This interview was originally broadcast over the KALX airwaves on September 8, 2025.
Ears of Maize: [00:00:00] My name’s Ears of Maize and, uh, I’m, I’m here joined with, uh, John McCrea coming to you on behalf of, uh, 90.7 FM, KALX Berkeley.
John McCrea: Yeah, I’m, I’m familiar with your station. I used to live in Oakland. I love your station.
Ears of Maize: Oh, right on. I appreciate that. John, I wanted to ask you, um, first and foremost, what do you listening to these days?
John McCrea: I don’t know. Um, I’m sort of random, uh, in what I listen to. I, I, I’m looking for songs that I like. Um, sometimes not really even caring about performances. But, uh, let me just look at my, what I’ve played recently on my phone. Yeah. I listened to, I really like this Hawaiian artist, um, from the past named Sol Oppi, S-O-L-H-O-O-P-I.
And it just like, it’s like 1920s, thirties Hawaiian music before Hawaiian got like really schlocky. It, it really, it grooves and um, and the musicianship is just probably, you know, [00:01:00] in that top percentile. What else do I like right now? Well, you, I mean, new stuff. A friend of mine is, uh, friends with the bass player of ALWAYS, and uh, and I just got into them a year ago and I, I like what they’re doing and, and REAL ESTATE who are also playing on the, on the summit were neighbors of mine, uh, when I lived in Bolinas a few years back.
So I, I like those bands and. Let’s see. Yeah, you know, I’ve been just digging back into really old music, um, which probably you’re not interested in as much, but we’re at this, this point in, in human history where we have at our fingertips, like all the music pretty much. And, um, it seems really fake to just sort of have your prerogative based on, on how new something is.
Ears of Maize: I couldn’t agree more. Most of my time is spent looking backwards in the music that I digest, and I find it sort of, it’s a commitment to [00:02:00] focus on stuff that’s coming out these days.
John McCrea: It’s an honorable, uh, preoccupation. I mean, to find the best new music, it really serves an important function. Um, but it’s for, as a songwriter, I, I just like going back, you know, ’cause you find just amazing, amazing stuff,
Ears of Maize: Especially with, in the context of us being a, you know, longstanding. over 60-year-old freeform community and college radio station. Are you a radio listener yourself? Do you have, um, memory of growing up with radio or how do you sort of consume or, or get your music either new or old? What do you subscribe to or, or how does it find your ear?
John McCrea: You know, it’s mostly friends that are either in bands or, um, who have important, uh, who have strong opinions about things, who try to convince me that something is good or, or not good. I listen to, um, you know, the local station, XRAY FM up here, uh, when I’m, when it’s [00:03:00] appropriate and, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s, I think, probably similar to what a lot of other people do is they, they listen to something when they’re in a car and something when they’re in their, in their house and, and whatnot. I didn’t answer your question very well, I apologize.
Ears of Maize: No, no, no. That, um, yeah. Was there, um, for you, again, sort of with having touched a, a slew of places here in California, again, you mentioned the Bay and Oakland, you mentioned Bolinas again, Sacramento, a a huge piece of sort of your story too. Is there iconic radio that you remember digesting or,
John McCrea: um, yeah, yeah. Sorry, I, I sort of skipped over that part of your question. I grew up with AM radio, uh, when I was like seven years old as a juvenile delinquent in Berkeley, California. And, um, I remember, I think it was KYA, it was like pop radio, but it was like Sly Stone and Hot [00:04:00] Buttered Popcorn. Do you remember that song? I, I remember exactly where I was standing when I heard Superstition by Stevie Wonder. Um, you know, just like really pretty dramatically impactful moments. Um, with that, with that AM radio. And, you know, I don’t think I was trying to listen to any particular station, but I do remember that station.
And then, you know, as a, as a teenager, you know, what was on the radio was I think I had to move to the Central Valley very unwillingly. I ended up there and it was mostly like white male, like butt rock, um, on the radio and disco, disco, which I, I freaking really liked actually. And, um, yeah, and there was like, I think it was a station called KZ, which was kind of underground, but it was, it was still very much like white male power music, you know?
It was like, it was rock. It was like serious. Um, like Frank Zappa, you know, [00:05:00] southern rock bands, but also, you know, like some, some cool stuff, some maybe not so cool stuff, but, uh, but very guitar oriented, you know, and, and so I think that that influenced me. But at a certain point, I, I think I, I had my fill of it pretty quickly.
And I also moved to, as, as a teenager, had to move to Scotland for a while and got like, um, a, a dose of like a different kind of like white male power, which was like punk rock and, and, and post-punk. Again, like very, like culturally very similar to, to like butt rock, I guess. Mm-hmm. In, in a lot of ways.
