Cayucas is an indie-pop band that traveled from Santa Monica this weekend to perform at Laguna Beach’s 5th annual Coast Film and Music Festival. The festival strives to promote and recognize filmmakers and their stories to influence change. Ben and Zach Yudin (lead vocals and guitarists) were kind enough to stop in Laguna to enthrall us with some of their most popular songs, “High School Lover” and “California Girl”. Many of their 161.8K monthly listeners joined me this weekend in watching their performance and experiencing the festival. I was fortunate enough to speak with Zach Yudin; I got the chance to ask him about their relation to the yearly event and how he began his career in the music industry.

The Coast Film Festival’s mission is to help influence positive change through storytelling, how does that align with your band’s values?

“I think we write pretty positive music. Our mantra is to spread good vibes, but it just happens subconsciously, not purposefully. So in a way, I guess we are spreading positive change, but it just depends on what people take out of it.”

What made you decide to perform at the Coast Film Festival?

“Matt Costa who is playing after us is from Laguna Beach and invited us to come play with him. We are currently on tour with him so it worked out great. We are from LA, so coming to Laguna is like a nice, little vacation.”

Did you know that you wanted to pursue music while you were in high school?

“Well, it actually wasn’t until college. I grew up mostly playing sports, but I fell in love with music in college. For most people in my position, they grew up playing instruments, but I didn’t start until college.”

Despite not knowing what he wanted to pursue in high school, Yudin has created a very successful career in the music industry. This is a great example for students today that it is okay to have trials and errors before finding out what you want to do in life. You can still have a successful professional career even if you don’t know what your life’s goal is during your teenage years!

Do you have any advice for the students at Laguna Beach High School for pursuing their dreams?

“For me at least, I was very passionate about music in high school and college. I just knew I wanted to be in a band. I didn’t really have a plan B, so I just kept going and going for a really long time until I started making money. It took a long time, almost ten years, to make money. So my advice is to just keep going even throughout all the hurdles, even if it takes a while.”

After speaking with Yudin, he and his brother performed a set for the festival, and let’s just say their hard work definitely paid off. They are extremely talented. Their voices are so beautiful and they had the audience engaged and up dancing. Cayucas has left a lasting imprint on Laguna Beach and we hope to see them back next year at the festival!