Having only been to San Francisco twice, I’ve only been able to grasp a few characteristics of the city. First, it’s breezy. Just about every afternoon a cool breeze rolls in across the bay. Someone from the city could probably tell you about the meteorology behind it, but all you really need to know is that it’s not always a nice cool ocean breeze, but instead often one brisk enough to make you realize you’re under-dressed—despite the fact that it might be August.

Secondly, San Francisco has a spirit of artistic collaboration. Perhaps it’s something leftover from the 1960’s bay area counterculture movement, or that it’s because San Fran simply has a lot of art schools, but the Golden Gate city is full of art. Art on the sidewalks, art in the park, art just about everywhere you look.

Like my two broad generalizations, folk-rock musician Andy Cabic—better known as Vetiver—has taken on San Francisco as his adopted hometown and both of these defining traits along with it. In the spirit of collaboration, his first five full length L.P.’s are sprinkled with friendly guests such as Devandra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, both who have made names for themselves independently, and whom Cabic has recorded and toured with countless times in return. And much like the notorious San Francisco breeze, although one that stays warm, Cabic’s latest album, Complete Strangers, is feather-light folk rock, perfect for rolling down your windows and cranking on an aimless Sunday drive. It differs from his previous work in that there isn’t a whole of lot guests on it. It is however, made up of the same simply styled folk rock that has defined Cabic’s music up until this point. Its purposely ambient and might not require or demand your full attention at first listen, but instead win you over in time with its ability to help you remember that not all music needs knock you upside the head to be considered good, or even great.

His tour in support of Complete Strangers rolls through Boston this Tuesday at Brighton Music Hall, and once again he’s bringing along a another long time collaborator and former Subpop labelmate, Eric D. Johnson. Between Cabic’s Vetiver, and Johnson; the charismatic, Supertramp-sounding lead singer and songwriter behind the freak-folk rock act Fruit Bats, this show is sure to make for a very chill evening of music. We caught up with Andy Cabic to talk to him about his process for churning out new tunes, his assortment of musical connections, and how San Francisco has changed over the years since he first arrived.

Allston Pudding: Complete Strangers is your 6^th release under Vetiver since like 2002, how has the band evolved to get to this record?

Andy Cabic: Well, Vetiver is what I call my songwriting. Over the years I’ve played with a lot of different people both on record and live, so that’s a part of the evolution. At the same time, I’ve always recorded with my friend Tom Monahan. He engineered and produced the records with me, all of them, so there’s that consistency between the two of us over the years. I’m not really sure, each record is different, usually it’s just the songs that I’ve written between the last one and the new one. It’s important that they kind of align that way.

AP: You wrote your own press release for this record and explained how the songs are connected, but also stand on their own. How do you come up with the ideas that get turned into songs?

AC: Well, I don’t know if they’re ideas that get turned into songs. It’s more of the opposite. The process for me is just playing around, then melodies develop, then words develop, then arrangements become clear. Sometimes that happens before I record, and sometimes the process of the recording makes that happen.

AP: So songs might be completed and you’re still not sure what it’s really about?

AC: I have a feeling what it’s about. Whether I want to put it into words and explain it, or I want people to figure it out for themselves in the context of the music is a whole other issue. I’m not sure I understand the added value of doing that.

AP: “From now on” you described as emotional tinnitus.

AC: Tinnitus is a health issue when you have a ringing in your ears. I think I meant that poetically, as a sort of emotional ringing that people don’t know how to get rid of. It kind of comes on and goes away and it’s seemingly out of your control.

AP: It it something you’ve dealt with?

AC: No, its just a poetic way of describing the song, I wrote the press release because in my experience, most writers just regurgitate the press release. Rather than have it be some other writers idea of the record and have it be some boring description of the process, I came up with some poetic terms or phrases or descriptions that I thought would make the record clear but also mysterious. What matters really is that people hear the record rather than reading about it.

AP: This is your first record apart from SubPop, has there been a transition being on a new label?

AC: Yeah, my deal was up with SubPop, so I wasn’t in a hurry to rush the songs or the writing. I’m friends with the person that runs the label that I’m on now, Easy Sound, and that was a process that I saw was going to happen with him starting this new label. So I was kind of along with that process, and worked on this album knowing that’s how it would come out.

AP: It’s fascinating that you were able to relocate to San Francisco and just connect with all these other musicians that have been able to make serious names for themselves. Is that a testament to your personality? How do you end up meeting people like Eric (D. Johnson of Fruit bats), Devandra Banhart and Joanna Newsom?

AC: I’ve been here a long time now, so it’s really been just like meeting friends through friends. I met Devandra because I knew his girlfriend at the time. She was at the Art Institute. My roommates at the time also went to school there, so I knew a lot of people that went there. It centered around places where people would hang out. I worked at Aardvark books and, at the time was, Sarah Cain dating Devandra. She came in and introduced me, and later on we ended up hanging out on our own. Eric I met through my friend Zach Cowie who worked for Subpop, then went on to work for Drag City. He knew that Eric and I would get along well,years ago he suggested Eric open up some shows for Vetiver.

AP: Have you seen any changes in music trends or a scene in San Francisco?

AC: A lot has changed over the time I’ve been here. The city is dynamically changing in terms of the cost of living, so a lot of people I’ve known over the years have left the city. New people are coming all the time, too. What they’re doing creatively, I’m not completely up on. People I’ve known have sort of hung on for a while now, but it’s a great city for music. There’s a lot of great venues and people come out to see live shows. There’s great record stores. But it’s, in flux as it’s always been.

Vetiver and Eric D. Johnson are playing Brighton Music Hall this Tuesday 5/12, tickets are $15, 18+