It's no longer freezing in New York after months of snow and gloomy weather. Could the members of Incan Abraham have brought some Los Angeles warmth with them? As they sit on a bench outside of The Brooklyn Bowl, they speak of their upcoming album, Tolerance, as a "tombstone" of sorts. It's the band's debut LP, but they describe it as quite literally a record of the years they've worked leading up to this point.
Although this release is just the beginning for the group, which has finally graduated from being an L.A. band to a nationally touring act, their story started when they were only toddlers. Guitarist Teddy Cafaro and bassist Spencer Mandel went to kindergarten together and began playing talent shows in middle school. Keyboardist Giuliano "Giuls" Pizzulo grew up with them in L.A as well. Their musical connection followed them to college on the East Coast, where Cafaro and Mandel would meet up in cities located between their college towns to play shows.
In 2009, they spent the summer in L.A. with Pizzulo and drummer Andrew Clinco, working on a couple of songs together. "It just felt kind of right," Cafaro says of the group, and on a whim they decided to reconvene after college in Rhinebeck, NY, two hours north of Manhattan. They stayed there for a month, writing and recording together, then moved back to L.A. shortly after. "We realized pretty quickly that we needed to be playing shows and working together all the time" Cafaro says. "It's a full time gig."
Having decided to be serious about the band, they needed a name. The Incan Abraham moniker came after a trip to local L.A. restaurant Pollo a la Brasa, where they saw a man drinking the Peruvian soda Inca Kola (hence "Incan"). The name went from "Abraham Incan" to "Incan Abraham," and the rest is history.
The first couple of years consisted of vetting ideas and figuring out what kind of band they wanted to be. Now that the foursome has reached the milestone of recording a cohesive full-length, they feel that everything is coming together.
Tolerance, due out April 8 via White Iris Records, was primarily recorded at the Sound Factory in Hollywood with producer Lewis Pesacov (Best Coast, FIDLAR, Fool's Gold). They recorded in classic analog, on large-format consoles so as to retain the warm, nostalgic sound that inspired them.
"It's really about the stuff our parents were listening to in the car when we were five years old," Pizzulo says. "The nostalgia of hearing that again makes us really excited, and that influenced the sound a lot."
They list Peter Gabriel, Sting, King Sunny Adé, Fela Kuti and "electronic music in general" as inspirations on the record. They also credit their current sound to local bands they've heard in L.A. (there's even a song on the record called "Peers"). However, the band doesn't feel like they fall under the "beachy, sunny" label.
"People try to pitch music from California as either being from the beach or having more of a Western, desert, throwback sound," Cafaro explains.
"It's an easy descriptor," Pizzulo adds. "But it's kind of funny because all of us actually live in the city, 45 minutes away from any beach."
Rather, their music evokes a long-drive-up-the-coast vibe, living somewhere between the chill beach and the wild desert. Their time on the East Coast also contributed to them not quite fitting into the L.A. stereotype. "I think Ted's guitar sound is very bicoastal," says Mandel. "He plays some Western twang stuff occasionally but with more East Coast tonalities and effects."
In terms of themes, the lyrics on Tolerance explore life as a guy in his mid-20's, on the border of two social strati, both financially and socially. "A lot of the lyrics tend to be about that insecurity," Pizzulo explains.
Cafaro likes that the title is an abstract noun from which people can draw their own interpretations.
"Some people have gone in the drug direction with it; other people take it in a slightly more racial direction," he says. "It's a lot about doing something too much or not enough and sort of finding that sweet spot, where things still maintain their novelty and excitement without depleting what makes something interesting. We thought that sort of translates to how people listen to things, too."
Mandel suggests the idea of perseverance as a running theme on the record as well.
"In trying to do something you love or believe in, you have to endure the dark stuff so you can get to the good stuff. The nectar can be brief, but it's worth it."
The band finished up their involvement in Tolerance's production back in November. Since then, they've toured 30 states and made a stop at South by Southwest. "Things have been happening really quickly, much more so than in the past four years," Cafaro explains. "We've just been trying to take it one week at a time. A lot of the best opportunities have come down the pipeline at the last minute, so we stay open to that. We keep our expectations low and our hopes high."
As far as what the future holds following Tolerance's release, the band is trying to be patient. "As much as our impulse would be to start writing another record right away, this is now an exercise in taking a breath, stepping back and looking at what we've already completed," Cafaro continues. "Now we just want it to reach as many ears as possible. We'll come back from this process four different people with a new set of life experiences to call from."
To find out more about Incan Abraham, head over to their website or follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Pre-order Tolerance here, and check out the new video for their single "Concorde" below.
