Bayonne is the experimental electronic side of Austin-based musician Roger Sellers. He recently signed with Mom + Pop Music and was to close his tour in support of his album Primitives with an afternoon set at Levitation Festival before safety concerns (due to flooding) shut the fest down.

Alex Freeman caught up with Sellers after his evening make-up show at the Mohawk with Caribou to chat about Levitation and his recent transition to becoming a full-time musician.

What’s your take on the Levitation Festival cancellation?

So many mixed emotions. For me it’s not a big deal, because I live across the street. I feel really bad for the people that have flown-in. It’s such a bummer for them.

I just got off the road, and once I came in on Thursday, I was in town for 10 minutes taking my tour manager home, then I got all of the messages — holy shit, Levitation was canceled! It was a bit of bummer, because it felt like it was big play, after the record, a home play — a really good way to top off the tour. But at the end of the day, I saw Carson Creek Ranch destroyed, kind of. I saw pictures of the tents and it would have been evacuated anyway. I don’t think anybody made a bad decision, it was just a big bummer for a lot of people.

The last time I saw you was at SXSW 2015 at House of Vans as Roger Sellers. Can you talk about how you got to where you are now with your Bayonne persona?

There’s a lot to that. For a long time, I was doing a lot of folk stuff and a lot of different kinds of sets. I was always going by “Roger Sellers,” and I feel like it always comes from the same place, it comes from Roger. I’ve been wanting to have a name change for the last couple of years because people would go to my shows and I would do this weird electronic shit, and people would be confused and want to see the folk set. It was kind of a way to differentiate that.

The reception has been confusing; I can’t really tell yet. A name change is hard; especially locally, it’s been more difficult. After the name change I’ve been touring a lot more than I have anyways, I’m not worried about that. A lot of people that were fans are confused and won’t come out to my shows too much locally in Texas because they don’t know I am playing. I’m not going as Roger Sellers. I tried to publicly make an announcement. It felt right, it felt like a good time. I quit my day job and it just became way more professional career type of shit. It felt like now or never.

Do you prefer performing at music festivals or inside clubs?

When it comes to sound and presence, I definitely enjoy a good festival. Levitation would have been such a bad-ass stage to play on, but I don’t think anything beats Mohawk when it comes to the rowdiness and fun and just the good amount of people. Festivals are great, but I’m not at the point when I’m playing the late-night bad-ass slots, so festivals are fun for me now, but this is way more fun.

Being in a hometown club feels better to me because I’ll bring however many people out, and even if its not a lot, it still feels like a decent group of people. Festivals are fun because you get to play in front of a bunch of people who are like, “Oh, I I’ve heard of this guy,” and you will get a big crowd, but it’s not as intimate.

How long have you been performing with a live drummer?

We did it at Fun Fun Fun Fest for the first time last year. He’s my roommate and one of my best friends. At this point, I’m not touring with him — it was kind of just a way to add things to the mix.

Eventually I would like to have a band. So every once in a while, I’ll bring people on stage to add to what I’m doing. He’s just such a wonderful drummer. He’s been one of my biggest fans for a long time and understands what I’m doing very well. Every time I’m playing a bigger show in Texas he’ll come along for the moment. There’s something about having another entity there, having someone to crack smiles with. If shit goes wrong, then I have a friend — I have a partner.

Why Mom + Pop Music?

They struck me in the right place [and] I trusted them. Julia has been so helpful and creatively thoughtful to a lot of the transitions I wanted to do and looking into the future. They just felt like really good people. There were a number of labels I really like that I wanted to work with, but Mom + Pop came to the table with something wonderful. The contract was great, in my opinion. It was the first time I’ve been approached by an actual label. Major indie — “mindie,” I guess. It naturally felt right. I like those people a lot.