Capital Cities

They have a song called, “I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo,” what else do you need to know before you fall in love with them?

We’ve been diggin’ on Capital Cities for awhile, so we couldn’t be more stoked about all the recent attention they’ve been snagging. Their breed of indie-electro rock makes you want to sing at the top of your lungs while driving your car, and dance your ass off at one of their concerts.

We caught up with them recently when they stopped in San Francisco to play to a sold out crowd. It was one of the best shows we’ve seen this year­—and we’ve seen a ton. The crowd already knew the words to almost every song, and the band hasn’t even released a full length album yet. Read on to learn what makes this seeminlgy super powered music duo from Los Angeles super awesome.

Tell us a bit about how you the band got started—we’ve read it was a craiglist hookup! Details please .

Yes, we did meet through Craigslist! Sebu placed an ad offering music production services and I contacted him. At the time, I was looking for someone to help me finish songs on a solo project. Very early on we realized that our writing chemistry was great and began composing for TV commercials together. This ultimately led to the formation of Capital Cities.

Very few bands, especially unsigned bands, are able to achieve the kind OF buzz you have OFF just AN EP (although congrats ON the recent SIGN with capitol!). What’s driving this?

Our manager has always said to us that there isn’t one single thing that brings you success in the music business. For example, you don’t get a write up in Rolling Stone and then “make it” the next day. This is so true. Our music has spread through many random channels all combining to create an awareness or buzz. I think the key has been putting out what we think is quality music, working hard to give people an experience at the live shows and constantly connecting the dots on the internet to find out who is writing about us and where our fans are.

For example, last year we discovered through Facebook analytics that we had a fast growing fan base in Peru. After a little internet research we noticed this was a result of Safe and Sound being played extensively on Lima’s alternative radio station. After connecting with a local promoter we went down and played in front of over 500 people. This year, we went again and played in front of almost 1000. Without the internet and our obsession with finding connections, we totally would have missed this opportunity.

We’re all about telling stories through art at snap magazine. How will your first full length album fit into your story?

When we write songs, we choose our words very carefully in order to convey a story that people will either connect with or at least find interesting. Sebu and I probably have different ideas of what the exact story is even though we write all the lyrics together. This is fine because lyrics are better when they are open to interpretation. Each song is a little world that people can enter into and find their own meaning. In that sense, the album will be a collection of these little worlds and ultimately a reflection of the things that Sebu and I think about on a regular basis.

What do you guys do to stay inspired, especially through such a busy touring schedule? Eating amazing food inspires us! We actually just started a food blog called “In a Town of Buns and Gyros” where we write about notable dining experiences from our travels. We’ve found that every town has a gem of a restaurant that the world needs to know about. http://bunsandgyros.tumblr.com/

We also get inspired by the people that we meet at our shows.

They are always so hospitable and want to make sure we experience their city in the best way possible. It takes traveling to a whole new level when you have enthusiastic tour guides in each city.

We can’t wait for the full album to come out, anything else planned you’re excited about?

We have some amazing remixers like RAC and Plastic Plates working on Safe and Sound right now and can’t wait to see what they do with the song. We are also planning to shoot a new music video for Safe and Sound with a directing team we admire greatly. Beyond that, there will be tons of touring in 2013 and and a debut full length coming out in late spring. —ms