With more than 1 billion streams and 500 million YouTube views, Cavetown has emerged as the leader of the DIY bedroom pop scene, and the current tour that’s coming town supports his latest album, worm food, a terrific collection of confessional tunes that pack a punch.
In a recent call from his Cambridge home, Skinner speaks about the album and tour, and in email exchanges, Montgomery and mxmtoon talk about their respective musical careers and voice their support for the LGBTQ+ community.
That song “Nobody Loves Me” features the three of you – Cavetown, Ricky Montgomery and Maia/mxmtoon. The vocal harmonies really stand out. Talk about what it was like to cut that track.
Skinner: I started it a long time ago with Ricky. We jammed together at his place in L.A. and hung out. Literally, a year later, we forgot we had started this thing. We were planning on touring together and Maia was part of that, so we wanted to see what would happen. I was in Brooklyn for a few days, and we fleshed it out together. I love how it turned out. It was one of those songs that I got stuck with it at a few points. I wasn’t sure what would come next, so it was nice to have them two for those moments when I was feeling stuck. At those moments, they were feeling motivated and had lots of ideas, and we made it into what it’s become. In the last few weeks, I was really stressed out on tour and felt like I couldn’t finish it, and Ricky took the reins of it. The song itself is about my problems with object permanence. I find it hard to remember that I have people who love me when I’m not around. The song is about that feeling and the realization of that reminder that the person is still there. I wrote it with my girlfriend in mind. She’s very loving.
mxmtoon: Thank you! We weren’t able to cut vocals with each other in person which I would have loved to do honestly, but I’m really happy with how it all came together in the end. We had one session day in New York when working on the song initially, but we ran out of time to get any finalized vocals. So, I ended up recording a lot of the vocals from my room and just sending them over to Robbie and Ricky!
Montgomery: It was my first time flying out to another city to work on a song, which was a lot of fun. We spent two days together writing the song and then did the rest remotely. We actually based the song off of a track that Robbie (Cavetown) and I had started writing together back in 2021 but couldn’t quite crack. Once we brought Maia in on that one, the whole thing made so much more sense. Making a 3-person track was more of a challenge than I’d expected, but Maia and Robin made it easy.
Can you each talk about your upbringing? What drew you to music in the first place?
Skinner: Both my parents are musicians, so there was music playing all the time. They were encouraging if I showed an interest in something creative. I am lucky to have had that. I have friends whose families don’t understand creative jobs in general and think it’s not sustainable. My parents made sure I was aware of that. From their experience, they told me that It is hard to make it sustainable, but that didn’t stop them from being supportive. They helped me get my first instrument. I’m an only child and I had a lot of time to work on things, and I used to draw a lot and that evolved into writing songs.
mxmtoon: Music has always been a part of my life. My mom signed me up for violin lessons when I was six, which transitioned into cello lessons when I was eight. In middle school I found the guitar and ukulele, and I even auditioned to sing in my middle school rock band. I learned how to write songs thanks to a mandatory assignment in my music class, and from there I just ran with it. I’ve never been someone who kept a diary, but songs always felt like a very natural way for me to explore what I was feeling. Fast-forward a good number of years, and I’m still making music to explore my own brain space!
Montgomery: I’m from L.A. and was always surrounded by music. My mom has a master’s degree in musical theater, and my dad played guitar. Also, my dad’s best friend was a professional Mick Jagger impersonator and toured with a pretty famous Rolling Stones tribute band. None of this stuff was particularly glamorous, but I think I absorbed a lot of music through osmosis that way. Eventually, I just decided to pick up a guitar and teach myself. I liked it enough to keep pushing through.
What would you consider to be your musical influences?
Skinner: Probably an amalgamation of everything I’ve enjoyed since I was a young teenager. The first music that I remember being really, really into was Alvin and the Chipmunks when I was 8. I would listen to the Chipmunks songs all the time. I thought they were really cool. I eventually became big fans of Green Day and Pierce the Veil and pop-punk and metal stuff. I started writing when I was more into heavier stuff and was more drawn to more indie Bandcamp bands. The guitarist in my band now is one of the artists I would listen to when I was 12 on Bandcamp. His name is Austin, and he’s so talented and one of the sweetest guys ever.
mxmtoon: Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of ’80s music, specifically from British bands. Lots of Duran Duran, Bananarama, the Clash and more. No idea if that’s going to inspire future music, but it would be fun to try my hand at electro pop or punk rock.
Montgomery: As far as the stuff I was raised around, it was a lot of rock classics: Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, the Who, the Rolling Stones, etc. And then my mom was really into talented vocalists like Joni Mitchell and Jeff Buckley. From there, moving to St. Louis as a teenager was pretty influential. I think I absorbed a lot of emo and rage that way.
Robin, “A Kind Thing to Do” is one of my favorite tracks on Worm Food. Talk about recording the tune with Vic Fuentes and Pierce the Veil. I love the contrast between singing and screaming.
Skinner: That’s one of my favorites for me too. I grew up listening to Pierce the Veil. We were mutuals on Instagram for a little while. When I noticed that, I realized I had to say something, and I DM-ed [Fuentes]. I told him I loved everything he’s ever done. He then came to a show in Seattle. He was there for a writing trip. We hung out in 2019. Then, fast forward to after COVID, and I went to San Diego. We hung out for a day, and I showed him some stuff I was working on, and he gave some feedback and ideas and what became “A Kind of Thing to Do” was initially a different song that I had scrapped, so we wrote the bridge part together and really loved that part. When I came back to the UK, I worked on it a bit more and asked him if he wanted to contribute to it. He said, “Hell yeah” but was on tour. He found the time to record his parts, and it was so surreal and fun.
