San Cisco : Interview

[dropcap style=”font-size:100px; color:#992211;”]I[/dropcap]nvigorating shark-swimming and dashing a poor lad’s dreams of free skateboards.

Life on tour can be a touch emasculating, at least in the case of San Cisco, whose only female member has wasted no time asserting herself as the alpha of the pack. The band paid a quick call on the UK recently, Trebuchet caught up with drummer Scarlett Stevens:

Who are you?
I’m Scarlett

How does the San Cisco story go?

Jordi got lonely as a solo artist so he asked his friends to record on an EP he was working on. That’s how Nick, Josh and I got involved. The boys all went to school together, and I knew Jordi from childhood. We started playing gigs in an around Freemantle and the rest is history.

If someone was unfamiliar with the concept of a band, giving you a clean slate to describe what San Cisco was, what would you say?

It’s really just four friends with different musical backgrounds, each bringing something different to the table. Jordi is mainly responsible for the lyrics and Josh the melodies, but we do mix up the songwriting process a lot.

You’re from Western Australia, one of you surfs. You must have some shark stories. Tell us a shark story!

Jordi has seen sharks whilst surfing but it hasn’t stopped him from catching waves. I have swum in a beach that has been closed off due to shark sightings! It was… invigorating.

Are you of the modern life or of another time?

We all share a love of old things, whether it’s vintage clothes, instruments, motorbikes, records, chairs.. I think we are passionate about past eras, but definitely try to create something new sounding when it comes to our music and style.
What are your ambitions for the band?

To get better as musicians and to keep writing meaningful music that sounds cool. Having complete creative control and getting to tour more internationally.

What would be the most are ideal gig for the band and what would your audience look like?
On the beach in San Sebastian. I saw Patti Smith perform there in 2010 and it was electrifying. I don’t care what the audience look like! As long as they are having a good time.

Do you think the romance of being in a band has died?

I think if you were wanting to live the lifestyle of Guns ‘n’ Roses it would be a challenge and your dreams would quickly be crushed, but the romance is definitely there if you love to travel and be creative and meet incredible people.

Would you say that you have one message as a band or are there various voices at work here?

We are pretty much on the same page musically. We obviously have different tastes and stylistic influences so we do disagree on how things should sound, or be arranged in a song. I guess we try to work as a unit but there’s definitely a range of voices in the band.

What now? What then, and what for the future?

Right now we are about to tour the US with Chaos Chaos, then we will be heading to the Uk in April, followed by an Australian tour in May. We’ve already been away for two months but it’s been heaps of fun. In the future we will be doing more recording. I think we are already brainstorming ideas for our second album.

[quote]I think the boys have

become more ‘feminine’, I catch them

painting their nails[/quote]

You’re the only girl in the band, on tour. Have you gotten really good at belching and other boy stuff, or does your previous tour experience with The Flairz make you the tour bus boss?

I’m too disorganized to be the bus boss. I think the boys have become more ‘feminine’, I catch them painting their nails and have to stop them from trying on my clothes. Jordi and I actually fight over sneakers a lot. We have similar tastes.

What’s the cruellest thing any of you has done to each other?

We are generally pretty cruel to each other! Nick tricked Jordi that they were giving out free skateboards at a hotel lobby in Austin during SXSW and Jordi walked around trying to find out where to get one.

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