Cavaliers have just played an energetic set at the Good Ship in Camden in support of Pleasure Houses’ ‘Like a Drug’ single launch, which also featured JUDAS and Sahara. I was excited about interviewing them, and they were clearly still buzzing as they came offstage. Because JUDAS were sound checking, we went outside the venue because it was a quieter spot. Fresh from supporting the Hoosiers at the Engine Rooms in Southampton, their upbeat indie pop is beginning to create big waves in the local scene. The interview was lively and captures the bands energy, demonstrating that being in a band shouldn’t just be about taking things seriously. Cavaliers consisted of James on lead guitar, Ed on vocals, Eddie on bass guitar, Chris on drums, and Samir on guitar.
After introducing themselves, I asked them if they had played the Good Ship before, to which they said they hadn’t. Eddie commented that he liked the venue because “we like the fact that the stage was lower down”. Chris misheard the question, thinking I had asked if they played the good shit before, to which the band responded in unison: “We always play the good shit!”
I wanted to ask the band how they felt after their set. On the whole they felt good, while Samir said that he was craving a pint, as he hadn’t drunk anything, and Ed had also eaten a lot of pizza before the set. They also supported The Hoosiers, so I wanted to know how that went. The band said it was a good experience playing a big venue, and that the crowd was “receiving and obedient”. They also commented on Hoosiers singer Irwin Sparkes’ height saying that he was “very short”.
Cavaliers have interesting song titles, which help them stand out. One of these is ‘If I had 50p For Every Time I Stabbed You In The Back, I Would Be Looking At At Least £8.60’. I asked what inspired this title. Eddie said it was “your typical old fashioned hate song. £8.60 comes up as a scarily high amount, for example with taxi journeys”. Samir stated that the title could have been influenced by Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly, while Chris pointed out an interesting fact, saying that “about 10 per cent of people who comment online think we’ve made a mathematical error”. This lead to Ed jokingly saying that the band go through a thought process of calculating things mathematically when thinking about song titles.
When asked about their approach to songwriting, Eddie said that James plays something nice on the guitar, before adding drums, bass, and vocals. Ed commented that songwriting was a group effort, and all the songs were written before Samir joined the band. He said that the newer songs would give Samir a chance to “get his finger in the pot”. This was followed by a humorous quote from Samir, in which he said: “I plan to finger the shit out of this band!” showing that he is eager to make his mark. The band also said that they are their own worst critics, with Ed saying, “We’re very good at telling each other that this idea is fucking awful”. Eddie chipped in: “We’re only in band practice to share negative comments in our songwriting to set the standard high. It’s working so far”.
When asked what the best thing about being in a band was, Ed said: ”It gives me an excuse to travel about which I quite enjoy. Sometimes it’s a pain but I like coming to London so it’s good.” Samir said that his favourite thing was “hanging with your mates, playing a bit of guitar, and playing some riffs”.
Finally, I asked them who they are listening to at the moment. This led to a range of answers including Black Sabbath, Tchaikovsky, and Darwin Deez. Deez in particular is a strong influence on James’ guitar playing, as he said: “you can’t hear it in the songs, but it’s subtle and subconscious”. They also said that they had been listening to Sahara quite a lot.
Cavaliers are a band that has a lot of potential. As their set showed, they’ll start to get more attention. This should push them onto bigger things.
Words by Ermis Madikopoulos