There’s a particular kind of musician who resists easy categorization; not out of a lack of focus, but because the music genuinely won’t sit still. Gavin Farmer, the Raleigh artist behind Accidental Caps, falls into that category. His recordings drift between 60s psychedelia, progressive rock, and jazz-inflected pop, held together less by genre than by a restless curatorial instinct. His 2025 record, Veneficus Astrum, is perhaps his most cohesive statement yet: a record that wears its influences — Jimi Hendrix, Todd Rundgren, The Beatles — without being beholden to any of them.
Accidental Caps holds another distinction for this publication: Gavin is the first artist I’ve interviewed and played a show with. My band Tall Moss opened for him at Berkeley Cafe in Raleigh for a Psychedelic Sunday event. It was an appropriate setting, equal parts community hang and genuine showcase for some of the more adventurous sounds coming out of North Carolina right now.
When we met to chat a week later, we explored Gavin’s long road to the solo project, his two albums in progress, and why Maine still has a piece of his heart.
What’s something you’ve been listening to lately?
Gavin: Like a lot of people, I’ve been listening to the Geese record [Getting Killed] that came out last year. It’s super awesome, but also sort of the big music hipster pick. I’ve also been getting into Wednesday. I had heard about them a couple of years ago but never checked them out. Their album that came out last year [Bleeds] is really good. That whole mixture of country and alt-rock just scratches my brain in a cool way. I’ve also gotten into MJ Lenderman‘s latest record [Manning Fireworks], which is also really good.
Who was the first artist you remember discovering or having someone introduce to you that you just obsessed over and claimed as your own?
Gavin: I was about five or six years old when I first really became interested in music. It just hit me at a very early age, and the first artist that struck a chord with me was Aerosmith. My dad had this Aerosmith live CD laying around, and I just happened to grab it and listen to it. I became obsessed with that style and the vibes. I can still see a through line, even though it’s not the type of music I necessarily make or listen to all the time now. It was just such an awakening.
Something about that raw energy and power and swagger; maybe it’s the whole sex, drugs, and rock and roll thing. It spoke to me because I was a very shy, quiet kid. I’d go home and throw this thing on the stereo and it was just total, unapologetic mayhem. It was sort of like an alter ego for me, like I could escape through this thing that wasn’t quite how I was.
At what point did you start playing music or learning an instrument?
Gavin: I was probably about 13 or 14. I have to give a shout out to my sister, who planted the idea in my head. I never really thought about actually playing music; I figured I was just a big music fan. And then my sister suggested we get some guitars, and I thought it would be cool.
I was probably in seventh grade when I started playing, and I just took to it like a fish in water. I practiced obsessively, just coming home every day after school and playing. I also started playing drums at some point too. At various points in my life I sort of locked into a specific instrument, usually depending on whatever band I was in. If I was the bass player, I’d just practice bass all the time.
What was your first experience performing live?
Gavin: When I was 16, I started a band with my sister Mackinley and my friend Robert, who I’d known since elementary school. We called ourselves The Rovers after a Led Zeppelin song called “The Rover”. We played my high school’s Battle of the Bands, which was held out on the football field. I was playing bass, my sister was on drums, and Robert was on guitar. We played classic rock covers like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cream, and stuff like that.
What inspired you to start a solo project and begin putting out music under the name Accidental Caps?
Gavin: I think it came out of experience. All throughout my teen years and my twenties, I was always in a band. In that time, I’ve been in at least three, four, five pretty serious bands. And typically in a supporting role: I was usually the bass player or the drummer, not the main focal point or the main songwriter. Which was fine, it suited my personality. I do enjoy that band togetherness, being one unit.
But throughout the years I got frustrated because I’d put so much time into rehearsing, recording, playing shows, and then it would fall apart. So around 2012 or 2013, I started putting out little demo home recordings on SoundCloud, really just for my own sake and for a couple of buddies who would check it out. And I can’t even remember why, but I chose the name Accidental Caps. I just didn’t want to put my name on it.
