Grunge pop, fuzz rock trio Calva Louise have recently released their debut album ‘Rhinoceros’ via Modern Sky UK, but their album is not the only exciting thing happening for the band this year. The Manchester-via-Venezuela-via-France-via-London band had already been on three tours in 2019 when we caught up with them just after finishing their five-day European adventure with The Maine in April.
Here, we speak with guitarist and vocalist Jess Allanic about their time on the road with The Maine, their new album, and writing songs in a second language.
You guys did so well on tour with The Maine! How was it?
It was the first time we travelled to 5 different countries in 5 days, it was an amazing experience! We are really grateful to have supported The Maine, they put on a great show every night and their audience is really receptive and welcoming too!
Which was your favourite gig to play and why?
Every show was really fun to play, but my favourite was London. Playing at the O2 Forum Kentish Town was a dream come true for us!
Any highlights from the tour?
I think it would be meeting wonderful people from the audience, some of them came every night and it was always a pleasure to chat and get to know people from all over the world!
Your album Rhinoceros came out last February, how has the response been?
We are very excited about all the reviews we've read. I think it’s really cool that so many people take the time to listen to our songs. There’s been amazing feedback that gives us more motivation to keep going and try to reach a bigger audience.
What do you take inspiration from for your music?
Musically and visually, we’re really inspired by other artists, we love every form of art. We take a lot of inspiration from films and plays, Rhinoceros was inspired by the play of the same name by Eugene Ionesco.
With English not being the first language for most of the band, how is it to write songs in your
second language?
I think it’s alright! I learnt English with the purpose of writing songs! I love to blend in my mother tongue, Spanish, and I’m also starting to blend in a bit of French!
‘No Hay’ is sung in Spanish, does it give you more freedom to express yourself in your first language?
I think it feels more natural in a way, as I've known the metric of the language since I was born. Rhythmically, there’s more freedom as you know how to manipulate the syllables to make something interesting which is something that is more difficult for me in English.
Being from all different backgrounds, how did Calva Louise start out?
I moved to France from Venezuela when I was 16 and I met Alizon in school there. In 2015 we decided to move to London and we met Ben, a year later the band was formed!
What does ‘Calva Louise’ mean?
‘Calva’ means bald in Spanish and it comes from Eugene Ionesco’s ‘The Bald Soprano’, which is a play that I studied in Spanish and Alizon in French! It deals a lot with the complications of language that can sometimes create absurd situations.
What is next for the band?
We’re writing a lot of new material at the moment. We’re going on a different path musically.
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