The Settlement, a Victorian alternative/folk band from the rural town of Hamilton, are anything but settled these days. A rising star of the music scene, The Settlement are about to embark on the second leg of a nationwide tour, off the back of the release of their new single She’s Alright, and in anticipation of their forthcoming album.
Before they hit the road again, the guys from The Settlement – Calvano (vocals, guitar), Baker (bass), Matty (violin), Jase (guitar) and Harry (drums) – kindly sat down with me to discuss their new single She’s Alright, their soon-to-be-released album and what the future holds.
Hi guys – Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions today, I’ll start by asking how you all came together and how long you’ve been together for now?
Cheers, thanks for taking the time to ask a few questions. The band started a long time ago in Hamilton, Vic. It’s only a small town so there wasn’t many young peeps playing tunes, so I suppose we just gravitated towards each other. Along the way we’ve met other musicians and if they on the same vibe they slotted in. The Settlement has been going for about 2 years, but we’ve been jamming and gigging with each other for about 6 years.
How would you describe your sound and the type of music you perform?
Well we hope we sound Australian. And we hope we sound like us. It’s hard to describe our music as we aren’t a specific genre. There’s influence from Irish reels, Italian rhythms, 80’s hair, fat-fingered bass and all kinds of other inspirations. We like to describe our sound as ‘honest’.
You list Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan among your influences but are there any other artists you’ve been inspired by over the years?
I personally have always love Cat and Dylan because they aren’t genre specific in my ears. Other artist that inspire us are the artists we hang out with – Centre & The South, Bill, GUMS, Harrison Storm. Watching those guys kick goals and tackle the industry inspire us. We all push each other to keep bettering the last thing we did.
Your song, She’s Alright, the new single from your forthcoming album, is such a catchy tune. What inspired the writing of that song and is it indicative of the type of material that will be on your album?
My fiancee inspired that song. Without sounding all “lovey dovey”, I met her and she changed the way I looked at the band and what we were doing. The song itself is probably the most ‘rockiest’ song on the album but still has a connection to the other tracks.
The video for She’s Alright is incredibly busy visually, it’s quite colourful and looks like it was a total blast to shoot? How long did it take to shoot the video?
It’s all a blur really. Matty (fiddle) just had a baby girl, Amara Jean. We all went out in Brunswick the night before and things got a little outta control. Anyway we had to be a Bianca’s (Director/An Architect Photographed My Undies) at 7.30am, some us hadn’t been to sleep and some had had a couple of hours, so it was a rough day. The shoot only took 3-4 hours and it was heaps of fun which made the hangover bearable.
When can we expect your debut album to be released?
We have been working with the legends at Footstomp Music and we are thing February 2017 .. stay tuned.
Coming up in November you have a series of tour dates in Queensland, New South Wales and another in Halls Gap, Victoria. Do you enjoy being on the road?
Love being on the road! We have the best band van (Wendee) – which makes life easy – but recently have a major hiccup to the tour, I went and broke 3 of my ribs, punctured my lung and bruised the hell outta my kidney on the basketball court chasing my ‘hoop dreams’. I’m just about to go to the Doc to find out if I’m allowed to fly and if i we can play the Queensland leg of the tour.
And finally, if you could perform at any gig, event or festival in the world, what would be your dream gig?
Honestly, all those big festivals would be great and don’t get me wrong it’d be a dream to play them. But I’d love to get a paddock with a nice view somewhere in the Western Districts of Victoria, gather all our mates and people we love, gather all the bands and artists we know and love and get them to bring their pals and just play, dance and party … Actually we kinda just did that at Swagger Festival! [laughs]
For more on The Settlement, please visit: http://thesettlement.net.au
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Upcoming Tour Dates:
Friday November 4 – Miami Marketta, Gold Coast, QLD
Friday November 4 – Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, NSW
Saturday November 5 – Brooklyn Standard, Brisbane, QLD
Sunday November 6 – Leftys, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday November 19 – Peaks & Sounds, Halls Gap, VIC
Thursday November 24 – Stag & Hunter, Newcastle, NSW
Friday November 25 – Leadbelly, Sydney, NSW
Saturday November 26 – The Pier, Port Macquarie, NSW
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 