. I like writing music, mixing, and making beats. I do not think I will ever stop. I am not delusional. We are not sitting around thinking, “Any day now, we are going to make it.” It is mostly about community, having an outlet to explore life and other confusing things, and leveling up. I do not ever want to have the mentality of, “I am this old now, so I should stop doing these things.”
AM: The lyrics you write are very topical. Have you always written from that viewpoint?
CL: That is something that has evolved with age and practice. My lyrics used to be very angry kid writing in his diary. I am still drawn to that sound sometimes, but opening up my lyrics has been very cathartic.
AM: Has it always been the goal for Cabeza to play music about local and political topics?
CL: It was not that overt. Ray and I are very similar in our political beliefs. He is the one pushing for us to do more of those things.
AM: Cabeza did a coat drive this winter, and you have members that regularly attend protests and rallies. How does that affect the representation of the band? Has it ever caused problems for you?
CL: I am not on social media at all, I would not know in that realm, but we have not felt any backlash in general. Ray is much more vocal and comfortable declaring his beliefs than I am. Politics are so divisive and gross. People are so angry now that a part of me says, “Yeah, maybe we should tone that down a little bit.”
AM: Have you ever said, “Wait, we need to step back from doing this?”
CL: I have not. We had an experience with a former bandmate. We were going to play a Bernie Sanders rally, which was against their political beliefs. We ended up pulling out.
AM: Do you think that has been a roadblock to finding new members?
Dick Dyer performing with Cabeza at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey
CL: Yes. Like many people, Ray and I are guilty of assuming everyone thinks as we do.
AM: You have some shows coming up. You are working on your second EP now. Any plans beyond that?
CL: We are focusing on tightening up as a three-piece since that is what we are now. Getting this second EP out. Ray and Dick are working on a video for our song, “Skinner’s Rat,” that will be on the EP. There is no full album yet, but we have some songs on the back burner that could be the start of that.
AM: Are you committing to being a three-piece now?
CL: I go back and forth. It would be nice to have another person, but it gets so ridiculous with all the variables complicating everything. I recently heard the musician Tod Sweeny on a podcast talking about how everyone should be in a band because it is the most ridiculous thing you can do. We have no incentive to do this. We are not getting paid tons of money. Sometimes we will get a free beer, but past that, it is just “shut the fu— up and play your guitar.”
This article has been edited and condensed.
