Cake will perform at 8 p.m. Friday on the Wind Creek Stage at DeLuna Fest. / Tim Jackson/Special to GoPensacola.com
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After 20 years together, 2011 is proving to be exceptionally sweet for the members of Cake.
The sardonic alt-rock favorites, who perform at DeLuna Fest on Friday, scored their first No. 1 album with "Showroom of Compassion." And they've done it on their own, as "Showroom" is the band's first self-released studio album.
Vince DiFiore, whose trumpet blasts have been a distinctive part of the band's sound since the beginning, said it was exciting for he and his bandmates — singer/guitarist John McCrea, bassist Gabe Nelson, drummer Paulo Baldi and guitarist Xan McCurdy — to reach the top of the charts.
"It was worth celebrating because we worked hard on it," DiFiore, who also plays keyboards and percussion, said during a telephone interview. "We're kind of a 'Bad News Bears' band, we don't hold any championships, so to be No. 1 that week was substantial, and we didn't take it for granted."
But DiFiore said crowd response is the band's greatest reward.
"For any band, the real acknowledgment is when you get up in front of the people who like your music and are giving you their appreciation with applause," he said. "It's something we've worked very hard on, and that's still how I approach a show. I imagine that we have to win that audience over. I pretend that they're all gonna walk out if we don't play something they want to listen to."
After 20 years of hits such as "The Distance," "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" and "Never There," finding something to play that people want to hear shouldn't be a problem. DiFiore attributes the band's success to a lack of ego.
"There's something populist about the music, it's not exclusionary," he said. "We create the music with people in mind, not our artistic indulgences in mind."
A big part of that sound is DiFiore's trumpet — not the most common instrument in a rock band.
"I guess I got that role because John had been through the whole rock rigmarole and wanted to do something different," he said. "He wanted a foil for the electric guitar. The guitar is an incredible force and he wanted something that was a counter. I was brought in not as a trumpet section, but to take multiple leads."
That said, DiFiore said he only recently started feeling comfortable about his place in the band.
"There's comfort in knowing there are other examples of horns in rock and roll, but then, there's this other melodic element which is great for me. And our styles are so diverse that there are a lot of opportunities."
Aside from the trumpet, DiFiore described the crucial elements of the distinctive Cake sound.
"The guitar plays very definite parts," he said. "That's what I think of first. The electric guitar is not just playing rhythms and noodling leads. Everything is arranged and very seriously considered before we lay it down. The bass, more often, plays more of a Motown line, something funky or a shuffle step. Our drummer rarely plays a straight rock beat. It's a lot about the juxtaposition of the instruments and very thoughtfully doing something different."
And DiFiore said Cake is looking forward to doing exactly that at DeLuna Fest.
"We're playing new songs off of 'Showroom,' and we hope it's not too windy so we can hang up our backdrop," he said. "We want to come out and represent ourselves and get face-to-face with the crowd."
