Cashier isn’t the type of music you’d typically associate with Cajun Country. In a Zoom chat, Kylie Gaspard, who handles vocals and guitar, explains that Lafayette’s musical landscape is shaped by a broad spectrum of influences—from Creole zydeco to a thriving jazz scene and even a splash of metal that drifted in from New Orleans. “Honestly, starting out here felt fairly natural,” she observes. “Lafayette is such a community-first place that people here are quick to back anyone they know who’s making music.”
Cashier, who unveiled their striking debut EP The Weight just last week, churns out loud, gritty alt-rock that draws on early shoegaze, post-hardcore, and grunge without mimicking those eras too closely. Gaspard — whose two cats wander around during our conversation — seems more focused on crafting solid rock that can hold its own than chasing the perfect fuzz tone: “I absorbed a lot of ’90s emo, because the guitar lines and the way the harmonies mesh are so precise,” she says, naming the early-2000s Japanese noise-pop outfit Condor44, Swervedriver’s robust alt-rock, and the “formulaic writing” of The Colour And The Shape among her influences.
Gaspard believes the current lineup — also featuring guitarist Joseph Perillo, bassist Austyn Wood, and drummer Zachary Derouen — came together around the summer of 2022. Not long after, they were playing a show when her phone lit up with texts about someone named Frank posting about the band. “I was like, ‘Who’s Frank?’” Gaspard recalls, only to discover it was Frank Ocean sharing a photo of a car dashboard showing Cashier’s track “Beginner” on his Instagram story. “I want to move past the Frank thing,” she notes, “but I’m incredibly grateful — it really jumpstarted a burst of writing because we only had two or three songs out.”
That moment with Frank led to Cashier’s first major tours outside the South, including opening slots for Dinosaur Jr. and Whirr. They landed a booking agent and signed their first record deal. They connected with Julia’s War, the Philadelphia label founded by Doug Dulgarian of They Are Gutting A Body Of Water, and joined the roster this year. “I’ve got mad respect for J-War,” Gaspard says. “What drew me to this scene was how easy it was to connect with Doug, and we have so much fun together — that energy has helped us get a strong response to our new music. I keep joking that we’ll be famous by fall, and it might actually be possible.”
Musical aptitude ran in her family to some degree. Her father, once the media director for a local megachurch, had access to a studio where he could record himself and others; these days, he sometimes fills in on bass for Cajun or Zydeco gigs around the city. Her mother, a real estate agent, also sings with a cover band. “My parents recognized I had a natural ability to sing in tune,” Gaspard notes. “You know that moment when you hear a kid singing and you think, wait…”
At the age of three, Gaspard was enrolled in piano lessons by her parents. Her teacher was impressed enough to suggest testing for autism. “I don’t have it, but it’s okay,” she says. “What I did have was perfect pitch, which later made reading sheet music tricky. I realized I could simply have my teacher play the piece, and I could reproduce it from memory, never really reading the notation. So reading music isn’t my strong suit.”
She began composing as a child and eventually shifted from piano to guitar. In high school, she admits to being a bit of a slacker, but the school’s music program gave her a reason to push forward. There she met Perillo and Wood; their teacher, Chad Viator, guided the class in writing and recording their own EP. Viator now runs a home studio where he produced The Weight. “He helped shape us as musicians over the years,” Gaspard explains. “So when we got serious about recording, he was the obvious choice because he understands what kind of musicians we are and what we like.” When I ask what happened in the meantime, she sighs and asks if I’ve heard of Hillsong?
Gaspard studied songwriting and composition at Hillsong College in Sydney, Australia, whose campus grew from the Hillsong megachurch. Although the institution is headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere, Hillsong operates more than 100 congregations worldwide and is renowned for its contemporary worship music, with its various musical collectives releasing dozens of albums. In recent years, controversy involving Hillsong’s founders and leaders has dimmed its profile in the United States.
“Being a student at Hillsong was insane,” Gaspard says with a hint of solemnity. “They’re problematic. But I got to study a lot of theology, which I found fascinating once I stopped having panic about it. I graduated when I was twenty-one, and now I’m close to thirty, so I’ve had years to heal and recalibrate. I’ve since deconstructed a good deal of that religious stuff.”
Though she’s distanced herself from the church’s charismatic evangelism, she still carries forward certain methods of crafting songs she learned there. “A lot of worship music uses tactics that draw the listener into an emotional connection with the music,” she explains. “Not that I’m manipulating listeners, but those approaches influenced how I write the kind of music I want to make.”
When it comes to the themes Cashier tackles on The Weight, you won’t find anything as blunt or overtly Hillsong-influenced as a worship hit. Gaspard intends for her lyrics to feel broadly relatable, allowing listeners to attach their own meaning. If you ask what the songs are about, she hints at the hiccups and miscommunications that occur in many personal relationships. The title track — a slick, steady rhythm rocker that nods to a Foo Fighters vibe — contemplates growing older and recognizing the kind of impression you can leave on others. The fiery “Like I Do” fights to find common ground amid misunderstandings: “Will I ever know what feels right? Do you want to know how I feel?”
“So a lot of the songs revolve around navigating life, connecting with the people around you, trying to figure out another person or energy and how you both interact,” Gaspard says. “That’s basically what everyone does every day. We want to write something that’s accessible to everyone while still feeling like rock.”
The Weight EP is available now through Julia’s War.
