Formed of frontman Joel Bronner, drummer Michael Dickens and newest member, guitarist turned bassist Mat Winfield, South African alternative rock band CAELO have released their debut single ‘All You Need’.
“…an instant anthem that will sound equally at home in a festival field or sweaty rock club. “
With their roaring guitar riffs and upbeat sing along melodies, it is very clear to why these boys are smashing the Cape Town music scene and getting their name out there!
You can check CAELO debut single ‘All You Need’ on Soundcloud link below:
We managed to interview the lads about their debut single and much more!
Tell us about yourselves…How long have you been together? And how did you come up with the name?
The band’s earliest months were around April/May 2014. At that time, there were just two of us (Mike and Joel). We had always intended on being a three-piece. We weren’t exactly writing the kind of music suited to a two-piece. We had a vision of writing melodies where the guitar and bass would work together to create something different. Mat joined the band in August or September 2014 and that’s when we had our first proper jam sessions. The energy of that time was intense and it’s something that we still bring to the shows we play.
We had played together for a long time before finally playing our first live show. In the beginning we started to realise that if we wanted to be the band, and musicians, that we dreamed about being, it would require a whole lot of time spent with our instruments. And that’s how we spent our early months as a band.
It took a really long time to come up with the name Caelo – probably well over a year after the first band sessions. We wanted our own “word”, or a unique concept, at least. It had to sound good, but it also had to be a peculiar idea, even if that meant people could not pronounce or did not know quite what it meant. That makes it memorable (hopefully!). When at last we chose “Caelo” (It’s pronounced “Kaylo”) we actually learned that it means ‘sky’ in Latin, an idea that really concretised it as an idea for the band name.
What genre of music would you describe your work as and who are your musical influences?
Our music is probably best described as alternative rock. We really try and focus our writing on melody and dynamics. We believe that music should take you on a journey. Being a three-piece offers some constraints, however, and that’s so vital to our song-writing process. We set rules like “No guitar solos”, “Each member must sing” and things like that to keep the writing process interesting. We’d rather have all the instruments moving together than have one stray from the core idea. Limitation inspires creativity.
Our biggest influences are Muse, Biffy Clyro and Royal Blood. When we first heard Royal Blood we practically lost our minds. They have a simplicity and sincerity that really captured us. Not to mention, there’s just two of them. We really admired that.
What made you want to be in a band and write your own music?
Joel : Music is the most real thing I’ve ever known, or experienced or whatever you want to call it. It makes the most sense…and the least sense. In my late teens, I was listening to a LOT of music. It became so important and it was undoubtedly shaping me. As the years went on, it started becoming almost like a refuge for me. After everything that music had done for me as a person, I guess I wanted to become a musician so that I could do that for other people.
Mike : I was exposed to music at a young age, I had the opportunity to start learning music when I was around 10 years old. It wasn’t long after that when I experienced the energy of performing with other musicians. I was hooked. Over the years I played in different kinds of bands, each experience unique it’s own way. Being able to share and craft a passion with other people is truly special, there’s nothing that’s better than that.
Mat : Over the years I’ve been in bands and not been in bands. A kind of “here I am, here I am not” thing. Songwriting was always a big thing for me, but I was never sure about being in a band or being on my own. When I joined Caelo, though, I was able to express musicality that I didn’t know that I had. It was a unique setup, simultaneously an exploration of who I am and who I am as a musician. Once I started playing bass I realised I was being productive, I was developing and exploring my style in a band that welcomed it. My want and need to be in a band grew organically from being in Caelo. It was never this lifelong passion or goal.
What inspired your new track ‘All You Need’?
There’s a struggle that every kind of artist will go through when it comes to creating. When we began writing the song, “All You Need”, we were getting really caught up and frustrated with the whole writing process. It was probably because we were over-complicating things. So we wanted to write something really basic and freeing, but that still captured what we are about. The song is really about doing everything that you can do and getting nowhere, and not knowing if you’re even meant to be doing it. A major theme in our songs is self-actualisation; I guess that’s all we’re after at this stage.
As well as releasing your debut single, are you currently working on any other projects?
Yes, we’re going to be releasing an EP sometime in the next two months, and hopefully a live video of “All You Need” to follow the single’s release. We’ve written a lot of music lately and we’re starting to plan how to get it out there.
What your ultimate direction? Your goals you want to achieve as a band?
I think every band dreams of playing world tours, playing the biggest festivals, playing Wembley. These are all big things, but we’re not thinking about these now. Our goals right now are to continue writing music that we can be proud of. We don’t expect anything from it, we’ve been playing for ourselves and that’s what has been making it so enjoyable thus far. Then, there’s playing live. We really are a live band: our top priority is our live performance. That’s really where our music gets translated the way we think that it should. That goal is in effect constantly. The next big step that we want to take is to start playing in Europe and the UK, to play to some different audiences and put our band through the paces.
Have you got any gigs coming up soon?
We have some great gigs coming up that we’re really excited about. Being where we are, Cape Town, we can’t play as often as we’d like because the scene here is quite small, but we’ve lined up some shows with some of our favourite local bands and spread the dates out over the next few months. We’ll be playing the 17th of September at Beast Night in Cape Town, 27th October at Bohemia in Stellenbosch, 28th October at Shadowfax in Cape Town, 18th November in Woodstock (TBC) and the 1st of December at Manila Bar in Cape Town.
Thanks boys for your brilliant answers! And if you want to keep updated, go check out their social media pages below:
Website:
http://www.caeloband.com
Social Media:
https://twitter.com/caeloband
https://www.facebook.com/caelobandofficial/?fref=ts
Nicely done boys!