San Cisco are the latest indie act to emerge from Fremantle in sunny Western Australia. On the weekends they go skateboarding, play Nintendo 64 and make a bit of indie pop on the side. Scarlett bangs the drums, Nick plays bass and Jordi & Josh are the guys that play the guitars, write the songs and sing them.
San Cisco have spent the last year graduating high school, performing at some festivals and playing round town pretty much every weekend. But don’t let their youth fool you. They have also produced their first EP called Golden Revolver, which has just hit and already found a home on Triple J and community radio around Australia. Confident with stage presence & strong with vocals San Cisco continue to impress even the hardest indie critics with their brand of upbeat summer pop.
Produced by Matthew Chequer (Little Birdy) & Steven Schram (Little Red, Cat Empire, Little Birdy), the EP is an eclectic mix of indie pop with folk undertones, slashes of synth and influences ranging from Bright Eyes to Vampire Weekend.
San Cisco performed at last years One Movement Festival which lead to an invitation to appear at the 2011 Great Escape in the UK. They also received their first airplay on London’s influential taste making station, XFM.
“San Cisco is a place situated between reality & a dream state. It is kind of like a huge cauldron we put all out creative input into, mix it together to make a super explosion of fantastic, wild creations.”
“Where do we take it from here?” sings Vikki Thorn on Day Dreamer, one of the most uplifting moments on The Waifs‘ extraordinary sixth album, Temptation, in store March 4th independently through Jarrah Records (the label The Waifs co-own with John Butler) and MGM Distribution.
The Waifs’ trip began in a van in 1992, with the three troubadours playing gigs anywhere in Australia that would have them and has led The Waifs to multiple ARIA awards, platinum albums and successful tours across the world. The hard yards in those early days paid off in terms of their career, but also bound the three of them together as friends.
Temptation is the follow-up to 2006’s Sun, Dirt, Water, which the band recorded in Nashville and which reached No.2 in the Australian album charts. That album represented a natural progression for The Waifs, one on which they expanded and experimented with their sound.
Temptation sees them stripping back, returning to their roots and playing an assortment of acoustic and electric instruments, joined once again by the established rhythm section of drummer David Ross Macdonald and bassist Ben Franz.
There’s also a re-shaping of songwriting input this time. While the bulk of the material for Sun, Dirt, Water came from Cunningham, on Temptation the songs are more equally spread.
Temptation was recorded in November last year at Underwood Studios, a ramshackle old house-cum-studio in Simpson’s adopted home city of St Paul, Minneapolis.
All five musos lived together for two weeks above the basement studio, cooking, reminiscing and finessing each of the songs that had been brought to the table. “You just went downstairs when it was your turn to do a take,” says Cunningham. “It was a great atmosphere to make an album in and I think you can hear that on the recordings.”
The group forged their way on the Australian live circuit for most the 1990s, releasing albums such as their self titled debut in 1996 and Shelter Me in 1998, selling them mostly at shows. The third album, 2000’s Sink or Swim, raised their profile and allowed the band to perform in Canada and the United States, attracting rave reviews in the process.
The biggest turning point came with the EP London Still (2002), which gave the band its first Australian hit. Followed in 2003 by the Lighthouse EP and the album Up All Night, which has gone double platinum in Australia and earned them four ARIA awards. That same year they toured Australia with Bob Dylan, who subsequently invited them to join him on his North American tour.
Further hits, such as Bridal Train and Stay, have followed, along with live albums, more awards and ecstatic reviews for their live performances. With a national tour under way from February 22 and the album release to follow on March 4, there is every sign that 2011 will bring them further success.
Touring dates are:
22nd February: Moruya Memorial Hall – MORUYA (NSW) Page Street With Mama Kin. Tickets from http://www.heatseeker.com.au & Planet TX Music Store 02 4474 5000
3rd March– The Tivoli – BRISBANE QLD. Tickets From: The Venue (07) 3852 1711 http://www.ticketek.com 132 849 With Mama Kin.
5th March – Old Broadwater Farm – BUSSELTON WA. Tickets from: http://www.heatseeker.com.au With Tinpan Orange & Big Old Bears
Blue 62, Prince Of Wales Hotel, Star Surf, Mills Records, Planet Video.
6th March – Castelli Estate – DENMARK WA – Tickets from http://www.heatseeker.com.au – With Tinpan Orange & Big Old Bears. Denmark Liquor Store, Southern Sound, Star Surf, Mills Records & Planet Video Doors
8th March– Performing Arts Centre – MANDURAH WA. Tickets from http://www.manpac.com.au MPAC Box Office 08 9550 3900 – With Tinpan Orange
9th March – Fremantle Arts Centre – FREMANTLE WA. 1 Finnerty Street With Tinpan Orange & Big Old Bears. Tickets from http://www.heatseeker.com.au
Star Surf, Mills Records, Planet Video & Venue 08 9432 9550 Doors 5.30pm
10th March Astor Theatre – PERTH WA -www.liveattheastor.com.au Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley With Tinpan Orange & Ruby Boots. BOCS Tickets 08 9484 1133 http://www.bocsticketing.com.au
19th & 20th March – Blue Mountains Folk Festival KATOOMBA NSW
Tickets from http://www.bmff.org.au/
21st March – Moncrieff Theatre – BUNDABERG QLD
Bourbong Street -With Special Guests (support TBA). Tickets From: Venue 07 4130 4100
23rd March – James Cook University Uni Club TOWNSVILLE QLD.
James Cook University Drive – With Special Guests (support TBA).
Tickets From: http://www.moshtix.com.au & usual outlets
The Paper Scissors have just released a great video chat with chief songwriter Jai discussing their video for “Lung Sum”. Click the box below to check it out!
There’s no question that ‘Lung Sum’, the first single from the new album by Sydney’s own indie maestro’s The Paper Scissors, proves they are a slamming force to be reckoned with.
But while critics unanimously agree on their powerful live show and unique sound, they don’t seem to be able to agree on what exactly that sound is!
Furthermore….with ‘Lung Sum’ making repeated references to drowning and their last clip also making references to the band dying, the question keeps arising; under those catchy anthemic choruses, do The Paper Scissors have some kind of preoccupation with death?
On the back of a round of shows with Brissie mates ‘Hungry Kids of Hungary’ and just prior to them opening for ‘Local Natives’ on their Australian sideshows, chief songwriter Jai has squeezed in some time to talk.
Not just covering these cardinal questions, he also chats about what it was like being submerged under water for eight hours during the filming of the Lung Sum clip!
After a massive year which has seen singles from their album “Levolution” hit radio around the world and their Australian tour with Slash cement their place as one of the country’s most accomplished rock acts, Juke Kartel have launched their new single “If Only“.
The video clip is the first from the “Levolution” album.
As usual Spotlight Report and SGC Media support Australian artist.
A Family of Strangers is the new hard-hitting rock project for Glenn Esmond (The Butterfly Effect). In our mission to promote new talents in Oz, Spotlight Report and SGC media are giving away* 2 CD’s of FAMILY OF STRANGERS.
How to win?
EASY! just send us an email to spotlightreport@gmail.com with the subject “FAMILY” and provide your name, postal address and email.
Winners will be notificated next week by email and announced here in our site.
If you want to know more about this artist, just read a complete note that we did a couple of weeks ago here.
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