Cruise Control: "Our Lives Were Changing but Somehow the Four of Us Stayed Close and Created an Album We're Super Proud Of"

Direct from Portland, Cruise Control have been making waves this year with both a new record on the Curation camp (Uni Boys, Beachwood Sparks) and recent tour stops alongside Mod Lang and Thee Sharp Pins. On their latest LP Time Is An Angel, the quartet of Izzy Dupuis (guitar, vox), Lee Butterfield (guitar, vox), Tim Kam (bass, vox), and Penny Olives (drums) channel golden-hour country jangle that's equal parts charm, hard-driving energy, and melodic pop rock 'n' roll intuition brims with plenty of beat and grit. While never losing its own kaleidoscopic glow of 12-string tones and sun-warped harmonies, the album carries a homespun warmth that recalls the halcyon psychedelia of The Incredible String Band, Hearts and Flowers, and Hot Knives. As the group continues their tour across the states, we caught up with them to talk all about the long road to Time Is An Angel, the stories behind its standout songs, and the journey that brought them here.

Hot Sounds: So what's been happening with Cruise Control over the last few years bringing us to your latest album Time Is An Angel? How has the journey been?

Izzy Dupuis: It took us three years to finish and get this album out. A lot has happened in our personal lives big ups and downs but for the band, things have been getting bigger and better. More touring every year more song writing its been great.

HS: How exactly did you all meet and form Cruise Control?

ID: Well Olives and Tim have known each other for 15 years going back to Southern California. Me, Lee and Olives were all part of the Portland DIY music scene and met playing local shows together. Me and Lee were both in punk bands back in 2019 and when the pandemic hit we both switched gears to more melody based acoustic guitar songwriting. We started recording demos for the first album and sorta recruited Olives in a way to play drums and help us record and we worked so well together it just made sense for them to be permanently in the band.

HS: What's been some of the highlights with the group over the years? Any untold tales?

Tim Kam: The van breaking down on the 5 in front of Mt. Shasta. Being stuck in a Yreka for two days and fixing the van with Lee. 

ID: Opening for Toody Cole! 

Penny Olives: Listening to the entire Beatles discography in chronological order together in the tour van :).

Lee Butterfield: Making new friends on tour!

HS: What would you say has been the ultimate goal of Cruise Control since forming? 

PO: To make music that my teenage self would've listened to while skipping classes.

LB: To make music that feels really good to make and that other people like.

ID: To write the best songs I possibly can and hopefully make friends around the world while doing it!

TK: To keep it in 5th baby

HS: One of my favorite toons of the year is this new mix of "Like A Bell." What inspired this song and what can you share about recording it?

ID: "Like a Bell" was actually the first song I wrote after finishing an album with my band before the pandemic. I always wanted to write really melodic pretty songs but felt I couldn’t sing or play guitar well enough. So this was my first attempt at writing something I could sing and with lyrics that weren’t trying to say anything. The lyrics don’t really mean much to me I just wanted to write a fun catchy song. But at the time I was a little too obsessed with post-VU Lou Reed and Johnny Thunders so the original vibe is pretty different from what it is now and I just thought it was too corny and bad so I shelved it. Then after first me and Lee wanted to write more rock songs so I brought it back out and with Lee's help and amazing melodic sensibility we were able to rewrite it to what it is now. It’s funny too Lee actually sings the lead vocal when we play it live because she wrote it and I thought it sounded good when she sang it and I just love singing the harmony live. 

PO: To me, when I think about Izzy writing that song at the part of their life they were in — leaving an old band, not sure what the next one would be and wanting to write music in a style they hadn’t before — there's a connection between that and the lyrics about a bell waiting to ring and colors changing in the leaves. 

HS: This track was the first tease to Time Is An Angel. What can you tell me about the overall recording sessions for this album and when and where you recorded it? 

PO: The record was recorded across five different studios that our friends and ourselves were engineering at over the course of three years, including a makeshift studio at Tim's farm for a weekend. It was a huge group effort. In the meantime, our lives were changing but somehow the four of us stayed close and created an album we're super proud of. 

ID: It was a long haul! We were a different band at the beginning with our friend Ana playing drums and Olives was on bass but also I think we all feel like different people than we were three years ago I know I do. Olives was especially critical in the creation of this album with supplying a lot the gear and engineering or working technically with engineers to get the sounds we were looking for. 

HS: The other tracks I'd like to ask you about are "Not For Me, Not For Mine" and "Certain Feeling." What's the story behind those two?

LB: With "Not For Me, Not For Mine" I was feeling unlucky and down in the dumps and wanted to write a country song for Izzy. 

ID: "Certain Feeling" was initially inspired by Oister [pre-Dwight Twilley band]. Lee helped me start it with the melody and chords and then I went off and kind of figured out exactly how I wanted to sing it and finished the lyrics. The band arrangement was collaborative with the whole band that was back when Ana was on drums and Olives was on bass. 

PO: I can remember Izzy and Lee working on "Cetain Feeling" at Lee’s old house sitting in front of the four track with light coming through the stained glass window. 

HS: How would you say you approached much of the songwriting on this album? What did you find yourself mostly writing about?

LB: A lot of songs were inspired by music we were listening to at the time like Neil Young, Tom Petty, The Kinks. 

NO: Norma Tanega's second album was in heavy rotation for us around that time, too.

ID: We based a lot of the writing around the acoustic guitar demo that me Lee or Tim would write. Once we get the acoustic version we start adding parts around that. I think the idea of time in some way or other connects all the songs. Which is why the Time is an Angel is the title track and that name carries weight with us. 

TK: We have a very collective approach where a lot of the parts are something that we worked out together rather than each bringing our part to the table.

HS: Looking back at 2022's debut album 1st, how do you feel this new one compares both sonically and thematically? What have you discovered most since then you think?

LB: With the first album we were just having fun and learning how to write songs together. That was me and Izzy's first time ever writing arrangements for songs so there was a lot of experimenting.

TK: The first album comes from an early folk tradition of lo-fi, simple songs and the new album still carries that tradition but with bigger arrangements. 

PO: We had never played a show together before 1st came out so the second album is based more around us as a live band. Also, bringing in new textures with pedal steel, fiddle, piano, and mellotron really sets the new album apart sonically from 1st for me.

ID: A big difference for me is the guitar tones. On the first album I was using a lot of heavy fuzz but on time is an angel the tones are pretty clean for the most part. I get a lot of song writing inspiration from movies and i like to think as a character when writing lyrics and i think that comes through more on 1st. 

HS: What do you look forward to most taking these new songs on the road? What stops from the tour are you most excited about? 

PO: I've never played on the East Coast before — I'm excited to play there!

PO: I'm just so stoked this album is done and out. Will be nice to play songs for people that they can actually have physically or listen to online. Also! Lee, Olives and Tim play in a band called Mr.Butterfield that Lee fronts.  I started learning the bass lines so we can play some of those songs too. Im really excited to play those songs for people. And if I had to pick I’d say I’m most excited for Memphis. Big Star and Elvis baby! 

HS: Aside from the tour, what are some future plans for Cruise Control?

ID: As of right now the future after this tour is demoing the next record. We already have a handful of songs and ideas we wanna bring to life and hopefully get record number three out a lot faster than record two. I also hope a European tour is in our near future. 

HS: Lastly, any advice or last words you'd like to share with our readers?

ID: Dream baby dream.

PO: Pick a direction and go-go-go!

Time Is An Angel is out now on Curation Records.