“We started out playing your Dean Martin and Louis Jordan – the jump stuff,” says Horn, “and then we went on and dabbled with Sinatra and The Rat Pack. But now we have gone down the road of the old swing, jump and R&B.”
When Horn says ‘jump’, he’s referring to the upbeat blues music that evolved out of big band swing in the 1940s. Jump is often thought of as the direct precursor to Elvis’ main-room rock’n’roll bangers. It’s the sort of music that, if we weren’t all so unhealthy, could bring back Lindy Hop dancing – the style of partner dancing where females are spun and lifted like figures skaters. “What we play is swing, but it has a bit more attitude,” says Horn, “a bit more crack on the snare drum.”
Interestingly, Horn and Mallia originallyconnected in the late-‘90s, thanks to a shared interest in ska music. The pair would soon distance themselves from the local scene by embracing swing music. “At the time and still to this day, pretty much, there was no one in Adelaide doing it,” he says, “but we loved it, we were both like, ‘This swing music is amazing.’ We liked the beat and we loved the dancing that went with it. But also the lifestyle; the cars, the suits and the hats.”
Lucky Seven’s live shows transcend the regular sleaze of the bar scene by giving punters stimulation beyond booze and picking-up. Though, finding a partner on the dancefloor isn’t off limits. “Look, couples do end up hooking-up and then we play their wedding,” Horn says, “but, you know, swing attracts a really nice crowd, mixed ages as well. That is great and the band is mixed ages. I mean, we go from the youngest in the band at 23-24 and then the bass player is 60.”
Caputo might be old enough to be on the pension, but he’s by no means a bore. “He’s a bit of dark horse,” Horn says. “We don’t know much about him. It’s just hilarious, because we have these gigs around town where we play with other old Adelaide musos and they come up and are like ‘eh PC’ and all these other nicknames. And we have no idea of the context because he tells us nothing about his past.”
Horn says this with real warmth, before revealing Caputo’s most peculiar nickname. “One that popped up recently was ‘cabin boy’, and we still haven’t got the story behind that nickname, because he plays his cards pretty close to his chest. But we’re sure it’s a great story.”
Lucky Seven are headed to The LuWow this Friday and Saturday night. Seeing as though they’ve held down a residency for more than ten years in Adelaide, these shows promise to be something special. “We have played at LuWow a couple of times,” says Horn. “We played at the owner’s venue in WA as well, called Devilles. They just know what they’re doing when creating that vibe.”
BY DAN WATT
