The Jolly Llamas

Guitarist/vocalist Marc Cavigli recalls the early days of the Santa Cruz band Jolly Llamas, and how people would tell them, “You kind of remind me of Flight of the Concords.” It’s an understandable reaction, as he and partner Roby Behrens initially were an acoustic two-piece that played and sang funny, offbeat tunes. But the band was never about satire. They had something different in mind.

“We have a lot of dark lyrics, but they are really happy songs on the surface level. It’s taking a more humorous and less intense look at humanity, and seeing the funniness in their fault,” Cavigli explains.

Both Cavigli and Behrens spend a significant amount of time crafting their lyrics, which are more macabre stories than typical rock lyrics. They have one about a murderous surfer who gets eaten by a shark. Another is about a female alchemist who poisons her boyfriend, and “Haunted Heir” is about a disturbed guy who inherits a castle from his dead family, who haunt and mentally torture him. They consider “Haunted Heir” one of their darkest because of how the music contrasts with the subject manner.

“[That] song is one of our catchiest. It has a happy, upbeat swing, but it tells about the exploits of this demented guy who lives alone in his castle,” Cavigli says.

In more recent years, the group has expanded from an acoustic two-piece into a four-piece rock band with bass and drum. Cavigli now plays the electric guitar, while Behrens sticks to the acoustic. Musically, they mix folk, rock and indie in an eclectic way similar to bands like Sebadoh or the Decemberists. They perform a release show for their latest EP, Story Rock, on Thursday at the Crepe Place. - Good Times

The Jolly Llamas get sweaty in the kitchen, on the streets, in bars and on the roof — any place where the audience has half a heartbeat.

With a combined total of 26 years playing music, Marc Cavigli and Roby Behrens are the atmospheric folky-pop-rock guitar duo The Jolly Llamas, bringing soul power to Santa Cruz since August 2009.

“They’re the best band on campus fo’ sho,” said fourth-year Moe Zarif, band manager and best friend, observing a rooftop photo shoot of the Llamas as they belted out a song called “Buffalo Moccasins.” “I think the night they wrote this we were having buffalo burgers.”

Behrens, Cavigli and Zarif, who are all fourth-year UC Santa Cruz students majoring in film and digital media, use their extra creativity to perform sparkling narratives crafted from real life.

“One time this girl fell asleep in my lap and I started thinking about how women are like cats,” Behrens said. “I brought it to Marc and he had a totally different take on it.”

After a night of hard songwriting, the girl who napped on Behrens had given rise to a song titled “My Cat,” which ends with a rousing chorus of mewing from both band members.

According to Cavigli, this is the basic process: idea, cram session, and a result that’s then added to an increasing repertoire. Most songs are written without repeating chorus lyrics, lacking a traditional anchor and making the pieces more like stream-of-consciousness.

“I don’t want to say it comes from the heart, because that sounds really cheesy,” Cavigli said. “It’s a raw unfiltered transmission from our innermost crevices.”

Some days can find the Jolly Llamas jamming on the streets, trying to reel in the crowds downtown. They play Llama songs for hours out in the elements, sometimes making up personalized lyrics for passersby, a tactic more likely to slow people down.

“It’s funny, people will pretend not to listen,” Behrens said. “They’ll tie their shoes, look at their phones, and everyone always, always looks in the guitar case to see how much money we’ve made.”

Cavigli agreed, commenting on the fun of people-watching and being in the midst of people who might not hear their music otherwise.

“Being able to connect people to the music is great,” Cavigli said. “We had one guy tell us we were the next Beatles. He said he wanted us to play at his wedding.”

The Jolly Llamas are reliant on this kind of social interaction. As an independent band, they lean heavily on nets of social connections instead of the promoting provided by labels.

At a barbecue in Behrens and Zarif’s backyard a friend urged the duo to play in Arizona, positive she could wrangle them an invite to the Scottsdale wine bar where she worked. A previous show in Santa Cruz’s Caffe Lucio worked much the same way, in that a longstanding rapport with employees gained the Jolly Llamas a show in a restaurant where live music is a rarity.

“They’re very fine-tuned in a really simplistic way,” Zarif said. “They’re really fun and they draw a crowd … Lucio’s wanted to have a party.”

Back on the roof, the gangly duo is directed closer, baring their teeth inches away from each other’s faces.

“Now put your tongue down his throat,” Zarif says from the sidelines.

Behrens shrugs, laughing.

“We’re not afraid, we’re llamas. Llamas have really long tongues!” - City on a Hill Press