Greg Gonzalez, lead singer, speaks to Bazaar India about the origin of the band and much more

How many times have you heard Apocalypse? A song that has the power to soothe your anxiety and relax your soul. The lyrics ‘Your lips, my lips. Apocalypse’ played in my mind as I waited to speak to Greg Gonzalez, the lead singer and founder of Cigarettes After Sex. What ensued was a thrilling conversation about how the name came about, the memories behind some of the most heard CAS songs and of course, their 2023 performance at Lollapalooza India, which is being promoted and co-produced by BookMyShow.  

Harper’s Bazaar: Cigarettes After Sex is an extremely catchy name, how did you come up with that?

Greg Gonzalez: It’s autobiographical. So, there was a girl I was dating and it was actually more like a friends-with-privileges thing, we were friends with benefits. She was the first girl I was really with, that smoked after we were together, I just thought, just the name after we were, together, hooked up a few times. I just felt like that name sort of just flashed in my mind. I just thought it sounded like something special, just you know, you’re together with somebody and the world sort of slows down and you’re sharing that little moment together.

HB: You’ve said earlier that you draw your inspiration for your songs from real-life experiences. Does the popularity of those songs tarnish those experiences in any way? 

GG: No, actually not at all. It tends to make the memory more powerful because when I’m on stage singing those songs, I see the memory flashing in my mind. I can go back to it. It feels kind of more powerful because when I’m on stage I’m thinking back to like potentially 10 years before and seeing where I was then. There’s some kind of power between the person you are now and the person you were then. Then added to that I’ll see people in the crowd crying and singing these songs and that adds even more weight to what I’m feeling in the moment. Honestly, it’s only become more and more emotional as time has gone on. Songs like K, Sweet or Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby are memorious, they’re just journal entries.  

HB: This would be your first gig in India after the NH7 Weekender in 2017.? Can you tell us a little bit about the set you have prepared for Lollapalooza India?

GG: When I go see an artist that I love, I really am kind of there, unashamedly to see them play the songs I love, to hear them play the songs that are popular by them. So people see us, I really want them to hear the songs they want to hear, and really is the songs that are popular. It’s K, it’s Apocalypse and now, the song Cry is gaining popularity so we’ve been playing that a lot. We also play Heavenly, Falling in Love, Affection, and You’re All I Want sometimes. Pretty much all the songs people want to hear are the ones we do. 

HB: You mentioned some artists that you go watch. Can you tell us which artists you follow and listen to the most?  

GG: As far as recent artists, I would say Lana Del Ray. It’s funny cause we get grouped together pretty often. I was able to see her play a few years ago. She played Ultraviolet and Video Games.  She played all the songs I wanted to hear and it was great. She had a really great setlist. Her fans and our fans seem like they’re the same fans. When I meet our fans, they always know her music really well.  

HB: Can you tell us the band's plans for 2023?

GG: We’re touring quite a lot. We’re playing a bunch of shows in Asia and then we go to South America this summer. We haven’t announced it yet, but we’re going to come back to Asia and go to some of the cities we’ve missed on this upcoming run. Then we should have a tour of the US and Europe. So, it’s a lot of touring. But, I do want to start releasing some more singles next year. We do have a record, and we’re planning, like a third album, but I do want to take my time with it and sort of put out some songs first and see how it goes.