How do you feel about the term bedroom pop?
Skinner: I like it. It kind of perfectly describes it for me. I don’t like to put my music in a genre, but the label draws attention to it being very DIY and done in my bedroom. They’re not really in a bedroom and in a studio, but that aspect is very important to me.
mxmtoon: I like it. I’m not sure if I’d describe my more recent music as “bedroom pop,” but I can’t deny the fact that the term and overall genre really helped me find my footing early on. I like how bedroom pop really allows for anyone to approach making music. The genre isn’t about complexity or polish; it’s just about making music that feels cozy, raw and honest.
Montgomery: I think it’s probably past its prime in the public awareness. At first, I liked having a “new lane” to be a rock adjacent artist within. Rock is revived and re-killed every five years or so, and it’s hard to say how that dynamic exists in 2023. The whole DIY thing isn’t particularly new, and I more attach it to people like Prince and Nine Inch Nails than I do newer artists. I love to see independent creation celebrated so much, though. It’s always nice to feel seen as a person creating art outside of the historical “go into the studio and get produced” format most fans seem to know.
Ricky, you have a terrific new tune called “Black Fins.” Talk about the tragic event that inspired it and what it was like to write about something so personal.
Montgomery: Thank you! I’m really proud of that one. I’ll keep it to the short version. When I was 15, my dad took his own life in Mexico, and the circumstances around it were really mysterious and unclear. Obviously, a permanently life changing moment that has informed every creative decision I’ve ever made. It’s all over my socials if you want to know more about “the story.” As for the writing, it was in some ways easier than other songs. I started writing music as a coping mechanism rather than a money making tool or even as a hobby. It’s almost like I had always been building toward writing a song like “Black Fins.” I actually find it a lot harder to write pop songs or songs that don’t have to deal with trauma or stuff like that. So, I supposed you could say it was a return to form and an exercise in mastery. Aside from that, of course it was very cathartic. I’ve always wanted to write about that event in my life in a clear, direct way. And now I have.
Maia, “Mona Lisa” is one of my favorite songs on “Rising.” The idea of wanting to be a painting is really interesting. Talk about what inspired the song, which I think is ultimately about self-affirmation.
mxmtoon: Thank you so much! The idea was initially started because I had been ruminating on this feeling of “I am always writing songs about the people I care about, but no one is ever gonna write a song about me.” Ultimately, I decided that I don’t really need for some other person to make music about me, and that instead I can just make a song about how much value I know I hold within myself regardless!
Maia, you performed one of Ricky’s songs on Twitch and then wound up working with him. What was it like to work with him?
mxmtoon: Such a dream! I’ve been a fan of Ricky since his Vine days. It was such a funny moment to reflect on how I went from being one of his followers to collaborating with him. We’ve even toured together and will continue to! Life works in very mysterious ways, and I feel thankful that my job allows me to connect with people that I’ve admired for a long time.
Ricky, can you talk about working with Maia?
Montgomery: I’ve known Maia through internet circles for a couple years, but it was so flattering to see that happen. I’ve respected Maia as an artist for so many years – and for so many reasons — and I’ve been so blessed to interact with her more since she did that cover. It was a huge highlight for me at the time and helped me build some much needed confidence.
One dollar from every ticket sold benefits the newly-formed LGBTQ+ youth organization, This Is Home Project, and at each show, a This Is Home tent will welcome local LGBTQ+ youth organizations to connect with fans. Talk about why this charity is so important at this particular moment in history.
Skinner: The This Is Home project is a fund-raising project that my team started building fairly recently. We have tried to raise money for charities that matter to me and my audience. I am a queer person, so it makes sense to do that. I’m so grateful for the success I’ve had in music, and I don’t need all this money. We live in capitalism, unfortunately, so money matters. We created the foundation, which I named after a song I wrote a long time ago that has resonated with my audience. It’s a way for us to do even more with the charities that we work with. We also put on events. We did a benefit show in New York about a year ago which went really well. It’s an open-book and it’s always been important to me to do that kind of stuff. It feels good to have some kind of impact and to help kids growing up now to have a better life than they might’ve had ten years ago. Even in my life, I know if someone had the resources to help me, that would have meant the world to me, and it’s the difference between life and death for a lot of people.
mxmtoon: We’re in a very scary landscape right now when it comes to the freedoms of marginalized people, especially so when it comes to the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Music and concerts have always been a safe haven for people of any background, gender, or sexuality to come and enjoy a shared experience. Having the This Is Home Project present at these shows this summer, reinforces what our beliefs and hopes for these concerts are. We want the [current] Bittersweet Daze tour to be a safe space for queer identity and to help band all of us together in fighting for positive change for queer people worldwide.
Montgomery: I’ve never in my life seen trans folks more endangered by the public discourse — not to mention minorities in general. But in particular, LGBTQ+ youth are going through a really terrifying period in the political global landscape that I wouldn’t feel right being passive about. I was beyond excited to learn about the This Is Home Project’s participation with this tour, and it’s one of the reasons I accepted the offer to begin with.
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This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 11, 2023.