Except maybe slightly different class distinctions, but, and then, then I guess, um, yeah, and I listened to the radio there and I liked the fact that radio in, in England and Scotland was actually sort of, um, sidestepped, um, a huge emphasis on, on genre [00:06:00] and, and played like literal country songs right next to R and B songs, right next to it was all just kind of the same to them.
And I guess like that’s happens to a lesser degree here, but I’d never heard such a such stark musical contrast. It was all with under the sort of umbrella of, of pop music, but, but it was like literally, um, really far into country and, you know, followed by really far into R and B, followed by like, like some hair metal songs, you know, mixed into that.That was kind of a revelation to me ’cause it was so tribal in the United States.
Ears of Maize: Interesting. I I hadn’t realized the, um, the European connection there and to, yeah, to, to experience not only the world of music, but also American music through that filter and through radio and again, all side by side.
That’s, that’s pretty wild.
John McCrea: right? I think all the American music was just sort of thrown into one category, you know? And to me it sounded there was a huge [00:07:00] variance you would never hear on, on American radio.
Ears of Maize: Were there things to come out of sort of the traditional or um, even like the European canon of music that influenced you by way of folk music or anything in that sort of traditional sense that you then sort of unpacked and brought home with you or?
John McCrea: Well, I, you know, I, I think I liked some of the, some of the punk bands. I like some of the post-punk bands like the Jam and, uh, you know, some of the mod sounding bands and, and then like when I came back to the United States, punk was just sort of getting started here. It was already sort of ending in the, in the UK and it was a very different thing in, in the two countries.
It was definitely more like vomit and like, like working class and, you know, beer in, in, in Britain and, and in the United States, it seemed like sort of punk was more an expression of privilege. I, I flew into LAX and I immediately saw this guy with a giant colorful [00:08:00] mohawk, and it was just like, well, this is somebody who, who doesn’t have to have a job, you know?
And right, it was very much a, a flex anyway, but yeah. So then I think, um, you know, I got force fed, um, my mom played folk music like beatnik era. American, you know, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and on, on the guitar all the time. And my dad played Russian like gypsy, um, accordion music on alternating nights and would keep me awake. Uh, I think sometimes, sometimes too long, uh, with, with the music.
Uh, but I think that those, I think that those musics influenced me in terms of like song structure and like some of the, um, minor key Eastern European stuff I really, to this day, love. So, yeah, I think that’s like, in a sort of really indirect way has, has kind of influenced what I, what, at [00:09:00] least what I like, maybe not what I do.
Ears of Maize: Yeah. And, um, I guess to share a little bit of my own story and how sort of your music was impacted on me. Um, I grew up a product of public school right along the Mason Dixon line and, uh, the albums of Prolonging the Magic and Comfort Eagle were handed to me by, you know, a kid on the back of the bus. And up until then, I’d been fed a healthy dose of classic rock and through my dad and jazz, like Maynard Ferguson and stuff like that. And then also to sort of my own start of finding alternative rock radio and things like that. At the time I was listening to things like, you know, the Roots or the Beastie Boys, like I said, Maynard Ferguson of all things. And, um, just the way that, you know, your music came in with things like muted trumpets and vibraslaps and, uh, whistles and just even like the syncopation of, of rhythms and things like that.
It was a collection of things that I had sort of touch points for, but had never heard in sort of the dynamicism in which, you know, you all sort of brought it to, to the scene at the time. So, yeah, [00:10:00] I have sort of a similar overlap of kind of connecting pieces and, and finding things that made sense and then things that just totally blew my socks off. So I want to, I wanna thank you for that and the music.
John McCrea: Um, sure. Yeah. What’s important, I think, in understanding what sounds like what you’re talking about, but also our, our band, is that there’s a certain underlying rejection of, of, of the, of the importance of genre. Um, it’s not, we’re not trying to include everything. We are just not caring about genre. And it’s sort of a defiant stance, and, and it’s, I don’t think we have a choice. I, yeah, I don’t, I think it has to be this way for us. But anyway…
Ears of Maize: I really love some of the, the grooves and, um, some of the, the instrumental side of things that you guys really sort of flex. Again, some of my favorite songs come off that B-Sides and Rarities album with Conroy and Thrills. Um, I also too wanted to call out the fact that you’ve made some choices with, um, covering songs on records. With the recent passing [00:11:00] of Ozzy Osborne and you know, the fact that you all covered War Pigs and also, um, I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor and, um, did some really great interpretations of those songs. Curious if you ever had the chance to, um, meet those artists or have conversations or, or sort of see how, you know, your take on, on those particular songs were sort of digested by the creators.
