Interview with CAL KRAMER, vocalist with Aussie rockers THE SOUTHERN RIVER BAND

Recently we had the opportunity to speak with ‘The Southern River Band’s extraordinary frontman, Cal Kramer, about the band that ‘Around The Sound’ calls “one of the hottest bands in Australia”.

The story begins 5 years ago in a local tavern where a bloke with rings across his knuckles that spelled ‘bear’, approached them and offered to find them gigs. Cal tells us “we came back 3 days later and Bear says ‘we got you a gig’ so we had to pull the band together” and the rest is history.

SRB’s music has been described in many different ways so we asked Cal how he would describe it, “somewhere in between Dean Martin and Iron Maiden” he says, “But on any given day you can catch glimpses of just about anything”.

The band has had to overcome all the hardships that most musicians face while, from line-up changes to “being financially destitute at all times” in pursuit of the dream, but the hardest obstacle the guys face is the extra work and resilience they have to put in to be able to branch out from the most isolated part of the country.

In saying that, The Southern River Band’ are passionate about what they do and always make the best of it, often hitting the road for festivals/gigs and recently completing a sold out regional tour in which they also visited some of the more remote areas, stating “we play music because we love it. Whoever wants to hear it, we’ll be there!”

Having successfully released their last 2 singles, ‘Do You Miss Me’ and ‘Second Best’, the WA rockers have been busy putting plans into motion, including kicking off their Australian tour next month alongside the launch of their awesome new album ‘Rumour and Innuendo’.

When questioned about the creation of the album, Cal chuckled and simply replied “honestly there was no process and I don’t even recall how it evolved, it just kinda happened” Keen to bust out some seriously entertaining shows on their upcoming tour, this group of showmen have already gained a reputation for their captivating and fun performances which is backed-up by many high-praise reviews.

When asked what inspires their exciting stage presence, Cal’s voice seemed to glow as he stated “ Well it’s a show, people are coming to see us as well as hear us, and we want it to be an assault on all of the senses. I want people to have as much fun as I’m having and to leave totally entertained saying ‘f#*kin he’ll that was great!”

SRB will always push beyond the limits and are well on their way to the ‘universal domination’ they seek, their goal being to share their music with as many people as possible for as long as possible and the frontman claims “I love what I do and I’ll do whatever it takes to do it forever”.

After a chat about his incredible band mates, who he endearingly called ‘amazingly dynamic’ and ‘total legends’, Cal gave us some last words of wisdom to share will all the dreamers out there – “with anything in life, there will always be nay-sayers and hurdles but if it’s something you believe in, just be relentless and never stop!”

There you have it folks! So we look forward to seeing the boys at the Milk Factory in Brisbane on the 17th October on tour, and don’t forget to grab your copy of the new album!

Interviewer / Writer: Sarah Savage