What’s My Scene: Caressa feel blessed to make music in Adelaide
In our regular Q&A column What’s My Scene, InReview speaks to emerging and established local artists to get their take on the South Australian creative scene and their place within it. This week, Caressa share the story behind their vintage sound and the Adelaide blues hotspot that helped bring them together.
Where was your first Adelaide gig, and how did it go?
Our first gig as the Caressa you know now, with our lineup as the five of us, was opening for the Wanderers on The Gov Main Stage, just over a year ago. It was our first gig with Danny Leo on the kit, and we were so ecstatic and excited for it. All of us knew him from the Thursday night blues jam at Memphis Slim’s House of Blues that we attended religiously. We had to hype ourselves up for it so much to ask him to play with us for that gig so when he said yes it was a huge deal for us. When Danny later said he wanted to join the band, it was a dream come true.
The gig itself felt super special and like a huge milestone for us. It was our first time playing as a band on such a big stage, with amazing sound, visuals and a big room in front of us. On top of that, opening for such amazing musicians The Wanderers just made this first gig feel like a huge milestone in itself.
What is your artist origin story?
Jade and Lina went to high school together, and began singing and writing together as a duo after we graduated. We went on to play many duo gigs at wine bars and poetry nights, and quickly found that there was a community and a music scene that we could jump right into. It was at a Cranker front bar gig where we met Will, and became fast friends. We already knew that we wanted to be a band, rather than an acoustic act, so from there we began pulling a band together. Alex was someone Will through the scene, and you know the Danny story already.
What was your impression of the Adelaide creative scene when you first started, and how has that changed?
From when Caressa was a duo, the scene felt so vast, I think because we knew it as one big all-inclusive arts scene that had music, poetry, visual arts, dance and everything in between. But we quickly found the ‘band’ scene and knew that was what we wanted for ourselves, and that was where we were going to feel right and at home.
One thing that has the same impression on us now as it did then is that the Adelaide creative (specifically music) scene is a very supportive community. We’re so lucky that we got to start our journey in a place where everyone knows everyone and supports new artists and each other.
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How has your own work evolved since you first started?
Being a fairly new band, our work is always evolving, whether that be from how we perform it on stage, to how we might approach it in the studio. We love to experiment on stage and change the songs, and change how we perform them, sometimes having one of our friends playing acoustic or playing extra guitar parts. We are also lucky enough to have five songwriters and singers in the band, so that makes the possibilities endless. Jade, Lina and Will write collaboratively, and now Alex and Danny are a part of that too, which is beautiful and exciting for all of us.
What is it about your next release that you’re most excited or nervous to share with the world?
Our next releases are going to be a bit different sonically to what you may have heard from our first three singles. We’ve reached a stage in our journey where we are experimenting a lot more with our studio sound, and how we can capture the energy of our live show into our recorded music. This is a super exciting time for us as we are getting more hands on with the recording and mixing process, helping us learn more about ourselves and our sound.
It’s a challenging process which can sometimes be frustrating, but it’s rewarding to dig deep and have a product we’re stoked with, and we hope you’ll be equally as stoked to hear it!
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Who are the artists around you that inspire or challenge you?
The biggest inspiration, and the catalyst for the band’s formation, would be the crew at Memphis Slim’s House of Blues. Jade, Lina and Will all frequented the blues bar before they’d properly met, all deeply inspired and challenged by the stellar musicians in the house band (Dusty Lee, Jason Mannix, Milush Pichoud and Danny Leo). Over time we began playing more frequently at Memphis, which led to the formation of the full lineup with Danny Leo and Alex Roberts and making rock and blues both defining factors in our sound.
Oblivia Jean are an incredible local band that we’ve been lucky to share some cool lineups with. We’re all really inspired by the band’s authentic and unique sound and are blessed to be in a scene with such cool and exciting bands.
One of our favourite local groups, Full Cream have been an inspiration before we even formed the band. We’ve always been blown away by their incredible and nuanced musicianship. They set a really high bar in terms of tightness as a band and in virtuosic but soulful playing that we’ve always aimed to follow.
Favourite Adelaide venue to play?
The Gov! We’ve been lucky enough to support some of our favourite local artists, Stefan Hauk and The Wanderers at the Gov, as well as a few other shows on the mainstage. The vibe in the room is always electric, and you can really feel the mojo of all the incredible artists that have played there over the years.
Dream artist to perform alongside?
It’s our dream to share the stage with Ella Langley, we really like her song about choosing Texas.
Favourite artist to collaborate with?
We’re really lucky to have a band of five members who all have distinct writing styles, so our favourite form of collaboration comes through working with each other!
Where is your next Adelaide performance, and how do you hope it will go?
We’re super excited to be playing Space Jams this year! It’s an awesome lineup, and a festival we’ve all been excited to attend. We’re super keen to be playing a festival, as the more jammy aspect of our sound really suits the festival scene. Vibes are gonna be high, and there are still a few tickets left in the final release if anyone wants to get on for the ride!
Caressa perform at Semaphore Music Festival’s High Tide Stage on Monday October 5, and Space Jams at Alma’s Hem on Friday October 9.
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