“Everyone knows that the flight is a little brutal,” he continues, “but once you get off that flight, it’s worth it. It’s such a beautiful place, it’s an amazing culture with people that just love music, and that’s the kind of place we like to be.”
Forming almost ten years ago, Circa Survive have released four full-length albums, and have visited our shores on three separate occasions previously. Unsurprisingly, one of those trips stands out in Colin’s memory the most.
“You know, there’s almost always something special about every show,” he recalls. “But I think Soundwave as a whole, the experience was pretty amazing, and pretty eye opening as far as how open the crowds were. We felt we kinda stood out on the bill like a sore thumb, but we seemed to have a great response. There were so many crazy musicians that we’ve looked up to over the years in the heavier music scene, and never really imagined us being paired up with. That whole experience was pretty surreal.”
Now he gets to live that dream again, as his band are touring Australia in April. This time it’s supporting the long running, legendary New York progressive rock outfit Coheed and Cambria, and for Colin and the band this makes the journey very special once again.
“They’re long time friends of ours, in fact we’ve probably toured with them more than any other band. And we’ve done multiple countries with them too, so that’s even more interesting. It’s kind of like, that band have just done so much for us as a band, and their fans are just so open to us and seem to always take to us. The fact that they always ask us to come back to new places with them is just…they must like us too!” he laughs.
This writer interviewed Coheed and Cambria main man Claudio Sanchez a few weeks ago who confirmed this, stating what a big fan of Circa Survive he is. The admiration is very much mutual. In fact, according to Colin, things have actually come “full circle” for some of the members of the two bands, in a strange sort of way.
“It’s so cool,” he says. “We love those guys, and ironically the band that I used to be in, This Day Forward that I was in with Brendan the other guitar player, we actually took Coheed out for their first tour, ever! So they were opening for our little shitty hardcore band. It was their first shows as Coheed.
“That’s crazy, to remember those days when they were just getting their feet wet and becoming a touring band, and now they’re one of the biggest bands in the world, as far as people who play this kind of music – progressive music. So seeing them come so far, and knowing them from their inception is pretty wild!”
Circa Survive have become well known for their intense, wild and spontaneous live shows, and Colin confirms that that is pretty much exactly what Australian audiences will get when they tour here again.
“It is,” he agrees, humbly. “I think it’s one of those things where it’s a little different every night, no mater what. ‘Cause we’re a band that is always just feeling out the crowd’s energy, and feeding off that energy. And Anthony is a very conscious singer in that, he’s not just doing his thing and getting off the stage, he’s interacting pretty highly with most crowds. It’s pretty rare that something happens in the crowd and he’s not interacting; it kind of just evolves in an interesting way every night. Which is why if I wasn’t in the band I would be interested to watch us from the crowd as much as possible!”
Colin likens their live show to a tribal gathering, where people can just let their hair down and forget their troubles of the day, “So we basically just go for a visceral and raw and primal reaction,” he continues his description. “We’re looking to give people an escape from their normal day to day stress and emotional wear and tear. And kind of all get together and dance in a circle with some drums, metaphorically. Give people a reason to just let go and feel the music in a way that isn’t so self conscious and forget about the bullshit in your life.”
BY ROD WHITFIELD
