Sedona Schat and Noah Yoo have been recording alternative pop songs together as Cafuné since their days as NYU students in the mid-2010s. Self-produced and almost entirely recorded by the duo at their homes, mostly during the pandemic, their debut album Running is a record born in isolation. It peers out at a world that feels like it’s on the precipice of disaster, considering what it means to get older, to carve out a future for yourself. It’s a labor of the duo’s friendship, of doing the work and trying to figure out what the way forward is, even when it seems like there’s no end in sight.
We caught up with the pair ahead of their gig at Deaf Institute this September…
How is 2023 going for you both so far?
- The year is blazing by! Can’t believe it’s more than halfway over. We’ve been busy since January and are not slowing down until after our UK/Euro tour! We are still adjusting to our new careers but feel excited and full of gratitude to be able to do this full time.
What does your writing process look like? Is it the same every time?
- It’s definitely not the same every time! Sometimes Noah will start a guitar idea and I will try to find some emotional context within it to start writing lyrics; sometimes we write in the same room, sometimes I bring a song idea to him and we workshop it.
What are three words to describe your music?
- Tender, Melancholic, Bratty
Who are your main influences and how have they impacted your music?
As a songwriter and a singer I’m very inspired by Joni Mitchell. The two of us grew up listening to bands like Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Strokes, the Killers.
- You’ll be heading to the UK soon, how are you feeling about it?
- We are so excited to be headed to the UK to play for the first time!! It’ll be Noah’s first time in Europe, so we’ll have fun.
- What can we expect from your show?
- Louder than you might think.
If you could collaborate with one artist/band, who would it be and why?
- We went on tour with CHVRCHES and had such a beautiful time, and have been fans of their for a long time. We think doing a song with them would go hard.
What can we expect from Cafune in the years to come?
- You can expect us to continue exploring different genre borders. We’re bound to get weirder. But also more pop. But also more rock. At once. I dunno. You can expect more music.