What do you get when you combine the relaxed vibes of a bunch of Queenslanders, with more good looks than all of the One Direction kids put together? With tunes so good that it even gets the greatest of hipsters moving?
Introducing Brisbane local pop-rockers, The Cairos.
Having already won the hearts of many across the country, these young lads have been lucky enough to share the stage with some of rock music’s greatest artists, such as Julian Casablancas, You Am I and The Temper Trap.
Following a nervous exchange in the hopes that he would play nice, front-man Ali Richardson cheerfully announced, “oh that’s ok, I’m always nervous.” So guys who are about to become bigger than sliced bread have nerves too? Good. On to question two.
Casually wondering before the interview of obsessions with ancient mummies and flying carpets, there’s curiosity to know as to how the hell does one think of a name like The Cairos?’ The truth turned out to be cooler than expected. While the rest of us were forced to go bushwalking or to Canberra for a school excursion, Jacob Trotter, the band’s drummer, had been lucky enough to be taken on a trip to France, with a casual stop over in Egypt. Trotter, along with the rest of the band, found the name exotic enough, “its just stuck ever since, we’ve never thought of changing it,” laughs Richardson.
The frontman’s explanations of creating pop rock are even more exciting, “I’ve always loved catchy music with a great melody, but you know, it always changes. I mean, we have a few songs that are pretty long and progressive and darker, however we’ll always be drawn to pop music. It’s such a great way to feel and to connect with people – and we love doing that”
On top of a unique name and genuine passion for the music they are making, Richardson also gives the impression that they possess a real drive to work damn hard to get what they want. Which lead to The Cairos’ latest EP, Colours Like Features.
Was Richardson surprised by the reception the EP has received? “Definitely,” he responds enthusiastically.
“We’ve done two EPs in the past,” he added “which has sort of fizzled out – so there is a little bit of excitement about it. I mean, we’ve always had the potential… but actually concentrating on getting something worthwhile pumped out has just changed everything, its fantastic.”
What makes Colours Like Features so worthwhile in comparison to their first two EPs? “We took our time making the sounds the way we wanted them to be,” replies Richradson. “In the past we were like ‘we wrote five songs! We wrote five songs! Let’s put them down!’, rather… we chose the best ones and thought about how they would actually work out. I mean, we realised that this was probably our last shot – we really wanted it to work.”
The resulting songs are near-perfect. ‘Shame’, the song that has been the band’s biggest was seemingly an obvious choice, “when we got signed, it was the song that the label liked the best – so we kinda knew that one was going to be there.” The two newest songs on the EP, ‘Lena’ and ‘We All Buy Stars’, Richardson considers to be where we can potentially expect the band to be going in the future. Then throw in some diversity, “a disco-y song” (that’ll be ‘Yeah No’), and the “piano one, which is a nice ballad” (‘Self Control’) show the band’s diversity.
The lads were even lucky enough to work with ARIA award-winning producer Wayne Connolly, (best-known for producing the likes of The Vines, Josh Pyke and Boy & Bear), at Albert Studios in Sydney. “He’s just the best guy,” reports Richardson “we just got along from the start. He really helped in giving us plenty of advice and telling us everything that we should be doing – I mean, its just worked out so much better having him on board.”
Pressed about the typical ‘what influences you?’ question and the direction of their first recordings, Richardson cites an eclectic mix of amazing music – however one band in particular grabbed his attention, Sydney’s Deep Sea Arcade; who the group are touring alongside in June. “We are so, so excited for that,” says Richardson. “we’ll learn a lot. I mean, I would love to see how they replicate live some of the sounds on their albums – it would be great to pick their brains.”
Though having shared the stage with some amazing artists, Richardson isn’t prone to ripping into tour stories, but instead mentions several times how he and the rest of the group have learned as much as they can from other musicians, “the more you stick it out, the easier it gets.” Speaking on their recently wrapped-up tour with Bluejuice for instance, he calls them “the nicest, most helpful guys – they showed us how to really connect with a crowd – it was one of the best tours we’ve ever done.”
The Cairos are humble proof that that hard work and learning as much as you can really pays off.
So what should we be expecting for the rest of the year? That previously mentioned support tour with Deep Sea Arcade should be a ripper, while next month, then in July their own national tour (watch this space for venues and dates) followed by the eagerly anticipated production of their first album.
– Tara Emily
