Aurora hip hop group aims to (cause and) affect House Cafe Friday

By Connor Rice

Cauz ‘N’ Effx is a study in cause and effect.

Artists as varied as Led Zeppelin and Tech N9ne were the catalysts for the musicians of the Aurora-based quartet to start meshing their respective styles. The result has been years of collaboration between frontman Daniel “DZ” Jordan, guitarist Marshall Precht, bassist Vincent Pacione and drummer Lane Wright. That, and the chance to headline a show 8 p.m. Friday at the House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

“It’s kind of a reflection of what we’re all good at,” Wright said. “DZ is a really good rapper, Marshall’s a really good guitarist.”

From the time Jordan and Precht remixed “Scar Tissue” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers while attending high school in 2005, Cauz ‘n’ Effx has been blending the styles and influences of its individual members.

But the fluid way in which the band members work together hasn’t always come easy, and even now they continue to put effort towards functioning as a singular unit. The group says that it is writing new material every day, constantly attempting to evolve a sound that has been compared by their fans to the likes of Rage Against the Machine.

“On our first CD [2010’s Cauz ‘N’ Effx]…we were really trying to figure out what our sound would be,” Precht said. “I personally think every song [on that album] is completely different than the next. It really took up until recently to have an over-arching sound.”

It is this attitude and work ethic that drives the band as they continue to, as Precht says, “ride the line between rock and rap.” It’s cause and effect.

“We strive for our music to be a little different from what everyone is doing nowadays,” Jordan said.