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Photo: Sam Williams

Bold and wondrous, Cafuné is finally taking up their rightfully deserved space in the indie realm, yet we still haven’t had nearly enough of them.

The duo, consisting of producer Noah Yoo and singer-songwriter Sedona Schat, met at Clive Davis Institute at NYU roughly ten years before signing to Elektra Records. You can hear the awareness of technicality in work— they boast a refinement many burgeoning artists hope to feign. Their artistry supersedes the amateur, slow cooking their work rather than churning out something half-baked.

As COVID eased life into a pause, the limited distraction was fertile soil for Cafuné’s blooming, gifting us an eclectic catalog with much trial and very little error. They’ve been discovering themselves out loud, landing on a sound that is both a nod to early emo nostalgia and newly born. Drifting between synth-pop and rock, they’ve taken the time to experiment with their expression, with songs like “Everyone Knows” begging for a PinkPantheress feature while “Friction” emits notes of early Paramore.

While their entire catalog, including their 2021 debut album Running, is rich with depth, it would be negligent not to acknowledge “Tek It” and how it enveloped an entire generation. Earning them a certified gold plaque and surpassing 100 million Spotify streams, the single has taken on several lives, with slowed and sped-up iterations finding themselves on karaoke screens and TikToks around the world. “Tek It” gave liberation to the hopeless feelers lost in their own longing, and made Cafuné feel like a safety net.

With the release of their first single, "Perspective," since signing to Elektra Records and releasing their debut album signaling a new era, we sat down with the band to discuss how life has taken shape since their debut album and viral explosion.

OTW: The origin story of Cafuné notes you guys bonding over Two Door Cinema Club and it’s funny because you’ve mastered a sound very similar to theirs—nostalgic yet futuristic. How did you arrive there?

Sedona: We’ve had a lot of conversations about that throughout our time working together. We both went to music school and think about old music a lot, but I think Noah in particular is someone who’s interested in doing something new.

Noah: There’s stuff that we both like and everything in this band is 50/50, so everything that comes into the equation exists at the intersection of what Sedona and I are separately interested in. So a lot of the music we listened to when we were just getting into music, like Phoenix, Paramore, emo bands that are very nostalgia-driven in their songwriting, play a role. As far as bridging the gap, I made electronic music for a while before we started focusing on the band, and Sedona and I talk about structure a lot, but I definitely don’t think we’ve mastered anything yet. It took a while for us to decide what we wanted to sound like, we spent years writing songs to figure that out.

I think your sound mirrors that era because of how methodical and honest it is, in contrast to a lot of the music now that is immediate and thirsty for viralbility. And yet, you guys still went viral! Is it odd for a band that’s more intentional with their work to experience sudden internet fame?

Sedona: We weren’t operating in a way where we were thinking about going viral, so it’s simply funny. It fell out of the sky, I still don’t understand what made ["Tek It"] go viral.

Noah: That’s a good question. A part of why we take our time is because yes we wanted to be deliberate, but also literally couldn’t afford to do the band more. We both worked other jobs so we did the band while not being able to commit that much time, we only did a handful of shows a year.

Sedona: We were definitely a slow cook.

Noah: Absolutely. So now, everything is moving faster, but I’m appreciating the opportunity to work with intention and not reactively.

Did you know you were sitting on gold with “Tek It?”

Sedona: We both felt proud of the song. It was the first time we nailed the sound that we were going for, it felt like a turning point from everything we put out before. But we definitely never thought it was a hit song. Especially because we put it out in 2019 and had mentally moved on, so we didn’t expect it to randomly blow up.

Not only has it taken on a life of its own but it’s also become this collaborative project, with people loving the sped-up version, the slow version, etc. How do you react to that? Do you prefer people honor its original format or do you enjoy all its iterations?

Noah: Once you put out a piece of music, it doesn’t belong to you anymore. We live and die by that as artists. I think it’s great, just the idea that people are making remixes and covers and making the song itself a part of their lives. It’s nice to feel proud of our songwriting.

I think it hit us because you put words to feelings we weren’t quite able to articulate ourselves. Is it difficult to perform lyrics so honest? Do you find yourself reliving those feelings?

Sedona: Performing it is always really fun so I don’t have to emotionally relive it in a devastating way, which is probably good. But it definitely came from a real relationship dynamic, which is why I think so many people can relate to it. Sometimes you’re just in too deep and then you’re like “Holy shit, I can’t rely on you at all.”

You’re touring, you’ve got the plaque, people are excited about what’s next. Is there pressure or are you guys just excited to be creating?

Sedona: We’ve written a few songs that we’re excited about, there’s old and new music that we’re putting together. We definitely have the follow-up for “Tek It,” as funny as that sounds.

Noah: We’ve got a tour coming up, we’re going to do our first festival, new music is happening. For the first time we’re not just doing it all ourselves, there’s a team and budget. We feel really empowered to try new things and really go for it.