Introducing Interview: Caralis

Despite only having released two tracks so far, Caralis – the brainchild of Dan Frau – have received support from the likes of Clash, BBC 6 Music and Absolute Radio. Starting off as an experiment between Dan and producer John Merriman, Caralis are now a fully fledged band with additions of Phil Merriman and Amit Sharma.

We caught up with Dan Frau to find out more…

Hi, thanks for chatting to us! How are you and who are we speaking to today?
Hello! I’m very well, and you’re chatting to Dan from Caralis.

How have things changed since you released your debut tracks last year?
Things have changed quite a bit! Last year when we put out the first couple of tracks, it was just myself playing all the music and John on production. It was cool to get the tracks out and get some good feedback as it was all brand new for us. But since then, we’ve taken it to the next level and have added Amit & Phil to the project who have played on the new tracks, and we also played our first ever gig with all four of us with John doubling up as live drummer (as well as producer extraordinaire!) So we know we can do it live now.

What are the pros and cons of being a band as opposed to a solo project?
The ‘team spirit’ of being in the band environment is definitely one of the best parts. Some people might like playing a gig solo, but I don’t personally think it really compares to playing with a group of people. The other thing that’s been fantastic for Caralis is all the new ideas that have been brought to the table, and on the new tracks there’s a lot of interesting textures and sounds as a result, as they are all amazingly creative players. The only downside really is that it’s hard to organise four people (!), so things move a lot quicker when it’s just one person involved with schedules etc.

Who are your main influences? And are these purposeful choices or do they just influence your writing subconsciously?
I’m a huge fan of Radiohead and Thom Yorke, and because I listen to so much of that stuff I think there’s elements that are always going to creep (excuse the pun!) into the sound of what I do. But there are other artists who have influenced the Caralis sound, such as Bat for Lashes and Bjork. Bat for Lashes I think sonically has some similarities to what we do, with the dramatic electronic elements and polished pop melodies and vocals. Bjork I hugely admire and love the way she mixes it up with crazy time signatures and odd changes within song structures… And this is something I’ve deliberately tried to take through to Caralis, to make sure the music remains challenging within the confinement of ‘pop music’. But I’m not interested in doing the ‘obvious’ thing with our songs.

If you could define your sound in three emotions what would they be?
Wow! This is an interesting but really hard question to answer! Ok… I’ll go for:
Anxiety / Sentimentality / Exhilaration

What should we expect at a Caralis gig?
Four guys dressed black with some yellow bits. Yellow cables, socks and trainers will likely be involved : ) What you’ll hear is a wall of sound, textures and samples, where you can’t necessarily pinpoint who is emitting what! You’ll also find lots of vocal and drum effects, and a group of people having fun on stage.

If you could support any act or acts, past or present, who would you chose and why?
I’d go for David Bowie, as he was a creative genius and bonafide legend… So it would be amazing to say you had supported him.

What would your Diva band rider look like? Only Blue M&M’s? Everything in Pink?
A masseuse; fair trade skin products; slippers; earplugs and eye patches; a deck chair; a thunderstorm and sunbeams.

In an ideal world, what does the next year hold for Caralis?
After the EP is released, hopefully we will record some new music and continue to evolve and also play some more ‘select’ gigs. A long term ambition would be to play at some festivals.

Nice chatting to you!
You too – thanks for having us!

‘Logic’, the new single from Caralis, is out 20 May, and you can catch them live at The Half Moon, Putney, tomorrow 19 May!