One day before the Europe release of their fantastic and quite varied self-titled debut album we had the chance to talk to really talented Jordi and Scarlett, one of the best singing drummers of our time, from the Australian indie rock band SAN CISCO.
It took place before their Brighton gig at the pretty cool venue The Haunt. They are currently in the middle of their Europe tour, which is presented by NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION. We really appreciate that they took their time after their long journey all the way from Hamburg to Brighton to talk to us about touring, their self-titled debut, about writing and about covers – the old fashion way with paper and pen and in a pub – a bit unusual but we love experiences like that.
You are currently on your Europe Tour. Can you please tell me about your highlights so far? I heard you have been to the Oktoberfest
S: We arrived on the same day so we were pretty tired.
J: Yea we got out of the plain and pretty much went straight to Oktoberfest.
S: We just wandered around the city centre.
J: What it looked like.
S: We thought Oktoberfest is all across the country and not just in one side.
J: Everyone was having fun. If you do sort of that thing in Australia several people would be throwing up, it would be way more feral. But it is really cool how they manage to do that and keep everything under control.
I guess you didn’t stay till the end then. Are there any funny stories you want to share?
J: It’s hard. We have been driving a lot.
S: The band we were touring with are really funny, they are called F.U.R.S.
J: They are so funny Nick our base player was so was sick he didn’t talk for 5 days so we made a lot fun of him.
Quite rude
S: Yea we are pretty naughty. (laughs)
Is there anything special you always have with you on tour?
J: I try to keep everything pretty organised you know in my bag and just generally.
S: Yea the lid of my suitcase is very important. I have a Saint Christopher charm, someone gave it to me and then I put it on my luggage and now I can’t take it off cause I know it always was good.
You played 4 Germany shows, 1 Belgium, and 1 France to come and loads in the UK. What is the main reason that you play so many shows in the UK?
S: Just because we played here before and we built up a fanbase here.
J: For example the indie music scene in Paris isn’t really big. SHAKIRA is really big there.
S: In Germany and France the record labels do not really have huge collaborations there, stuff like that, but the radio is supportive. We get played a lot on Flux FM. Where are you from?
Austria. You have a lot of fans there.
J:We’ve never been there.
S: Really?
Yes. You should definitely play there. Are you actually writing on tour or getting inspired for it?
J: Lots of inspiration – but we pass a lot of time in vans so it’s hard for me to write songs. Josh does – but yea I struggle a bit. When we get home from this tour we are getting into writing pretty heavily.
Sounds great. For your debut, going to be released these days, what inspired you most for the lyrics? Any places or people?
J: Yea definitely people and relationships.
S: … also places.
J: Yeah, also places.
What places?
J: I don’t actually sing about any places it is just to be there.
S: We went up north in Australia.
J: Yes far up north in Australia on a cattle station it is the same area where the photo for the album cover was taken. I did a lot of song-writing up there while I was working.
The European release of your debut is much later than the Australia release. Is there a reason for it and do you think it was a good decision?
J: I think you can’t release it without any follow-up or any fanbase . In Australia it was the right time to do it: We played a lot of shows, released two EPs and had a solid fanbase.
S: Yea we tried to get played on the radio, before that really happens it’s hard.
J: And there is a lot more to come, this was more for warming everybody up, an introduction.
Isn’t it hard because most people already know the songs before the release then?
S: Fans who have known us for a while would probably know all the songs. But I guess the album is for people who catch up now.
SAN CISCO: “Passion for us is that we can do what we are doing surrounding ourselves with passionate people”
I noticed that there are some different musical styles on the album. I mean it is all indie rock but influenced by a lot of stuff. Why and do you think it is really important to try out a lot?
S: When we were writing the album we weren’t really down by one total and just one theme.
J: I can’t really listen to those records where everything sounds the same you know it is just a bit boring. So we tried to keep everything varied and write songs in different ways.
The record is definitely not boring that’s true! I f you could choose any song of the record to be the soundtrack of a movie, what movie would it be and what song would you choose?
J: I don’t know.
S: I think Fred Astaire would be quite good for a romantic movie – Meet the parents. Owen Wilson is that really clean kind of guy and the parents want him to get with their daughter and Owen Wilson is really funny.
J: That would be good.
You make use of social media a lot. What is the main reason for that and do you think your career would be different without it?
J: I think it is a good way to listen to our music. The majority is in the age group 13 to 25 and they really use social media a lot and it is a great way to chat with fans.
S: Even without it would be good to share songs and like songs.
If you could plan your own festival where would it be and which bands would you invite?
J: I would make it way up north in Australia in the middle of the Australian desert and like beautiful wide trees… Or I wanna do it down in the south near Perth, which is like natural environment, you can’t reach it by car. I would like to have a big beach party there with a bonfire. That’d be good.
And who would you invite?
J: Everyone.
S: The GORILLAZ.
J: Yes. Who would you invite?
S: So you wanna do it on the beach?
J: Yes on the beach.
S: MORCHEEBA. I really like their album.
Nice – they unveiled a new video not too long ago
S: Oh really?
J: Then I’d invite VAMPIRE WEEKEND. They make such a good show.
S: Then HAIM. Someone really famous like BOWIE, TALKING HEADS, THE ROLLING STONES…
J: Gosh, we should make our festival.
S: MADONNA!
Okay I think we better stop that… What is your favourite place to play together? No matter if it is at home or at a venue.
S: We used play in Joshes backyard a lot that was really nice.
J: I really like playing in the Metro Theatre.
S: Yes in Sydney and Corner Hotel in Melbourne.
J: Mojo’s, there are just so many.
Mojo’s?
J: It is really local I live round the corner. Scarlett’s dad used to own it.
S: Mum and dad!
J: Yep mum and dad.
You covered Get Lucky. How does it feel to perform covers live?
J: It feels weird.
S: We don’t want to rely on it to get the crowds going.
J: Yea it did a lot more than we thought. In Australia it got over a million views in two days and it ends up to be our second most popular song. We don’t want it to be our thing it’s a cover but it’s fun.
What do you think is the best cover ever?
J: Best cover ever.. I have no idea.
S: JEFF BUCKLEY.
J: Yes. Hallelujah. I love it.
Oh that’s one of my favourites.
S: The worst cover ever is Mick Jagger and DAVID BOWIE – Dancing in the Street – the video clip. (Scarlett starts singing)
J: I grew up with that!
S: The video is just hilarious.
Last question: We are called nothing but hope and passion so what do the things hope and passion mean to you or what do you connect with it?
J: Hope I guess means to have faith in something, maybe for us to have faith in our music. There are a lot of ups and downs and hope we end up coming through with the right thing. I think the only way to work that out, if everything can go wrong, is to be passionate about what you are doing.
S: Passion is SBS during the week late at night.
J: I never watched it.
S: It is a channel in Australia that plays naughty french films.
J: Soft Porns.
S: It’s very passionate.
J: No. Passion for us is that we can do what we are doing surrounding ourselves with passionate people.
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