Most school kids don’t form successful bands, and if they do, they’re usually inspired by contemporary influences or your traditional rock’n’roll hall of famers. They aren’t often soul bands. Being a working musician requires sensibility and the ability to compromise. Essentially, contrary to popular opinion, being in a band requires maturity. Especially in a band with ten members, the necessity for those traits is amplified significantly.
The Cactus Channel first experienced broad exposure through Triple J Unearthed Highas teenagers still studying at high school. Guitarist David Thor reflects on that fondly, but still with some confusion.
“I haven’t been paying much attention to it recently, but I was surprised that we got picked and put into the top five when that happened. Just being a purely instrumental band, I was kind of surprised and proud of triple j to do that as well. We had a lot of a push as well because we were all high school students and that was a bit of a novelty at the time. We don’t have much to do with them anymore but I’m sure at the time, when we were in the top five, that definitely got us on the radar nationally.”
Now all in their early twenties, The Cactus Channel have established themselves as one of Melbourne’s more appreciated and beloved soul groups. Still only young, they’ve adopted a rather loose approach to their song structure and are constantly evolving and adapting their sound within a genre that’s constantly redefining itself.
“I guess it’s just being introduced to different musical concepts and different styles. We were young with the first album, and now we’re more mature in a number of different ways,” says David, reflecting on the band’s progression within the context of Melbourne’s soul scene.
“When we started, The Bamboos were more on the funk/soul scene, but now they’ve taken a more pop path, and I guess Saskwatch has kind of done that as well. But I think when Hiatus Kaiyote came on the scene it opened up this whole new neo soul…Now I think more bands are emulating that a little bit. People are grasping onto it really well I think.”
The proof is in the pudding really. The Cactus Channel’s success is illustrated through their achievements. “Personally with us, we look up to Menehan Street Band and Charles Bradley and we’ve supported Charles Bradley twice now, about two years ago, once in Melbourne and once in Sydney. That’s amazing for us, playing with musicians that we all look up to.”
The Cactus Channel don’t have any immediate plans to put out another full length record. Right now, shifting notions of what constitutes modern soul music are creating an interesting environment for the band to work within, the band is embracing that and the opportunities that come with it. “At the moment we have a secret collaboration we’re working on that will be released as a single later in the year. We’re kind of thinking a little bit differently now and thinking about doing songs with more vocalists.”
The game is changing for The Cactus Channel. There’s no real point in being prolific any more. They’re an established group now and instead of constantly putting out releases and taking steps in their collective career, they’re settling down and making sure when they do put something out, they put it out with purpose and with conviction. It seems they’re more concerned with really producing records that they adore and working on projects that interest and fascinate them as admirers and also as practitioners of the music. At this point, there’s a lot to like about The Cactus Channel.
BY KEATS MULLIGAN
