Once known as the wool capital of the world, Hamilton is located nearly four hours west of Melbourne and just over an hour from the coastal town of Port Fairy. With a population of just over 10,000, finding industry backing – and fellow bandmates for that matter – isn’t the easiest of tasks.
“We’ve been together for a long time – we were mates through school,” says singer Adrian Calvano. “There weren’t many musos in Hamilton at the time, so you hear someone playing a guitar, someone playing some bass, someone playing a bit of violin and you all kind of catch up and start jamming. Thirteen years later, we’re still doing it.”
“A few of the agents and management services denied us even a look in at all because we live in Hamilton,” he adds. “People have encouraged us to move to Melbourne many times, but we don’t mind the travel. If you’ve got good songs and you play well it shouldn’t matter where you live.”
It’s a good thing Buddha in a Chocolate Box don’t mind road trips, because they’ve played their fair share of gigs over the past few years. The band are currently in the midst of their A Solid Tour,with another tour – the East Coast Cooler tour – kicking off on Thursday January 8. Once the tour wraps up, the band will head into the studio to put the finishing touches on their debut album.
“The tour’s been fantastic so far,” remarks Calvano. “We’ve played the Maldon Folk Festival and Djerriwarrh Festival and we’ve got a big summer coming up – playing some gigs with Centre and The South and Harrison Storm along the coast of South Australia and down here in Victoria, as well as in New South Wales and Queensland.”
“We love playing festivals,” he continues. “We played Port Fairy Folk Festival this year and Queenscliff Music Festival last year, which were both highlights for us. Port Fairy is our musical home, so playing in Port Fairy over summer has always been something that we’ve enjoyed.”
The band have also shared the stage with some of Victoria’s best, including Ash Grunwald, Kingswood, British India and James Reyne.
“Playing with Ash was great. We got to play a couple of shows with him and he was full of good insight into the music industry,” says Calvano. “Kingswood and British India came through our hometown, so we of course jumped on the bill for that.”
Calvano isn’t short of his own insights into the Australian music industry, speaking out against the current talent-show trend that’s inundated our charts.
“Shows like Countdown back in the day were all about showcasing Australian music. Bands used to just get up there and play – it wasn’t a talent show, it was just a showcase. The idea that three people alone can judge someone’s art is ridiculous.”
As for pre-show tips and tricks, the band have had a few different rituals along the way.
“We used to do a shot of Sambuca before every show,” laughs Calvano. “Now we do this weird thing where we sing Amazing Grace in a real southern twang – like Man of Constant Sorrow from O Brother, Where Art Thou? We’re just being idiots really, but it does get all our voices warmed up and ready to go.”
BY KELSEY BERRY