John McCrea: I haven’t met either of those two, but I did hear that Gloria Gaynor, um, did not like our version. Um, I think primarily because she’s a Christian and didn’t like the profanity that we included. I think she’s getting a little MAGA now, so probably because of her Christianity. I would’ve liked to have met, um, Ozzy Osborne. That would’ve been super interesting. Yeah. But I’ve met, we did a Barry White song. I met Barry White, uh, one time. I, I’m, I’m influenced by him. I think, um, yeah, I haven’t met Willie Nelson. Would super enjoy that if that ever happens.
Ears of Maize: Looking at the timeline of some of those core [00:12:00] CAKE records, I always thought to myself when I was in high school sort of studying, um, American history, I always thought, you know, you see these flashpoints of, you know, the 1960s, the 1970s was a huge sort of time for me and just realizing that we as a country had a lot to fight for, a lot to sort of protest at the time. There was a lot sort of happening in the scene and I thought to myself, ‘You know, surely all the, all the action has already happened and, and nothing like this will ever sort of happen in my lifetime’ and now as we sort of look at the unfolding of a lot of climates, both politically, you know, the, the climate itself, all of these things that are sort of in front of us now, how do you sort of find yourself making music in the current scene, the current conversation? Is it fodder for you or is it, is it frustrating like the rest of us to sort of put your head into it all?
John McCrea: I play music and record music now more as like a therapy for myself, um, because I don’t, you know, really, uh, recorded music isn’t worth very much. Um, so I just, it, I need to [00:13:00] do it. And so, and of course I need to do it in a way that’s, um, helps me process the crazy, you know, it’s, it’s a wild ride right now and, you know, music, making music is something that I have control over and that’s super, you know, still pretty calming for me. And I think I, I think it’s a, it’s a tightrope walk, you know, to sort of acknowledge what’s going on, but not, um, be, you know, preachy about it. You know, I think that there’s, there’s some artists that have done that successfully and probably a lot more that have done that unsuccessfully.
Ears of Maize: For me. in sort of the current climate, it’s so easy to, um, find yourself sort of lost in the, in the movements of day to day. It feels like so much happens, you know, one week from the other. How do you as, as a, as a musician and a songwriter, sort of take a step back and look at the bigger picture, especially when writing songs and, and, and wanting to have things that have a little more [00:14:00] longevity than just what’s happening in current events today or this week?
John McCrea: I had a, I had a writer…listened to one of my songs, a very successful, famous writer, and said, I like that part. Uh, just repeat that part. You know, like, that’s, that’s the, she said, I think she sort of, to the effect that that’s the only part that really matters. And it was a, it was a line, um. Uh, I, I want a girl with shoes that cut. And so what she was saying is, um, you know, describe the smell of oranges. Don’t say war is bad. Describe how something smells or tastes or, and, and get, get at the subject, the big sort of vague subject in a way that’s not prescriptive, but that’s descriptive. Hmm. And I thought that was super good advice.
Ears of Maize: Yeah, no, that’s a very good point. Um, are there artists that are unafraid of, you know, political commentary or facing things head on that, um, you look to for either inspiration or icons, sort of, [00:15:00] of the scene?
John McCrea: Well, I mean, I think Billy Bragg is, I, I admire his bravery. He’s more like prescriptive and more direct than I feel comfortable with. Um, but I really admire, like somebody that that can be so sort of forthright. Just say it then. And then another tack was like Bob Dylan, who, who was, you know, got pretty preachy, but, but kept it weird enough, uh, where there was plausible deniability.
Ears of Maize: Also wanted to say I’ve enjoyed, um, the new music, the, the recent share of the track Billionaire In Space.
John McCrea: Thanks so much. I hope that Billionaire In Space is not too didactic in your estimation.
Ears of Maize: Not at all. I really enjoyed it.
John McCrea: Okay.
Ears of Maize: Uh, again, you’ll be coming to the Bay Area and, uh, high atop Mount Tam on Saturday, September 13th as part of, uh, Sound Summit in Mill Valley before hitting the road with uh, more dates and thank you for your music, thank you for your time and uh, thanks for coming to the Bay Area.
John McCrea: I’ve enjoyed talking with you. I hope you have, I’m gonna listen to your show now.
Ears of Maize: Awesome. I appreciate it. Take care.
John McCrea: Take care. Bye-bye. [00:16:00] Hi, my name’s John McCrae from the band Cake, and you’re listening to K-A-L-X 90.7 Berkeley.
