Following their outstanding 2015 LP ‘Lights Begin to Dance’, Scottish emo / screamo post hardcore punks from CAVALCADES expand their impressive 6-year discography with a new 3-track EP! The band is teaming up with IDIOTEQ to provide a glance into what they are about with their slightly different style. The 3 new tracks, ‘ I Hope the Dogs Won’t Bark Tonight”, “A Carthorse for the Knacker” and “Sometimes Your Salvation Hunts You Down” are the culmination of the band’s growth over the years, and deliver a variety of well-crafted atmospheres. Rounding off the edges of its well-proven emotional, yet harsh touch, CAVALCADES have greatly re-imagined their sound and we are proud to host its first harbinger here on IDIOTEQ. Launch the new song through the player below and scroll down to see the full interview with the band’s vocalist Allan, telling everything about this new effort, touring, and his new project KOMAROV!
The new 12” EP from CAVALCADES comes out via Through Love, Lifeisafunnything, SmithsFoodGroup, Don’t Care and Koepfen label!
Photo by Ewan Grant Photography.
Hey Allan! How are you? How’s Aberdeen? Have you seen some signs of Winter around the area where you live?
Hey Karol, I’m okay! The other band I play in had our first show last night, so tired.
I’m not actually living in Aberdeen anymore, Michael (our drummer) and I are living in Leeds now. The winter here has been fine though.
Cool. It’s been about 10 months since the premiere of your latest, absolutely captivating album “Lights Begin To Dance” and you’re already revealing more new tunes. When did you record these tracks and how vast is your vault with unreleased music?
Haha, thanks for the kind words. We recorded them in early spring 2015 with our main man Watty. We’ve written most of a new full length and were hoping to record it next month but it’ll probably be summer before that happens now.
What labels are you working with this time and why? How difficult was it to put them together and organize this release?
We’re working with Through Love, Lifeisafunnything, Smith’s Food Group, Koepfen and don’t care (uk).
Still thinking about labels out with Europe and planning on self-releasing in the UK!
It was a pretty easy process, deciding what labels to work with. We just posted on Facebook that we had a new record and then we looked at who wanted to help and picked some people who we felt would fit. I think the best way to release records is spread across a number of labels who are actively into the music. You can have all of the press contacts in the world and it won’t make up for great people who care about music and DIY. I’m happy with who we’re working with and happy to be working with some new friends.
Photo by Johan Van Hattum.
Ok, so let’s have a closer look at your new record. Can you delve into the details of you slightly new sound presented on this 12’’?
Yeah for sure. I think it’s as simple as that we’re not static people in our tastes. We all love bands like RAEIN or COMADRE (to whom we definitely owe a lot of our past influence) but listening to more music and doing new things lead to a broader range of influence, in terms of sound anyway. I suppose it’s worth noting that the bands I just mentioned continue(d) to put out engaging and unique music as long as they continue(d) to release music. Maybe we are just holding true to influence, haha.
Lyrically, it was different for me in that I didn’t want to focus on myself any longer. I became more interested in the social environment and what has motivated me to write in such a personal style in the first place. I’d like to think that our new material is more broad, or abstract, that people will be able to get more out of it. Rather than looking at my stories, I want to encourage people to let the ambiguous concepts make them think more about themselves.
What does the word ‘inspiration’ meant for you while composing these tracks? Where did ideas for these tracks come from?
I can’t really speak for the musical side of it. Danny and Frank would never let me near a guitar. At the time we wrote the record, we hadn’t been on tour for nearly a year and had all just been working (varying degrees of miserable jobs). I was working 9-5 in an office and not having to work with people gave me a lot of free time, so a lot of my inspiration in terms of theme came from reading. That coupled with feeling trapped in the working dirge came together to help shape the record, for me at least.
Do you feel these new compositions progress you as artists?
Yes, absolutely. I can only speak for myself but it’s helped me approach writing and structure in a very different way. It’s important to me that new releases show a sense of growth or change because we’re not doing the same things or feeling the same way we did writing our older records.
Where do you think CAVALCADES will go in its development? Where would you like to see the band in let’s say, 5 years from now?
Multimillionaireyachtowningcharttoppers. Or just continuing to progress, put out good music and travel.
Haha :)
How do you feel about performing these new emotional pieces? Do you remain more melancholic after your live shows?
It’s different. It’s not the kind of music we would expect (or want) people to jump around and grab the mic or whatever, it’s more people just watching us doing our thing than getting physically involved.
That’s just as good though, I think the best thing for me would be to establish a mental connection with the people watching us play.
Yeah, sometimes more than others but it normally takes a little while to wear off. If you put that much of yourself into making something, it’s always going to knock the energy out of you for a little while afterwards.
You announced this upcoming tour with BOXKITE and some single gigs with JUNGBLUTH. Are there plans to hit European road big time, just like you did last year?
