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San Cisco are a four-piece indie pop outfit, hailing all the way from Perth, Australia. Their blend of low-fi indie has managed to turn heads on the other side of the globe, and they have recently signed a UK deal with Columbia Records.
The band have blown up in their native Oz, scooping eight WAMI awards in the same night, the Australian equivalent to The Brit Awards. We caught up Jordi, Scarlett, Josh and Nick to discuss pre- show jitters, having a pint in a pub (somewhat or a novelty for San Cisco) and their dreams of one day recording at Abbey Road Studios...
Is there a great story to tell about San Cisco formed - or is it as simple as a few friends playing music together?
Jordi: It’s pretty simple, I was just playing solo, and then I got quite bored to be honest. I decided to start playing a few songs with Josh, and then we got really into playing duets. Meanwhile I was also jamming with Scarlett.
Scarlett: He was two timing me… but then I was two timing him too because I was also in another band.
Jordi: We won an award for our track ‘Rocket Ship’, and it was then when we recorded that song that we all came together. After that we started to play some live shows as San Cisco, and that’s when Nick was also bought in.
Below: San Cisco: 'Rocket Ship'
What’s on San Cisco’s bucket list to achieve as a band?
Jordi: To just be able to make a living out of this would be really awesome.
Scarlett: We’d love to record at Abbey Road. That’s something we all really want to do.
Nick: There are a lot of bands that we would love to tour with too like Collaborations and Tame Impala. They are from Perth where we are from; we’ve met Tame Impala a couple of times.
Having recently signed a deal in the UK - does it feel like a whirlwind of success or a long time coming?
Jordi: It’s been a long time coming really, but in terms of travel it does feel like a bit of a whirlwind. We’ve been playing together for three years, and so it’s not like our success happened overnight.
Scarlett: We want to take the music to the next level now though; we need all the help we can get for the overseas market, so this big deal had to happen for us.
Did you have a feeling that the track ‘Awkward’ was something special when you were writing it?
Scarlett: We didn’t have time to think – it all happened so quickly.
Jordi: We wrote it and I didn’t personally think it was very special – but our managers did. They gave it out to all the radio stations, and then it just completely blew up. That’s when we realised how good it was probably. While we were writing it though I just felt like it was an ordinary pop song.
How does it feel promoting your music so far away from home - and knowing that people love your work on the other side of the world?
Scarlett: It does feel like you’re starting all over again, like when you’re waiting for people to show up for a gig - we haven’t had that in a while, but there is obviously interest over here just not on the same scale…yet.
Scarlett - how do you cope being the only girl in the band?
Yeah it’s alright I’m just so used to it now – I’ve known the boys for ages and I’ve known Jordi since I was three. So we all just feel like brothers and sisters really which is nice.
Australia has a reputation for great pop music. What do you think it is about Australia that results in such great bands?
Jordi: I'd say Isolation – being a long way from anything
Josh: I think because we don’t have direct influences, we only have the internet which is a mix of American music and British music, so Australia seems to create a whole new beast as a result of that.
Scarlett: It’s easier not to get stuck into one genre scene there, so bands like us tend to be able to experiment a lot more.
Below: San Cisco: 'Awkward'
Which other Australian bands should we be keeping an eye out for?
Jordi: Snakadaktal, they are an indie pop band who is a bit like Foals. They’re form Melbourne. They won a competition which is called Triple J Unearthed which is on one of the major radio stations. They tend to surface a lot of the better acts I think. Ball Park Music There’s quite a few good little bands around at the moment.
What have you been up to since you've been in London and is there anything you really want to see or do?
We’ve done everything we wanted to do, going to Abbey Road studios has been the highlight. London is so very different from Perth – everything’s so much older and there is so much history. Having a beer in a nice little pub is just so cool to us. The little things like that that we’re enjoying.
Thanks very much San Cisco - their debut self- titled album is released Novemeber 23rd.
