Leaving The Awkward Phase

With Gotye leading the charge, it might seem that 2011 was a year for Australian viral mega-hits. Trailing not too far behind his all-conquering tune – on home soil at least – was San Cisco, a band of four youthful and very musical friends who stumbled upon an absolute ubiquitous ear-worm of a track called Awkward. Not too bad really for a song with lyrical themes of a creepy, young lad who just won't leave the girl alone, wrapped around the sugariest of bubblegum hooks and pop melodies.

The track is, much like the band themselves, somewhat of a dream come true for all involved, the stuff you can't predict or pay for. It's the illusive 'hit' that, much like Gotye's, relies heavily on something akin to perfect synergy, striking the right souls at the right time and keeps going from strength to strength until some might deem it a mega hit while the naysayers would call it oversaturated. Regardless of your stance on the song itself, the impact it's had on these four Freo kids – drummer Scarlett Stevens, vocalist/guitarist Jordi Davieson, guitarist Josh Biondillo and bassist Nick Gardner – has been something rock'n'roll dreams are made of. At the dusk of 2011, Awkward was that mega-hit; it peaked at number seven on triple j's Hottest 100 and has induced a lot of travel, a lot of hyperbole and propped the band up to become one of our most promising exports.

“It's been really busy and I'm kind of exhausted but, at the same time, I like moving around all the time – it really keeps you on your toes,” Stevens exclaims, explaining her flurry of adventure, emotion and exhaustion of late. “We've got a really good team and no one ever makes anything sound big. I think everything gets played down a lot and if anything exciting ever happens, that's not to say we don't celebrate the good stuff. Nothing is ever heavily glorified to us, it's all very as is. We've managed to keep on doing what we like to be doing on the side of the band. Like, up until this year I was at uni, so that was really good; studying, I think, really keeps me grounded. I think it's really important to keep yourself busy in aspects of your life – this year has been good because the band has just taken up all my time and that's really rewarding. It's all been so positive but you don't want to get your hopes up too much because we're relying on Awkward to do really well over there. So if that doesn't happen, you know it's going to be a slow, gradual build, which is good too – it's all positive.”

“It's all positive” is an understatement, really. As you read this, shows are selling out around the country with others being added, headline shows in the likes of Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles are seeing American fans scrambling for tickets and, adding to their incredibly rapid growth in international, they are one of four Australian bands announced on the 2013 Lollapalooza line-up. US label Fat Possum has just released their Awkward EP in the US (which interestingly also features single Fred Astaire and Wild Things) and it debuted as the fourth most added track to American radio across the country. Similarly, a little more slowly, the UK is warming to San Cisco also, where they will be returning imminently to support Darwin Deez.

Unlike some of the other younger bands circulating the Australian tour circuit currently, Stevens remains remarkably humble, despite these accolades of her band leaving their peers for dust. She's more interested in perfecting the art of touring.

“You're in a routine still, but it's very much a weird routine,” she replies when pressed for tour tips. “Don't bring your laptop on the plane though, because that's annoying – you have to pull it out and put it in the tray which is a nightmare. And Velcro shoes! I want to get a pair of those for sure for the US – you have to take your shoes off a every checkpoint. But I think the real trick is – this sounds really corny – but it's staying healthy. That is the really hard part. On past tours, we've had some pretty major sicknesses; I lost my voice completely on the last Australian tour. It just takes out the vibe and throws everyone off. But there were no major illnesses recently, I had a bit of a sore throat at South By South West but I survived.”

Following the success of Awkward and its poptastic follow-up Rocket Ship, the world was left waiting for a debut album overflowing with the same. Instead, the band threw the larger music community a curveball with first single Wild Things; hooks were intact but still the tone was darker. The self-titled long-player left critics expecting an album's worth of Awkward sequels baffled.

“It hasn't been an overwhelmingly good response,” Stevens reveals openly. “I mean, it has been good but it wasn't getting critically acclaimed or anything – I really think it confused a lot of people. I'm not saying it's the best album and everyone misunderstood because it's not the best album, but I think people didn't think it would have such serious aspects to it. I think people thought it would have Awkward all the way when it really is a mish-mash of us listening to lots of different music, so there are lots of different sounds in there.

“But yeah, reviews or whatever are...” she pauses, “this reviewer – I don't know how you can get this from our performance – said that I looked like the Mama Bear. I was really insulted. But it's not bad, really, as we don't really experience anything too bad or anything as bad as when I was actually in a child band – I was in The Flairz and people were really nasty and I was only really little. But yeah, no one has been too spiteful or anything, but I do think the thing is that the tone is really different here in Australia, there's the whole tall poppy thing here where I think overseas, it quickly becomes very neutral and there's no biases; they don't know the history of the band and it's completely different. I think people here, although it's been all positive, you get a bit of backlash for being liked by triple j or even just being popular quickly becomes a negative thing.”

Stevens says the tour van and airports are somewhere all four members are becoming accustomed to spending a lot of their time. Among the travel highlights, Stevens lists go-karting in Minneapolis, hanging out with their friends and support band Chaos Chaos and playing a room in Washington DC that they later discovered was the site of Marvin Gaye's embalming as some of the best. With all the incredible achievements and impressive accolades starting to swell San Cisco's CV, Stevens remains utterly thankful to have survived the past overseas tour with the band fully intact.

“I think this past overseas tour, at first, just looked really insane to me,” she reveals, feeling positive about it now in retrospect. “It was so long and such a feat for us to do that and not storm out halfway through because we hate each other or whatever – I was really nervous how long that tour was and if we were all going to get along. I don't expect to ever get special treatment or I wouldn't say that they're gentlemen with me being the only girl – I don't know, you just have to fend for yourself. They want to rough you up.”

San Cisco will be playing the following dates:

Thursday 16 May - Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra QLD
Friday 17 May - The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Saturday 18 May - Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta QLD
Sunday 19 May - Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane QLD (U18 Afternoon Show)
Tuesday 21 May – The Northern, Byron Bay NSW
Thursday 23 May - Karova Lounge, Ballarat VIC
Friday 24 May - The Gov, Adelaide SA (All Ages)
Saturday 25 May - Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC (U18 Afternoon & 18+ Evening Show) – SOLD OUT
Sunday 26 May – Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC - SOLD OUT
Wednesday 29 May - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW
Thursday 30 May - Unibar, Wollongong NSW
Friday 31 May - The Metro, Sydney NSW (All Ages) – SOLD OUT
Saturday 1 June - Astor Theatre, Perth WA (All Ages)
Wednesday 5 June - Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC - NEW SHOW
Thursday 6 June – Hotel New York, Launceston TAS
Friday 7 June – Wrestpoint Casino, Hobart TAS
Saturday 8 June – Zierholz @ UC, Canberra ACT
Sunday 9 June – Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW (All Ages)