Luiza Sá - CSS (30/01/2014)
While I sit down to talk to Luiza Sá of electro trope CSS, it seems both sides of the world we are on seem to be melting. Unlike myself, she still approaches the conversation as coolly as a winter breeze. Quickly, she lets me know all about the joys she’s found in touring this year, as compared to the last few years when CSS was just starting the world tour circuit.
"I think at this point it feels pretty good. We toured so much in the past, but we didn’t really know how to tour in a very healthy or fun way. Now we know how much we can take and how much time off we need to stay that way. To be honest with you, it still feels very lucky to be able to tour all around the world so much."
Quickly, we got to business. Namely, the business of reorganising the CSS tour after the fall of their previous tour as a part of the now disbanded Harvest Festival.
"Well, we found out first of all about Harvest being cancelled, and that was pretty, well, sad. It was almost dramatic, actually. We were so looking forward to touring Australia and to have that cancelled meant a lot of disappointment. It also meant we had to figure out a lot of different things financially, which was also a real bummer."
At first, Luiza had given up hope that the Australian tour would go ahead. It wasn't until two weeks later that the news of another chance to visit reached their ears, on the final night of their European leg of the tour.
"After a while, we found out about Big Day Out. Actually, we found out properly on the last day of our European tour that we did in September/October. We found out in the middle of the night, because it was morning in California and our manager gave us an email. We had a great show and we were having a drink and we were so happy all over again. We opened up bottles of champagne and it was a very happy moment to realize we could still go to Australia and still play such a great festival."
After appearing at Big Day Out three years ago, many things have changed for the Brazilian Dance Punk group. With line-up changes and a new album or two under their belt, there are going to be many changes since those now ancient shows. Luiza explains to me just what fans should be expecting during the revised CSS set.
"I think with the live show we were able to keep the same energy levels and there’s something very raw about it, it’s a very punk feeling more than anything else. It’s also obvious that we’re having fun, there’s a humour that I think is very valuable in it still. But still, the setup has changed and we had a member leave. So we sort of took over with less people onstage. Me and Jo are playing bass, and we’re rotating instruments more but I think the important things are kept. It’s just a very punk show, I guess."
With such a massive line-up, it's not bizarre that Luiza would wish to watch the show thrown by her contemporaries and peers. However, indecision then floods her mind as she lists about half the festival as acts she wishes she could see, and for good reason. In particular, she appears most disappointed by her desire to see Arcade Fire, which unfortunately is unattainable due to the clashes between the two acts.
"It’s kind of a bummer, I mean, I don’t think it happen in New Zealand, but everywhere else Arcade Fire starts playing fifteen minutes after us, which sucks for two reasons. First of all, I was really looking forwards to seeing them, and second, a lot of people want to see them, and they’re not going to see us! (laughing) But I think somewhere in those dates we don’t clash with them, so we can see their show. There’s a lot of other cool stuff there too. Though I am kinda sad that Blur is not playing, because it’s kind of a band that we grew up with but you know, these things happen. I intend to watch as much as I can. Like, you know that band Primus? They’re kind of legends to me. I’m also pretty interested in watching Pearl Jam, even though I’m not really much of a fan. Then there’s Snoop Dogg, which seems like a lot of fun. Toro Y Moi also. Plus, there’s a lot of acts I don’t know that well, so it’ll be fun to find out!"
Ben Spencer
"I think at this point it feels pretty good. We toured so much in the past, but we didn’t really know how to tour in a very healthy or fun way. Now we know how much we can take and how much time off we need to stay that way. To be honest with you, it still feels very lucky to be able to tour all around the world so much."
Quickly, we got to business. Namely, the business of reorganising the CSS tour after the fall of their previous tour as a part of the now disbanded Harvest Festival.
"Well, we found out first of all about Harvest being cancelled, and that was pretty, well, sad. It was almost dramatic, actually. We were so looking forward to touring Australia and to have that cancelled meant a lot of disappointment. It also meant we had to figure out a lot of different things financially, which was also a real bummer."
At first, Luiza had given up hope that the Australian tour would go ahead. It wasn't until two weeks later that the news of another chance to visit reached their ears, on the final night of their European leg of the tour.
"After a while, we found out about Big Day Out. Actually, we found out properly on the last day of our European tour that we did in September/October. We found out in the middle of the night, because it was morning in California and our manager gave us an email. We had a great show and we were having a drink and we were so happy all over again. We opened up bottles of champagne and it was a very happy moment to realize we could still go to Australia and still play such a great festival."
After appearing at Big Day Out three years ago, many things have changed for the Brazilian Dance Punk group. With line-up changes and a new album or two under their belt, there are going to be many changes since those now ancient shows. Luiza explains to me just what fans should be expecting during the revised CSS set.
"I think with the live show we were able to keep the same energy levels and there’s something very raw about it, it’s a very punk feeling more than anything else. It’s also obvious that we’re having fun, there’s a humour that I think is very valuable in it still. But still, the setup has changed and we had a member leave. So we sort of took over with less people onstage. Me and Jo are playing bass, and we’re rotating instruments more but I think the important things are kept. It’s just a very punk show, I guess."
With such a massive line-up, it's not bizarre that Luiza would wish to watch the show thrown by her contemporaries and peers. However, indecision then floods her mind as she lists about half the festival as acts she wishes she could see, and for good reason. In particular, she appears most disappointed by her desire to see Arcade Fire, which unfortunately is unattainable due to the clashes between the two acts.
"It’s kind of a bummer, I mean, I don’t think it happen in New Zealand, but everywhere else Arcade Fire starts playing fifteen minutes after us, which sucks for two reasons. First of all, I was really looking forwards to seeing them, and second, a lot of people want to see them, and they’re not going to see us! (laughing) But I think somewhere in those dates we don’t clash with them, so we can see their show. There’s a lot of other cool stuff there too. Though I am kinda sad that Blur is not playing, because it’s kind of a band that we grew up with but you know, these things happen. I intend to watch as much as I can. Like, you know that band Primus? They’re kind of legends to me. I’m also pretty interested in watching Pearl Jam, even though I’m not really much of a fan. Then there’s Snoop Dogg, which seems like a lot of fun. Toro Y Moi also. Plus, there’s a lot of acts I don’t know that well, so it’ll be fun to find out!"
Ben Spencer