Some bands spend years trying to figure out exactly who they are. CFA never really cared about fitting into a box. Learn about guiarist/vocalist Adrien, and drummer/vocalist Ariel’s band and watch the full interview.
The Inland Empire two-piece has been through lineup changes, long breaks, COVID, and enough starts and stops to make most bands call it quits. Instead, they kept showing up, kept writing songs, and somehow came out tighter because of it.
The name? It isn’t some deep, carefully crafted metaphor.
A friend threw out Cherry Flavored Antacids back when they were a bunch of kids recording songs for fun. The name stuck. Eventually it became CFA, mostly because it was easier to fit on flyers. Years later, they’re finally owning it instead of trying to explain it away.
Trying to describe their sound isn’t much easier.
Ask two people after a CFA set and you’ll probably get two different answers. One hears ’90s alternative rock. Another hears punk. Someone else hears grunge. The band doesn’t seem interested in settling the debate. Their influences bounce from Nirvana and Fugazi to Bob Dylan, Delta blues, Mexican corridos, hip-hop, and whatever else shaped them growing up.
That mindset carries over into everything they do.
Instead of waiting for people to discover them, CFA built a stage in the back of a pickup truck and started playing skate parks before heading to their actual gigs. If they’re already driving six hours to a show, why not play one more set for whoever happens to be hanging around? It’s the kind of idea that only makes sense after you see it work.
Their live shows run the same way.
No setlist. No overthinking. Sometimes songs change depending on the crowd. Sometimes new songs get tested live before they’re even finished. Mistakes happen, and nobody on stage seems too worried about it.
For CFA, perfection has never been the point.
The best part of the conversation wasn’t about gear or recording.
It was hearing two musicians talk about growing older without losing the reason they started playing in the first place.
They spoke about enjoying the highs and surviving the lows. About not taking yourself so seriously. About remembering that music is supposed to be fun, even when life gets in the way.
If there’s one thing CFA hopes people take away from their band, it’s this:
Support your local scene.
Go to shows. Meet bands. Stick around after the set. Buy the shirt if you can. Every healthy music scene is built by the people who show up, not just the ones on stage. That’s been CFA’s philosophy from day one, and it’s why they’re still here after all these years.
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About C² (Christy + Chris)
Concert lovers turned creators. Highlighting creators, bands, stories, sounds, and places you need to know.
Disarray Magazine is an independent media platform established in 2009, spotlighting rap, R&B, punk, hardcore, alternative culture, live music, food, nightlife, and the chaos in between. Created by journalist Christy Buena, C² exists to document the bands, people, and moments shaping the scene.
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