Recently I share CAEZAR’s new single ‘Waiting. This was my review.
CAEZAR was formed during a chat on the rugby pitch in 2014. They are no new comers to the music industry, After finding the right vocalist to join them, they worked with their producer to change things up and changed both their name and sound. I like it! ‘Waiting’ crosses many genres and their roots in Indie Rock can be heard. In addition to this the soft synths, some energy and with the contagious guitar will stick in your head. You will be begging for more.
Jen got the chance to have a chat with Rich about their news.
Hi Rich, hope this finds you well.
Recently I shared your latest release ‘Waiting’. I actually can’t get it out of my head…in a good way. I was amused that Caezar was formed on the rugby field. I have visions of you all muddy and tired saying “ wish we chose Music instead of Sport… Hey let’s start a band!
Can you please tell us what actually happened exactly?
Rich: Sure, Chris and I (Rich) first met through our Rugby club, Old Cryptians RFC, in Gloucester, UK. We both spent our late teens playing together and forming a close friendship as teammates. In 2014, we both had injuries that put us out of action from playing rugby for a while (Chris hurt his hip and Rich knocked out a few teeth!). As a result we spent our time sulking around, not really knowing what to do ourselves. We started messing around with Chris singing and Rich playing the guitar. After a few public shows, it became apparent that there was a clear chemistry that crowds responded to. This culminated with the two being invited to open the prestigious Barn on The Farm Festival, which featured Hozier and James Bay that year, and this experience really opened our eyes to a career in music. It was from that point onwards we knew this is what we wanted to do!
Cliché question I know but is there a story behind the name Caezar?
Rich: It took us a really long time to come up with a band name that was original, not cliché, and that also had relevance to us as a group. We experimented with a lot of names but nothing really felt right for us collectively. It wasn’t until we just jotted down the initials of the band members: C (Chris), Z (Zoe), Rich (Rich), that CZR was formed, and from that – CAEZAR. Considering the rich heritage and history associated with the name, we were immediately taken with the name!
In your press release it states that you guys have had experience before in the music industry, can you tell us who and what bands please?
When Chris and Rich first started performing they used the mantel of Chris’s surname, Quigley. We performed under this name for 3 years, and were fortunate enough to tour across the UK and even parts of Europe with Quigley, making lots of great friends and memories along the way. However in 2017 we had 2 band members leave, and so it felt like the right time to close the chapter on Quigley and to turn a new page with CAEZAR.
You have had some time off lately to review your direction, an evolution of such, can you give us a quick round up of that experience and are you satisfied that it was well worth while?
We’ve spent the last 18 months in the studio with our produced, Justin (Raleigh Ritchie, Jessie J) reflecting on our sound and really looking to challenging ourselves as a group. As we’d been performing as Quigley for a number of years we already had a collection of 10-15 songs that we knew that crowds responded, but we wanted to build on this and take this to the next level. Justin got our vision from the 1st moment, combining our live energy with a more commercial pop sound. He constantly challenged us to expand our skills and song writing; the end result is the Hail! EP – and we couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve created.
Waiting’ has a few genre sounds in it. Were you actually aiming for a mix or did you just feel when writing the song, it automatically turned out this way?
Waiting was actually one of the very first songs we wrote as Quigley. It was initially called Ulysses and had much more of an Arctic Monkeys/punk rock vibe to it. However once we took this into the studio, we adjusted the tone of the song, brought in more synths and samples into the mix, and ultimately transformed the track from a rock song to a indie pop song.
This song is a narrative, a perspective of love from one person. Was this written by personal experience or as a collective of thoughts and experiences?
I think at one stage or another we’ve all been in a position where we’ve experienced unreciprocated affection. Whether it’ just a crush or something more heartfelt – we can all relate to the feelings of impatience and frustration that come from waiting for the right person to come into you life.
I can imagine when you play ‘Waiting’ it would be a hit. Do you have any video footage of this?
It is our signature song! It always goes down great with crows. Unfortunately we don’t have any good quality footage of this, but we do have a lyric video.
Can you please get out your phone or pick it up from the table/couch etc and tell us the last 5 songs played on Spotify.
Francis & the lights – May I have this dance feat. Chance the Rapper
Christine and the Queens – Doesn’t Matter
Raleigh Ritchie – Time in a Tree
Drake – Doesn’t matter to me
Nicra Libres at Dusk – Ben Howard
In 5 words can you tell us why someone should come along to your show?
Experience your new favourite band!
Good one! What is next for Caezar?
The next single, Hold On, from the EP will be released in September and then our full Hail! EP will drop in October. We’re really excited to share with our fans our next releases, Waiting is just the beginning.
