Review – Calibre’s ‘Queen’ plus exclusive interview!

In this review, I delve into Calibre, a rising house and dance artist recently signed to
Ensis Records. His debut on the label, ‘Queen,’ is a tune featuring an acclaimed vocalist,
Matt Saunoa. The song offers a fairly mundane landscape, but one that is redeemed in
part by some memorable riffing and a solid lead vocalist.

“She’s the queen of the world,” Saunoa declares before a reverberated explosion of electronic musings and thick bass. The main instrumental riff of ‘Queen’ is an intriguing piece; it’s inventive and I dig its originality. Saunoa does a fine job throughout the tune as well, especially differentiating it from every other indie dance piece. Though he’s all auto-tuned up, he’s a personable presence in the song.
Aside from that particularly good synthesizer riff and Saunoa’s anthemic pop vocals, ‘Queen’ is a very forgettable tune. It embraces every cliche that plagues its genre counterparts: shallow lyrics, uninventive rhythm, and a structure that’s formulaic as can be.

(Build the atmosphere, hit it hard, dial it back, then explode again, breaking the atmospheric synths with mind-numbing bass.)

Calibre’s new song seems to fulfill a checklist of painfully obvious tropes. That’s a bit difficult to forgive…

With all of that said, Calibre has probably tailored this toward an audience that won’t
care one bit about those criticisms. It’s my job as a critic, though, to not let a
generic-filler piece like this pass my desk without at least exposing its pitfalls.
Despite that, this song will likely fulfill its two pursuits: drunken dance floors will dig it
and anyone playing it at home will do so at an obscene volume, only amplifying the
hatred their neighbors will inevitably hold for them.

By Brett Stewart

I’m a professional writer and editor, a journalism major, and I have extensive experience in musical review. I worked for two years as the Editor & Chief of an arts magazine, Strike Magazine, where I worked closely with writers and musicians. Through this, I was able to interact with dozens of acts including Heart, Holly Williams, Robert Cray, John Hiatt, and more. The magazine printed thousands of issues and was even recognized by Rolling Stone’s founder, Jann Wenner.

Exclusive Interview

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Calibre: Calibre is a project that was born from the idea of a couple of guys wanting to make a different brand of new kinds of house music. We want to take future house but make it more appealing in the vocal sense. Take deep house and mix it with tropical. And so on.

 

We grew up in lots of different places. Italy and Australia mainly. Having Italian origins helped us with expanding our musical awareness and accepting lots of musical genres. Take Pavarotti as an example (obviously) Italian. Then take AC/DC (Australian). We love them both. Growing up in countries on the opposite sides of the world with totally different cultures helped a lot. We love world music.

 

I think a lot of people have a musical addiction. Everyone loves some genre of music. So we simply expanded on our addiction and decided to become music makers.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Calibre : Deciding on the name “Calibre” was easy. Calibre’s definition resonates with us.

“The quality of someone’s character”

Firstly, we try to surround ourselves with people that are genuine and honourable. This is something all artists need to live by. Because there are a lot of people that will use you if it suits them. Stay genuine.

 

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Calibre: It’s great to share music. Especially because now there is so much musical content out there. If you want your songs to be heard then you have to be willing to share it. Sharing is caring.  

 

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Calibre:   The problem with getting gigs is that now the market is flooded with dj/producers. Everyone is focused mainly on the online marketing, trying to fake it until they make it. Sure, you can write and produce a great track but if all you’re doing is making music and posting pictures online then you’re just like the other 90% of people doing the same thing.

 

If you’re starting up then learning an instrument. If you’ve never played a proper live gig (by “proper” I’m talking about a gig that you or someone you know didn’t organise) then get out and offer to play for free. Get some experience. Don’t be boring. Be open to criticism. Offer venues something that works for them.

 

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Calibre : Firstly, making mistakes is vital to improving a live gig, as long you’re focused on a high level of performance.

The important thing is not to panic when something happens. Sometimes it’s simply a technical issue, which is why a lot of the world famous event organisers ask DJ/Producers to fake it. People are sick of watching DJs pretend. The decks are on but no one’s home! I believe that making mistakes is better than faking perfection.

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

Calibre: In 2015 we’ve played a lot in Australia. Besides that we’ve been in and out of Italy and Germany.

 

Something crazy happens to Italians in the summer. The girls are dressed up but the guys come to festivals in denim hot pants or bathers (what we call in Australia “budgie smugglers”). Now, there is a lot of exposed flesh at festivals in other countries but in Italy the men are dressing skimpier than the ladies!

 

 

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration?

Calibre:  Inspiration comes from different sources. We like to live our entire lives in the summer months. From the southern hemisphere from October to March and then in the northern hemisphere from April until September. I’d say the sun, great weather and the positivity surrounding that definitely give us a lot of inspiration.

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Calibre: The website is www.calibreofficial.com and there are links to our music and mixes which are up on SoundCloud.

 

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

Calibre : The term “embarrassing” is broad. It really depends on which country you’re in. In Australia it’s embarrassing to listen to the Backstreet Boys or Peter Andre but in Italy it’s cool! And yes, both Backstreet and Peter Andre are in my song libraries.

 

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

Calibre: Continue making music and performing. A lot of people dream to have the life of a performing artist. Besides starting the global revolution – we’d simply keep living the dream.

 

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Calibre: At the moment we are based out of Australia, Italy, England and Germany so at times we’re forced to work on the road. Upgrading every studio is impossible but as long as you have a decent DAW then that’s what really matters.

We love the KRK sound, Steinberg and of course everyone loves a Moog!

 

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Calibre: The best way to promote your music is to simply play live gigs. Yes we have a great social media team that focuses on the digital aspect, finding new fans in other places. But promoters generally want a great performance at their events. And there is no better promotion than to have your name in the event line up.

 

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Calibre: Artist – Nile Rodgers would be great. We love playing alongside live musicians and he produced the best sounds with the best musicians decade after decade.

Where – There is a seaside town in Italy called Giardini Naxos. It would be great performing live there again while the Mt. Etna volcano is flowing with red lava at nighttime.

 

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Calibre : Calibre has some very musical projects coming up. We’ll be following up “Queen” with tracks that feature lots of percussion. Some are deep, some tropical, some future.

 

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Calibre: We’d be selling gelati and granita by the seaside in the Mediterranean. 

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Calibre: Growing up we were very musical. We’d be playing drums or the piano. We loved all kinds of music including rock. First album was Throwing Copper by American rock band Live.  

 

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Calibre: The key is to simplify everything. Having too many responsibilities is always going to affect your ability to focus on music making. Obviously your family and friends have to help you out, especially when you’re away from home. Their support is critical. Making money from music production is not easy. You don’t see any money for a long time. You really need to be gigging regularly to be able to keep up.

 

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015?

Calibre: 2015 is nearly over. But our first release is coming out on Ensis Records in October. We have the winner of New Zealand Idol singing on it. His name is Matt Saunoa and his voice is amazing! Around NYE 2016 we’ll be focusing on the new releases and our gig line up in Australia which can be found on our website.