It wasn’t until probably 2019 that I started gigging under the name. I’d finally gotten sick of bands breaking up and having to start over, so I decided: this is me. Whoever wants to collaborate with me is totally welcome, but if a group I’m playing with splits up, I can still carry this name and all the music forward. It wasn’t some big ego thing, but more of a practical reality. I just didn’t want to start from scratch every time there was a setback.
You grew up in North Carolina, then moved to Maine, and eventually came back. What was that experience like — especially navigating the music scene across different places?
Gavin: Yeah, I grew up here and lived here for 30-plus years. In 2020, my now-wife and I moved up to Maine since she’s from there. It was a “screw it, let’s do it” kind of decision. Nothing holding us down job-wise, no kids, so we just went for it. Horrible timing, obviously, since we moved there in February 2020, one month before COVID. We had all these plans: go downtown Portland, explore the food scene, all that. And then we couldn’t do anything for about a year.
But the music scene up there is great and so welcoming. I quickly got ingratiated with the local bands. There are so many wonderful artists there. I was able to play several shows under the Accidental Caps banner with different musicians, played in some other bands up there too, and just had a great time.
When we moved back here, it was actually a tough decision. I had to break away from that community, and it really is a tight-knit one. Maine is such a small place that it feels like a lot of people know each other, even across pretty big distances. It’s got a small-town vibe almost everywhere you go.
When you came back to North Carolina, what was your experience reconnecting with the local music community?
Gavin: It’s been great. It took me a while to get settled in. I got laid off from my job last year, so I’m honestly just now starting to really get back into it. We played a couple of shows that first fall I moved back, and then last year was sort of a wash on the live side.
But it’s been really good so far. Played some good shows, met some great people, played with some great bands. I’m just excited to see where it keeps going. The shows we’ve played have been really fun, great crowds, and it’s just been awesome.
You put out a full-length record last year. Can you walk through the process of putting that together?
Gavin: Looking at the track listing now, some of these songs were things that had been sort of left behind and didn’t quite fit with previous projects. But they came together with newer stuff I was writing, and I felt like it blended well. I set out to make something more cohesive than some of my other albums, which tend to be more grab-baggy — “here’s a hard rock song, here’s a prog song, here’s a ballad.”
This one has a lot of 60s psychedelic pop, a lot of jazzish chord progressions. I had that vibe in mind as an umbrella. The Beatles are obviously one of the most influential bands for me personally, but while I was making this record, I was really going deep on Jimi Hendrix. I’d listened to him a bunch in high school, but this time I was really diving into the production and the songwriting. I also read a book about his life around the same time.
The other big one I have to shout out is Todd Rundgren. He’s got this album called A Wizard, A True Star that is just ridiculous. Anyone reading this, please listen to it. He came on the scene as this sort of pop-soul guy, got really big, and then for his next album just went completely off the deep end — bonkers, like “are you trying to destroy your career?” But it’s phenomenal.
As you look ahead to the rest of the year, do you have any goals or things you’re looking forward to, music-wise?
Gavin: I have a single coming out probably in the next couple of weeks that’ll serve as a preview of my next album. I actually have two albums currently in production mode right now, and they’re pretty different from each other. One is almost like a metal album — progressive metal, psychedelic, weird metal. The other is going to be more of a garage-y rock album, kind of stripped down, maybe just a couple of instruments without a bunch of overdubs. They’re both in various states of finished and unfinished, so I’m trying to find the time to work on both.
Beyond that, just playing a lot of shows. I really enjoy playing live, and I’ve got a great group of guys I play with these days. To me, the live experience and the studio stuff live in completely different worlds. I don’t even try to play the songs exactly how they are on the record. So I’m just looking forward to playing a lot of shows this year.
Who are some of your favorite local or North Carolina-specific musicians right now?
Gavin: I’m pretty biased because I play with some of these guys, but I think ¡Tumbao! is probably the best band in North Carolina right now.
We also recently played with this band called Cult Vacant, who were super good. Great indie vibes, very catchy and melodic. I really liked them.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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