Bath-based Indie Dreampop Band 'Caravella' Talk Genres and What It Means To Be a Fan
In the bright and wonderfully newfangled music world, bands and artists have to do more than ever to stay in the game. Relevancy — now more than ever — is key.
Genre has always played a substantial part in determining and controlling the success of musicians, and it's easy to see why. Music taxonomy allows us to fully appreciate and comprehend music, and helps artists to shape their sounds, identify their audience and get their message out.
Now, the rise of the genre-less music fan is upon us. Despite genre being an important tool in an artist's toolbox (that will likely never change), listeners are becoming more adventurous.
According to a survey done by Vice Magazine, 78% of young people said they couldn't be defined by the genre they listen to. Artists and bands are stepping boldly into new genres all the time, revolutionising music identity and reinventing the boundaries between our favourite musicians.
New and upcoming bands are a group of musicians that really understand the role of genres well. For many of them, genres are a way to begin paving the road to finding their unique sound and fitting in with other bands of the same genre. However, is this is as important now as it was before?
Last week I had a chat with songwriter and lead guitarist of Caravella: the indie dreampop band that is quickly rising in Bath. The band, consisting of Charlie Sellers, Jack Spooner and Otto Cox bring all the fresh energy of your favourite local indie band along with rolling basslines, synth-like guitars and masterful lyrics that you make you think "why isn't this band huge?"
Their latest single internet bby is reminiscent of The Hoosiers' early tracks with a distinct, finger-clicking beat and echoed vocals. The single before: Welcome to Europa (my personal favourite) washes over you with distant memories of house parties and longing.
I asked Jack what he thought about genres, and here's what he had to say.
Music genres have been a key classification system to help artists and fans distinguish music for centuries. Do you believe that genres are still as important as they used to be?
I don't believe music genres to as important as in past centuries at all! In a world of streaming and massive organisations behind every artist, genres are defined by each individual artist’s sound now. Rock will be rock and jazz will be jazz but ultimately bands and other artists will find themselves describing their genre using other acts as a reference.
Do you personally care about the genre of the music you like, or do you like the music for other things?
I know for a fact that Otto (our bass player) gets his biggest kick from music through those first few listens of something new. He listens to everything and everything from J-Pop to Jazz to funk to soul and as far as he’s concerned, if it sounds good it sounds good! Same applies to me and Charlie.
We are very much a fan of the indie pop scene, not because it’s indie pop, but because the artists that we enjoy listening to that sound completely different to one another, find themselves grouped up under this big umbrella term. From Still Woozy to Dayglow to Boy Pablo everyone’s sound is completely new and refreshing.
What genre would you classify Caravella as? You are welcome to say more than one.
We have been described by all radio shows and reviewers that we have in our close circle as ‘indie’ with some saying we have guitar work from The Smiths or Cassia but ultimately we don’t really know ourselves how to hone our sound to one genre. We always describe ourselves as indie/dream bedroom pop... but that’s only because those are the genre’s that inspire us to create the music we do.
Do you believe that the genre(s) associated with Caravella play a part in people liking your music?
I think we have been very very lucky to have the fanbase we do. I think our rapid following stems from us as a group of lighthearted guys who write some catchy songs with memorable hooks. I think the fact that we are small and ‘indie’ speaks to a listener that they can message us and have a conversation going with us. that personal and not over saturated touch goes along way when people listen to your music.
With the rise in popularity of online playlists with Spotify and Apple Music for example, do you think people look for genres that they like first or something else?
I know for a fact that Spotify is very good for discovering new artists. As long as you have one artist that you like, the “Fans Also Like” and “Artist Radio” features along with the "Discover Weekly" will guarantee some songs right up your street! Having interviewed an A&R recently, a lot of artists end up getting signed through these features. People less and less frequently are searching by genres these days because of this!
So, are genres still important? Yes, very much so. They still fulfill the purpose that they have done for years. However, self-expression and artists’ social presences now define them in a way that would be unheard of a couple of decades ago. Artists now create brands themselves and use genre as inspiration rather than an identity, allowing more creative freedom than ever before.
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