CW sat down with Josh Biondillo, one of the founding members of the groovy Aussie band, San Cisco, to chat about cancelled shows, Canberra vibes, and childhood dreams of performing with The Wiggles.
How has the East Coast tour been going?
“It’s honestly been shaky coming back to touring,” reveals Josh Biondillo, San Cisco’s guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist, “We’ve had the [COVID-19] virus looming the whole time, we’ve been trying to travel in a bubble and not interact with anybody else which hasn’t worked because three in the band have Covid – Jordi, Tom, and Mitch.
“I’m surprised I haven’t got it yet, it’s my fourth day of negative tests and everyone is just in hotel rooms for seven days until we get can on a plane and play again. It feels horrible to have to cancel shows – I hate it. Especially the shows from over the weekend [26-27 March] and some of the ones we’ve been postponing for nearly a year now.
“We’re really looking forward to some festivals this year, too. We played This That Festival the week before last and I just think big festival crowds really reinvigorate everyone. You could see the excitement coming from the crowd.”
Are you keen to head down to Canberra for a gig?
“We’ve played at the UC Refectory a few times in the past, and I love that venue. It’s always a really good show and it’s nice to come to Canberra – it’s a fun town.”
I saw your cover of The Wiggles’ HOLIDAY. Was that just a childhood dream come true?
“They were asking us for a year to get involved with that album and one thing or another came up and we couldn’t do it. Scarlett ended up having a dig through the songs they sent through, and HOLIDAY seemed like a cool one for us to do,” Josh says.
“I literally just pulled it up on a streaming service, went over to the piano and figured it out. It came together pretty organically, then we went to the computer to flesh it out and we ended up changing a lot. We changed the melody and went with one that lent to that disco vibe.
“It was a bit of a blur but I love that song and it seems to be doing really well, I think someone told me it was number one on the ARIA charts?”
What are your favourite songs to perform live?
“It changes a lot. It has a lot to do with whatever song the crowds get into. Some of the newer ones like Reasons did really well on the radio but it does even better live – it goes off.
“I like some of the slower ones that are a bit more ‘feelsy’, like Alone is always nice. It’s actually probably one of my favourite songs we’ve made to date.”
Can you tell me about something you’ve got in the works?
“Been working a lot on new music. There are no real dates or anything that I can put forward at the moment, but all I can say is there’s some exciting ideas floating around that I’m keen to take time to go in and flesh out and turn into another album.
“Our fans just fill our hearts with such warmth and I’m so keen to do these shows. A lot of them have held onto their tickets and are just so kind. We’re just keen to put on some great shows for them.”
San Cisco will be playing in Canberra on Sunday 3 April at UC Refectory.
Note: Josh Biondillo’s responses have been condensed for publication.
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