CALVA LOUISE THE MULTICULTURAL BRITISH BAND!
Hailing from three different continents and aiming at London’s underground live scene, Venezuelan guitarist and vocalist Jess and French bassist Alizon had an explosive musical encounter with British/New Zealander drummer Ben Parker. A mix of cultures driven by the creative vision of Jess, gave its identity to Calva Louise since their beginning ending 2016.
They soon started to support artists such as Razorlight, Albert Hammond Jr. and Highly Suspect, and playing iconic festivals such as Reading & Leeds in England, Rock For People in Czech Republic and SXSW in the United States in March 2022.
Calva Louise has released two Albums so far, several singles and EPs and some collaborations, the last one being “Throne” with the Italian musician and producer Mazare.
Accompanying the second album EUPHORIC, Calva Louise produced and directed a year ago, a 45-minute hybrid movie, mixing the appearance of the band with animated scenes created by Jess using the softwares Blender and After Effects, to link the story of the first album with the story of the upcoming songs.
Since their first releases, Calva Louise singles have had heavy rotation on radio stations in the United Kingdom, airing on BBC Radio 1 with Jack Saunders, Huw Stephens, Annie Mac and Abbie McCarthy; BBC Radio 6 Music with Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq, Shaun Keaveny and the legendary Iggy Pop; X-Posure with John Kennedy and a live session at BBC Maida Vale Studios, and also on radio broadcasts in Spain, Germany, Latin America and the United States.
Athenscalling.gr: Hello and welcome in Athens Calling GR. webzine of culture. I believe that it is a great time for us chatting you! At first bravo and all the best about EUPHORIC – THE MOVIE… it is amazing work, absolutely Incredible. This is a master piece in so many levels, Art in all its power.
Jess Calva Louise:
Hello Theodore, thank you so much for your beautiful words, it means a lot and it’s a pleasure to be chatting with you!
Athenscalling.gr: On what occasion did you create it and how long did you create it?
Jess Calva Louise:
I started the idea of the movie in 2020 to link the stories I tell through the lyrics. The story of Euphoric is one point of view of the whole story, the main character being Louise. It took me a whole year to learn a bit of 3D animation and finish the Movie including all the production we built together with the help of our friends, to include the appearance of the band in the movie.
Athenscalling.gr: it’s a cinematic graphic novel … a movie! Will it also be published in a magazine?
Jess Calva Louise:
That was the initial idea as second part of the first graphic novel Rhinoceros, but for me is too complicated to explain the story of Euphoric in 2D images. Maybe after the release of the third part, we could release the whole story as a trilogy. In the meantime we released a limited edition card game of Euphoric The Movie, to introduce the characters, places and the main situations of the story. Currently we’re working in a new project to show more of Louise’s adventures in an interactive way.
Athenscalling.gr: Do you really read comics and who is your favorite comic book character?
Jess Calva Louise:
Yes, I’ve always had a big love for artists like James O’Barr, Frank Miller and Sean Murphy, who write and draw everything themselves. The Crow was a big inspiration for me but also graphic novels like Locke & Key, Scalped, American Vampire, Punk Rock Jesus, Orchid and The Umbrella Academy had a great impact on me. I’ve also always been in awe of Alex Ross’ drawings and illustrations.
Athenscalling.gr: O.k, let’s talk now about your group…CALVA LOUISE the name of the amazing music trio. Who was the Godfather of the name?
Jess Calva Louise:
Alizon and I studied “The Bald Soprano” at school in France, I had studied it in Spanish as “La Cantante Calva” before leaving Venezuela, and because we think that life can be so complicated, absurd and fun at the same time, we felt that Calva was like a metaphor for what we were going through as a band. To complete the name of the band, we took the name Louise because she is the main character who tells her story through our music.
Athenscalling.gr: One music trio with roots in Venezuela, France and New Zealand, You, Alizon and Ben crossed paths in London during 2016! How did you discover each other?
Jess Calva Louise:
I grew up in Venezuela and moved to France when I was 16. I met Alizon in school there, and we decided to move to London. We met Ben while playing shows in London and the band was formed after we asked him to record some demos with us.
Athenscalling.gr: Tell us please in what music genre is your music and how can characterize it?
Jess Calva Louise:
Our music style is evolving between Alternative Rock and Electronica, with a lot of mixing elements, but keeping synths and electronic drums along with the traditional Rock instruments.
Athenscalling.gr: … And about your influences?
Jess Calva Louise:
Our primary influences are the bands that we listened while we were growing up like Queens Of The Stone Age, Muse, Pixies, Calle 13, Noir Désir and Ghost. Our more recently influences are artists like Carpenter Brut and Mazare.
Athenscalling.gr: And now let’s talk please about your lyrics of your songs. Tell us how making?
Jess Calva Louise:
There are a bunch of ideas and concepts about being young in this complicated world, that I express like inner dialogs and narrations of a symbolic character called Louise. In Euphoric The Movie, I represented in 3D animation the context of these inner dialogs, like a psychedelic journey between the real world and the dream world. In some way Louise’s adventures show her a way to understand the duality of the human being and how to overstep the barriers of perception.
Athenscalling.gr: Another question for you is … Studio or Live? What is the best for CALVA LOUISE trio?
Jess Calva Louise:
We enjoy every aspect of being in a band and playing live is the most fantastic feeling to share with our audience.To create the new songs I have a home studio where I write and produce. Then, from the moment where I show the demo to Alizon and Ben, they come up with ideas for their parts. We love watching a song come together until the track is finally mastered.
Athenscalling.gr: And now please characterize in one word, the 3 members of your trio…
Jess Calva Louise: Jess… Pineapple, Alizon… Fantasyland and Ben… Muppet!
Athenscalling.gr: A personal questions for you… do you remember your first teacher in music?
Jess Calva Louise:
Of course, because is my dad! Who is an amazing guitar player and songwriter.
Athenscalling.gr: And living in the past do you remember the first album that you bought?
Jess Calva Louise:
Yes, when I was around 12 years old I bought the album Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age.
Athenscalling.gr: How do you spend your free time and do you have any hobbies?
Jess Calva Louise:
I love to go to the cinema with my friends. I also love to see good series and videos of my preferred bands.
Athenscalling.gr: Now let’s play a game with the first letters of Venezuela country name! VENEZUELA and please fill in the blanks with any words you like the following, V….E…N…E…Z…U…E…L…A….!
Jess Calva Louise:
Vanished, Expectations, Never, Enclose, Zest, Until, Ending, Lies, Around.
Athenscalling.gr: …And the last one personal question! Do you know something about my country Greece?
Jess Calva Louise:
I know many things like literature, philosophy and architecture but also some years ago I saw the band Viza in Paris and I met the singer that is Greek. I hope we can go soon and play concerts with some young bands like us!
Athenscalling.gr: Thank you my dear JESS for your interview and all the best for the CALVA LOUISE trio and before the end give your message please to the people.
Jess Calva Louise:
