Australia's Calais Opens Up to Musical Notes Global

Australian band Calais grabs the attention of listeners with story-telling lyrics and dreamy rock beats.

Having all met in school in Brisbane, Tim Lollback (vocals), Joseph Fleming (guitar), Guy Stacey (synth/guitar), Liam Roberts (bass), and William Mogg (drums), have been formally rocking as a band since 2013. Four years into it, "Our sound has definitely come along way from where we started," Lollback told Musical Notes Global. "We were your classic garage rock band initially with heavily distorted guitars and screaming solos. Every part was always as loud as it could be." Now, having developed their writing chops, they deliver a vibey brand of synth-tinged indie rock instead of the booming rock they started out with. "We've introduced synth layers which we rely on heavily throughout our current songs and have taken the time to craft our instrumentation to pair with the emotion of the melodies and lyrics," he said. "It's been a bit of a journey but we're really happy with where we're at now."

The band's most recent single "Seeing It All" is a soaring rock anthem that blends elements of pop with a rousing baseline. "Guy started the idea off with the keys and atmosphere you hear in the soft chorus instrumentation and the melody came to me pretty quickly from there," Lollback explained. "Joe and Guy eventually came up with the rest of the track and pushed the sound pretty hard with all the synths in there. I wrote the lyrics to reflect a period of my life after pretty heavy break. It was a really important time of self-reflection for me but a really difficult time to let go of my past in an effort to move forward. It was the idea that I was so accustomed to being a 'we' that I was in panic of moving forward and couldn't stop thinking about the past." The video reflects the song's theme, demonstrating how easy it is for "us" to become "I" through scenes of a couple who can't see themselves clearly without each other. "Peter Holz in Sydney mixed and mastered the track and really shared in the vision which helped massively," he added. "It was a great experience working with him as he's one of the best in Australia, and a great person too!" Watch "Seeing It All" below.

Lollback also shared one of the band's most memorable experiences with Musical Notes Global: "Probably one that we'll never forget was in our first year of being a band in 2010. We were still in high school and had written a few songs that had made their way around the school on CD's. The students at the school really got behind us and we were given an opportunity to play at the school's awards night in front of about 2000 people. We played a new song that night called Wide Awake at Midnight, and in the darkness of the stadium about half of all the students got their lights out on their phone and illuminated the crowd in front of us all the way up the stands. It was truly euphoric. We were only 15/16 years old at the time and that crowd really motivated us to keep writing music to try and experience moments like that again."

If you're in the U.S., don't you worry! Although the band does not have any shows booked here at the moment, they're working on it. "Our manager, Phil, is in LA so we definitely want to get over there and make the most of his spare bedrooms," Lollback said. "We are really focused on releasing new music and continuing to write and progress."

For all of Calais' latest news and updates, follow them on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/calaismusic

Twitter: @calaismusic

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Website: calaismusic.com.au

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