WA bands, including San Cisco, are getting ready to step up on stage for Telethon 2021

When San Cisco step out on stage next weekend, the band will be playing in front of what could be its biggest crowd ever. While the Fremantle trio has spent the past decade touring around the world and playing at blockbuster music festivals like Lollapalooza and South by Southwest, they are now preparing to perform for what could be millions during just one set. But instead of having all of these fans in front of them, they will be doing so through a television screen as part of the annual Telethon broadcast. Although the 54-year-old charity event has seen generations of singers hit the stage as kids and teenagers, no one from the band has ever performed for the fundraiser, despite their early beginnings. Formed in 2009 when they were all still in high school in Fremantle, the band formerly known as King George made a splash with debut EP Golden Revolver. In the years after, they went on to sink their teeth into the local festival circuit, as well as playing huge international festivals by the time they had barely left their teens. But they are raring to finally get involved, especially in a year where local acts have prime focus. “It is pretty iconic for anybody who has grown up in WA and is really exciting. Plus, the line-up is great and it is a real celebration of WA bands,” drummer Scarlett Stevens says. “People in our industry coming together to help those in need is a really positive and beautiful thing too.” Their admiration for healthcare workers has also seen them stand up and publicly voice their support for vaccinations. Last month, San Cisco were among more than 220 artists, including Paul Kelly, Jimmy Barnes, Amy Shark, Alex the Astronaut and fellow WA acts Birds of Tokyo and Spacey Jane, who lent their names and faces (and social media accounts) to the #VaxTheNation campaign. In an Instagram post, they explained their decision to back the push to get people vaccinated as an effort to also get musos on the road and live performances back up and running. “Here at San Cisco, we believe in science. Climate change is real, the Earth is round and COVID-19 vaccines are the safest and most efficient way to get our country up and running again. Let’s get the show back on the road,” the post read. After Guy Sebastian was criticised for seemingly backing out of his decision to participate, saying he’d “never, ever tell people what to do when it comes to their personal health choices”, the band holds firm in its belief that the experts should be the ones we listen to. “For us, it wasn’t from the angle of ‘get vaccinated so we can get back to work’; we saw it as protecting the most vulnerable people in the community and looking at things practically and the science behind it all,” frontman Jordi Davieson says. “Sure, there are a lot of unknown things because we are in a pandemic but it doesn’t mean you should question everything to the point where it can be damaging.” Despite only being in the tail end of their 20s, they joke they don’t need to be reminded they have been playing together for more than a decade. Now, a year on from the release of their fourth studio album Between You and Me — which they have previously said was their most mature to date — they have taken advantage of the time at home to jump into new songs. But, like many other musicians, border closures and lockdowns have seen countless planned shows fall by the wayside. While Davieson said in an interview with this magazine last year he wanted to avoid writing a political record, they are each willing to lament the current state the music industry finds itself in because of bureaucracy. “It’s been a really surreal year and we are just sort of making it up on the fly and (trying to) navigate this new landscape where gigs are almost impossible,” Stevens says of their frustrations of working through seemingly endless cancelled shows. In the past few months they have pulled the plug on planned shows up and down the east coast, and recently found themselves stuck in Sydney for a week as the current outbreak intensified. On the week when we speak, they have had to cancel more gigs in Queensland after being told they would have to quarantine on return to WA, as well as cancel shows in Victoria rather than keep postponing them. In June, they also tried to seek compensation from the Queensland Government after a Sunshine Coast venue was closed by health officials less than 24 hours before a scheduled concert. While the outfit had a one-night show planned in Hobart that was set to go ahead last night, they are coming up to nearly two years of not knowing when they might next be able to perform in front of fans. But they say what weighs heaviest on their minds is their responsibility for other people’s next pay packet. “When a tour or show gets cancelled and we aren’t given a lot of notice it affects a lot of people’s livelihoods,” Stevens says. “You have to decide between your fans and the people you employ, and possibly jeopardise future work they may have if you take them into a hotspot to play these shows,” Davieson adds. But if the band doesn’t play a show, no one gets paid. The trio have experienced a year of highs and lows, which began with the release of Between You and Me, before launching into a WA tour and an attempt at a full circuit of the country. “It has been hard see sporting events go ahead and the arts be left to the wayside, but we have managed to do some touring and are really grateful for any opportunity we get at this stage,” Stevens says. Speaking in The West’s Osborne Park studio a week after the WA-focused AFL grand final pre-game show (which featured acts including John Butler, Eskimo Joe and Stella Donnelly) rocked Optus Stadium and garnered just as much support around the country as the Demons long-awaited premiership win, the 28-year-old says one industry shouldn’t need to be pitted against the other in these times. “It shouldn’t even have to be sports against the arts,” Stevens says. “Like when you look back at the grand final show, how amazing is it when both can come together and put all our skills to make something great?” After performing at the AFL preliminary final in Perth last month, they have experienced firsthand how the two can co-exist. Davieson says the lack of support for the arts industry in the past 18 months by the Federal Government has understandably left many creatives incredibly frustrated and, in more severe cases, struggling to put food on the table. “A lot of people don’t fully appreciate the power of the arts and how much money is generated through the entertainment industry, so they don’t prioritise it,” he says. They are holding off on making any solid plans for restarting their national tour, and any plans for overseas performances. “I don’t think realistically we can do a tour and I also don’t want to do it until lockdowns aren’t a thing any more,” Davieson says. “It was really stressful touring and having shows cancelled last minute,” Stevens adds. But at a time where many of their interstate friends can’t perform in public at all, they say the opportunity to have played so much around their home State over the past year isn’t lost on them. “It was kind of the silver lining last year,” Stevens says. “We got to do regional WA touring while the rest of the country was in lockdown...we played some amazing shows in places like Nannup and Geraldton, and we just got back from Broome and we probably wouldn’t have got to do that otherwise.” So, what’s next before they pack their bags and hit the road again? “The first step is to make good music and figure out what to do with it, and then we will go from there,” Davieson says. Telethon runs from 6.30pm next Saturday, October 16, until 8.30pm the next day and will air on Seven/GWN7.

WA bands, including San Cisco, are getting ready to step up on stage for Telethon 2021

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