Their Time Is Now: Cazals

Cazals are roughly about four years old; today things are looking quite good for them. An album finished, a cool fashionable record label to release it with and all Cazals are in perfect harmony. This was not always the case. Emerging from the London, Cazals have endured having all their instruments stolen, being left in limbo waiting for a deal, band members leaving and trying to find a decent drummer. Yet they have maintained their style and unique sound throughout. Gigwise spoke to their manager/guitarist Daniel Cazal, to hear their stories, hopes and dreams. A straightforward and clear interviewee, Daniel knows everything Cazals and he is prepared to share.

Cazals are five strong, the aforementioned Daniel on guitar along with Luca Cazal. Martin Cazal, who doubles as producer, on bass. Their current drummer is Warren Cazal, he arrived after an exhausting search, as Daniel points out, “There are a lot of bad drummers out there.” He concludes by outlining the lengths they had to go to get one, “We poached him from a band up in Stoke.”  Phil Cazal is lead singer and focal point of the band. He is quite a dapper chap, “He likes his clothes and he likes fashion”. He has sported a spiv moustache in the past and may still do. Daniel in his dual role as manager and Martin as producer marks Cazals as an entirely self-contained unit, something Daniel feels helps the band, “Having things like producing yourselves, managing yourselves. You are always driving yourselves on.” The gang mentality gives the band confidence and identity, “nobody can really do or get Cazals better than we can.”
 
Cazals, whether they like it or not, are firmly entrenched in London’s scene. Ali Love is an ex-member; he left during the disheartening search for a drummer. Luca Cazal is best friend and lives with Drew Babyshambles. Phil Cazal, lead singer, has been a friend with Pete Doherty for many years. Cazals also toured with Babyshambles, “We got to play to so many people touring with them and got so many fans doing some great gigs.” They always knew though that they had something different to offer, “We never really, well to us, we never sounded similar.” Daniel though is quick to add, he was grateful for the opportunity afforded by the affiliation, “It kind of helped set us off.” The connections with the London scene helped them through probably the toughest period faced by the band, “Everything we had musically was in this place. We rehearsed out of there; everything we kept there and it all got stolen.” This event is clearly still a source of frustration for Cazals, as Daniel outlines, “that was probably one of the worst days of being in Cazals”, The band had just recorded their first single with 1234 records until this disaster nearly ruined them.

This massive stroke of bad fortune led to Cazalaide, a illegal party in Whitechapel, London in to fund replacements for the stolen instruments. Their friends came in droves to help them, “First, Erol Alkan, said he’d DJ for us. Then The Rakes, who’d we been playing with said they’d do it and the next minute Bloc Party said they’d do it”. Cazalaide just snowballed, even to the surprise of the band, “It just kind of started spiralling into this big event with everyone turning up from Pete Doherty to Bloc Party, it was just one of those nights.” The illegal party garnered plenty of coverage across the presses but as for any band, the path to a record deal can be treacherous. Patience is the key, but disappointment is always one step away even when it seems you are ready to take on the world.