The Cairos Interview

Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 February 2010 10:27 Written by Jacob Hicks Wednesday, 03 February 2010 10:54

Young + Restless

If, in the last 12 months, you’ve attended any festival or show in Brisbane held within any venue from A (Alhambra) to Z (the Zoo), chances are The Cairos would have played it. And if they didn’t, they most likely would have been playing the night before supporting a better band, with twice as many people packed in.

To say the last year for The Cairos has been somewhat occupied would be very on the mark if you held a PhD in Understatements.

"The past year has definitely been busier than the year before. We've been touring a lot more and playing a lot of bigger shows," replies Cairos drummer BC. Michaels. The fact they’ve been given a wide variety of support spots; from anthemic pop crusaders The Temper Trap to the balls-up rock n roll beltings of You Am I shows this band collectively appreciates a wide variety of music, and isn't afraid to front-up to different species of music fans.

"Yeah I was really excited to play with The Temper Trap, and Reuben (Schafer) our bass player is a big You Am I fan and I guess it's just helped when we play those types of shows, because we know there's at least one of us in the band that knows what it's going to be like, and we can change up our set to suit it."

The band achieved further exposure when they were included amongst a host of dance related acts on the bill for last year's Parklife festival. This may have surprised some as their debut EP, ‘Lost At Sea’, doesn't exactly knock on dance’s door, or make you dance till you drop with synth loops and hooks.

Instead The Cairos sound is more akin to the cross-over new wave indie guitar music made popular by bands such as Joy Division, The Strokes and Interpol. Angular guitars, tightly interwoven rhythms between the drums and bass, and reverberant, expressive vocal melodies are main features of their music. Despite their difference in aesthetic to usual dance festival acts, BC says the crowd response at Parklife was genuinely positive.

"Parklife was definitely one of my favourite shows, it was great to have the chance to play to that sought of larger festival crowd."

Songs such as the well received 'Whales', off their first release, have helped the band continue to earn many new fans from across different corners of Brisbane's sub-culture, and now with their new EP in the works, BC is enthusiastic about how their recent experiences have perhaps influenced the band’s overall sound.

"The new EP has probably got some of the most heavy material we have written, but it also has some of the most poppy so yeah it's going to be really different from the last one I think."

Helping drive The Cairos vehicle, especially early on in the band's life, has been well respected Brisbane indie philanthropist Jesse Barbera and the Fans team who have, over the past year, been responsible for some of the more memorable local and international indie shows within Brisbane.

"We met Jesse on tour in Sydney at a show when we were just starting out and Fans was just starting out then as well. We just started talking and it went from there basically ... it's been really great."

The band have a lot to look forward to over the coming months with a spot on the bill for the Cheap Thrills festival, in West End at Davies Park, alongside a host of national and local acts including headliners Bag Raiders and Van She Tech. It's then off to the launch of the 2010 Brisbane Sounds compilation CD, where they'll be playing alongside The Gin Club and Grand Atlantic amongst others.

After so many festival inclusions and big support spots BC is keen to let us know what's in store for the rest of the Cairos year. "I'm really excited about releasing the new EP and we'll be doing lots more tours for it, as well as touring with a lot of our friends' bands to be confirmed over the next few months."

The Cairos play the Cheap Thrills festival at Davies Park, West End, February 13 and Brisbane Sounds 2010 CD launch February 27 at The Zoo.

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