Yeah, the JUNGBLUTH shows were fun. I like that band a lot so seeing them a couple of times was great. BOXKITE have been our friends for a long time and this tour has been in the works forever, so we’re super excited to get out together. It’s also the end of our UK tour drought so… It should be fun to see what happens.
I don’t think we’re going to do a big tour this year. We’re sporadically touring with our other bands through the summer, so some of us will be around Europe at some point. We have plans for a couple of smaller CAVALCADES tours, maybe Europe with our friends LORRAINE from Vienna, who are a very good band.
Great! They’ve been featured on IDIOTEQ a couple of times now and we even did an interview. How do you remember that 2015 runs? How does it feel to be on the road?
The first tour in 2015 was one of our best. We went out by ourselves (and a great/affordable driver called Brad) which is something that we had never done in Europe before. All of the shows were great, we were playing new songs and people were very receptive. It still sticks in my mind as one of my best experiences touring Europe, even if it was freezing. I was going to do a list of shout outs but really, that whole tour was set up by friends and everyone did an amazing job.
The summer tour was very cool, it was around 5 weeks, so the longest tour we’ve ever done. We got to visit a lot of places and had some pretty ridiculous incidents. Playing Exit fest at the same time as FEAR FACTORY and FAITHLESS was pretty surreal. That tour had so many stories but the one that always sticks in my head is from our show on Lake Como.
When we arrived, the three members of our touring party who aren’t afraid of water all ran and jumped into the lake. Having not swam since we were kids, we overestimated our abilities. Michael and I swam to a jetty and when we got there, realised we were too tired to pull ourselves up onto it (I know – we are useless) so we had to swim back to the shore. Long story short, we both thought we were going to drown until we realised that we were only in about 5 feet of water. When we got out, we realised Tom had the keys in his pocket whilst swimming and they were now somewhere in the lake… Cue the surrounding people lining up around our van and discussing the best way to break into it. In the end we smashed the window, before realising that that would not open the gear door and playing the whole show with borrowed gear. We are true idiots.
So yeah, tour was cool…
Haha, nice :) Do you have any tips for young bands who are terrified about booking their shows outside their countries?
Be really good. Make your record as good as you can, practice a lot and don’t expect anything. Book shows with friends and people you can trust. Book bands in your city, DIY only works if everyone makes an effort.
DIY only works if everyone makes an effort
Ok Allan, tell us a bit more about your new project KOMAROV. Who did you team up with to form this band and how does its concept differ from CAVALCADES and your other music projects?
KOMAROV is a new band that I’m playing bass in. Michael (CAVALCADES) and I moved down to Leeds together at the end of Summer 2015 and I wanted to start a new band whilst I was here. KOMAROV is myself playing bass, George, Gerbs and Elliott (who play in a black metal band called MAR) and Loz who plays drums in Cady (catch them this year at Cmar!). We just play mosh parts and blast beats masquerading as screamo, come see us on tour this July with LUGUBRIOUS CHILDREN.
Do members of CAVALCADES participate in any more projects?
I play in CAVALCADES, KOMAROV and do some other stuff. Michael plays drums in CAVALCADES and sings in as yet untitled band (CAVALCADES / HEALING POWERS / PJARO). Danny plays guitar in CAVALCADES and is also working on a secret slow band (SOZ MATE). Frank plays bass in CAVALCADES and shreds every other aspect of his life.
Other associated acts include: TROPHY WIVES, THE SORROW OF BLOODSHED, NAKED GERIATRIC, NICHE MEME, SWANTOM BOMB, and many more…
How about other bands and artists you look up to this year? What are some of the most exciting records, labels, movies, books and other art related profiles worth checking out this year?
Bands/Musicians to keep an eye on this year from me are: LORRAINE, HUMAN CERTAINTY, HEALING POWERS, NO FORM, LETTERS TO CATALONIA, WOMPS, BURNING PYRE, KUROI JUKAI, SIENNA SLEEP, SWALLOWING, KNIFEDOUTOFEXISTENCE.
Labels which I’ve been into recently but we are not directly involved with: Posh Isolation, Skeletal Lightning, Alter, Vanity Pill Tapes, Hydrogen Man Records, Outsider Art.
Visual artists: Struan Teague, Hiroyuki Murakami, Javier Betancourt, Brian Kanagaki, Tess Williams.
At the moment, I’m reading ‘The unbearable Lightness of Being’ and watching a lot of x files.
Great, thanks a lot Allan!
Ok, so what else? Would you like to add anything else before we sign off?
Yes, Jack Kennedy will trade you an open can of Holsten pils for a haircut.
Haha! Want to expound a bit more on that? :)
I think it’s pretty self explanatory.
Thanks for the interview, it’s been a lot of fun! IDIOTEQ is one of the few music sites I check up on regularly. It’s great having someone discussing DIY bands in an interesting and positive way.
Thanks a lot, Allan! Cheers from Warsaw!
