From 'Awkward' teens to the 'High' life, Fremantle indie pop trio, San Cisco are a constant light in our Australian music industry.
There’s no question we’ve got plenty of musos doing the indie rock thing here in Australia, unless you’re doing something cool, it’s pretty hard to stick outside of the pack. Rockers San Cisco have managed this throughout their decade-and-a-half long career, finding many fans around the world along the way.
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They’ve just dropped new music and are about to hit the road again, so we caught up with San Cisco’s Jordi Davieson to dive into it all.
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“I’ve been really enjoying the first leg of this regional tour,” Davieson says. “Then going to Europe, I’ve been loving doing a bit of consistent touring, which I feel like we haven’t really had an opportunity to do since COVID. It’s all been like, quite sporadic.
“So being able to get into a rhythm as a touring group with the crew, and then also being able to replay shows every night, I think really gets you to refine the show to a point that you can’t do in rehearsals.”
San Cisco have often noted the tenuous world of touring post-covid, and when coupled with rising costs, it’s been a tough slog for musos over the last few years.
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“There was a period there for a year where there was a 50% chance if we’d actually play the show or not, when it was booked.
“Also ticket sales, I think the landscape of going and watching live music is changing. And we’re seeing that now on a bigger scale with festivals. But it’s also just for the audience with how expensive the cost of living and how expensive it is to buy tickets.
“But I think the dust is starting to settle. And we’re starting to realise what the new musical world looks like.”
March saw the 3-piece drop album number five, Under The Light. The record hit the top 50 in the ARIA charts, plus admiration from fans and critics alike. While San Cisco has certain connections to moments on the record, Davieson dives into the new life songs take once fans hear the album.
“It’s really fun playing new songs, because it’s a new thing. There are [songs on Under The Light] that have connected far more than I thought they would, which is pretty fun when that sort of stuff happens. It takes a while for people to build them into their lives, and learn how to love them.”
The record was also brought to life with Neal Pogue, and Anthony Dolhai, who’ve worked with artists such as Tyler, The Creator, TLC, and Kelly Clarkson respectively. While the group didn’t work in the room with these two, they helped bring the record to a different level.
“We’d often send the stems off to Neil [Pogue]. He would have an incredibly fast turnaround, and he would send them back and we would tweak a few things with the mix, but I think one song, we didn’t touch anything because he’s such a pro. I think he’s like a little bit of a fan now and he comments on our video clips and stuff which is pretty cool.
“Then with Anthony [Dolhai], he was a little bit more hands on with the mixing, we were sending him the whole Ableton session for him to mix from, which is a really interesting way to mix. But it worked really well, because it wasn’t a huge jump from where we had it, but it would just sound much better.”
The band are about to pack their bags and hit the road again, heading out to a bunch of regional stops across the land, from Albury to Byron and Coffs Harbour, before heading to Victoria, where they’ll play San Remo, Traralgon, Torquay and Ballarat.
“I do love a capital city crowd, they are great. But there’s something about a rural town – they’re not even that rural, some of these towns, but I think they don’t have a lot of live music.
“They’re going to a pub, where everyone kind of knows each other. And there’s a real sense of camaraderie, and they are just there to have a good time. I think people that live in the smaller towns are probably just having more fun in life, they’re less on the grind.
“They’re just up for anything, which I’m very into. The smaller venues just means that you can kind of connect with them on a bit more of a level, like we might physically be on their level, as opposed to being up on a huge stage. And you’re just all in there having a hot sweaty time. And, and that’s what I love.”
San Cisco’s new record Under The Light is available now. They hit the Torquay Hotel on 17 August. Get tickets here.
