At TheZineUK we feel that favourite threads of our tapestry deserve to rise. On one dimension, we’re living through a greatest hits, 21st century rock opera escaping it’s bleakly dystopian setting.
In “real” life, it takes one helluva lot of effort to get next level.
Somewhere amongst all the darkness, there are stars. One giant star is surrounded by many planets. On a piece of rock moving at 1000 miles per hour, is a wonder of earthly stars in the form of artists. On this tiny piece of rock known as Earth, our home, I took a trip down to the Shacklewell Arms at the beginning of December 2019.
It was the final night of Calva Louise’s mini tour, celebrating their new EP ‘Interlude for the Borderline Unsettled’. A sold-out show.
They kindly took time out of their busy schedule, to have a chat.
Calva Louise: “Hello!”
First thing I want to ask, are there any films that came out in 2019, that stuck in your mind?
CL: “Yeah! There was ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’, love that film. ‘Joker’, really really liked that one. Oh, and IT:Chapter 2 and Doctor Sleep! A couple of others…
TheZineUK: Doctor Sleep was really good! Did you get to see Midsommar?
CL: “No. I wanted to see it, but you know I read the script online. I think it was leaked online before the film came out, so curiosity got the better of me.”
It’s still worth watching though, when you have the time! Speaking of fantasy, from where we were two years ago, when I first interviewed you, do you feel like you’re in a fantasy now, or has it been a long time coming?
CL: “Hmm. Well we’re definitely closer…I think we are where we wanted to be two years ago. But the thing is, the effort is so, so much.”
…A lot of sweat, a lot of tears…
CL: “…Yeah. And when we sold out in Manchester, some were like, “Yep. Fine. Good”. And we were really happy, and some were shrugging shoulders, so we were like “Yep. Okay.”
TheZineUK: think what can hurt the most, it isn’t how much time and effort you put into something. It’s about not having that reciprocation matched in any way. If your blood, sweat and tears is received with emotion and sweat you think, “Ahh okay.” But, when others don’t, it can be super frustrating!
CL: “Yeah exactly. We’ve been through a lot of issues that we’ve overcome. It makes us stronger as a band and not only that, I think generally, in the industry, there’s a certain way, things are done. How the machine works, and sometimes you’re thinking, “Yeah, but that’s not how it should be working”. It doesn’t ring true.”
I came up with an analogy the other day. The industry, machine, labels whatever, they’re not against the artist. They’re not maliciously trying to f*** the artists over. But, it is like a human stepping on an ant. You weren’t maliciously trying to hurt the ant, but you still did. We feel like, us ants (chuckle), we need to be aware so we’re not stepped on, you know?
We’re not hustlers, and sometimes we get told we should be asking more questions etc, and sometimes…”
…Sometimes you just can’t be bothered, do you know what I mean?
*laughter*
CL: “We just want to work hard, but sometimes yeah, we have issues like not having any money at all. But, we’re great at finding alternative ways. Like Alizon built a roof rack, for our van. Him and Ben did a band sign for our tour. And it looks professionally made, but they spent sleepless nights over the stove, bending plastic, soldering. Right till the very day of the tour beginning. Any of our merch, we pack it ourselves and send it out ourselves too.”
…every part of the process, you overlook…
CL: “…Exactly. It’s funny, someone commented on the artwork of our EP “Interlude for the Borderline Unsettled”, saying that whoever we paid to make this, they made a typo and need a refund or a partial refund, something like that. And I was like, “Ha! That’s a funny one. So, you’re saying, that I should be paid, for the artwork? Hmmm. Shall we tell that to our label at some point?”
*laughter*
TheZineUK Could you then argue – though irritating and painful at times – the challenges you’ve had, have helped you grow into who you want to be, where you want to go?
CL: “Definitely! Definitely. I’d rather be where we are now, and fighting for it, than being a puppet and being manipulated into throwing your life away, because that’s what the machine does. It takes a band, squishes the life out of it, and goes to another one. That’s why bands go up and fold so quickly. They’re trapped into a system that sold them dreams, and it’s all lies. Just to make profit.
We’ve learned how to exist within the industry ourselves. We don’t depend on anyone. For example, all the emails to our managers, I know how it works working with PR, agents. Then later if you choose to work with someone, you already know how it works, so there’s less chance of being screwed over.”
Because you know exactly what to expect etc?
CL: “Exactly. Then you know, if something is wrong or not. We could even start our own label. Maybe one day.”
When you’re not banging your head on the table as much?
CL: *laughs* “Yeah. Once we have some more stability. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, before we start any new projects. But we appreciate what’s happened so far, we’ve still got a journey, a story to write. We just want to find ways, to be able to keep going. Even better when we sell out a gig!”
