The Settlement

See Link - Rolling Stone Australia

Adrian Calvano has taken a bit of a beating recently.

Not on the creative front, mind you – his work with his band The Settlement has been championed by critics, and audiences are lapping up the group’s latest single ‘She’s Alright’, a rollicking slice of tunage designed to get feet stomping and heads nodding clean off their necks come the band’s national tour. So no, on that front, things are absolutely aces.



Calvano’s scrapes are more literal than artistic: the musician is currently nursing his own very distinct set of wounds, and it’s driving him ever so slightly mad. “I’m still recovering from broken ribs and a punctured lung,” he says. “It’s really giving me the shits.”



One can see why. And yet such is the Victorian’s very obvious enthusiasm for his art, if there’s one muso who can battle through wounds in order to hit the road, it’s him. The Settlement isn’t just some casual project – it’s Calvano’s driving force, and has been an important creative outlet for him since 2013.



Unlike the musicians who stumble into their profession, Calvano has been drawn to performance and song since he was young. “Ever since I can remember, music and the people who create it have absolutely captivated me,” he says. “When I was young, during the day, Ma would be spinning Creedence, Dylan, The Stones… then, during the evening, Dad would sit and play his squeeze box, playing everything from The Beatles to old Italian standards.”



Such a broad mix of influences is reflected in The Settlement’s sound – the band is hard to pigeonhole, and Calvano’s tunes buck easy categorisation. That distinct strand of genre hybridisation isn’t accidental either, and Calvano is at pains to stress that he and his collaborators avoid taking direct cues from specific musical categories or performers. “That’s been a trap in the past,” he says. “Trying to write to a genre or trying to stay relevant to a scene – yeah, you might produce something catchy and grab a spin on some mainstream radio, but it isn’t honest.”



That kind of honesty is particularly evident throughout ‘She’s Alright’, which combines wormy pop hooks and touchingly open lyrics – it doesn’t try to hide behind anything, and wears its heart plainly on its sleeve. And yet despite the song’s romantic overtones, Calvano stresses that it isn’t a love song. “It’s more of a battle between your little angel and little devil, and how when someone special comes along they can squash that little devil,” he explains. “So the song reflects on some of the wilder times and how things have changed.”



‘She’s Alright’ represents a sweet taste of The Settlement’s upcoming album, and though Calvano won’t be pushed into a specific date, fans of the band should prepare for an exciting 2017, particularly come, say, February. Wink wink. “Some of the songs on the album have been written for five years,” says Calvano. “Others were written in the studio. We’ve been working with the team at Footstomp Music and the rumour is the album could be dropping February 2017 with a tour organised by our agent Will [Watson].”



Until then, Calvano will be at home, nursing his wounds, writing his songs and dreaming, slaving away towards a future that he feels is both difficult to attain and yet utterly essential to everything he wants out of life. “My dream is to make music my full-time job but at the moment that just ain’t possible,” he laughs. “Unless I go and play covers every weekend.” - The Brag

Broken Ribs And Punctured Lungs: On Tour With The Settlement

Written by Tyler Jenke on Dec 02, 2016
The Settlement are a roots-based indie band hailing from Western Victoria. With a penchant for a genuine, acoustic vibe, and a reputation for bloody excellent live shows, they’re quickly making a name for themselves around the country.

To promote the release of their newest single ‘She’s Alright’, taken from their upcoming LP, the group started off a trek up and down the East Coast, but things soon turned a little bit pear-shaped – not to mention painful.

Thankfully, they decided to keep a log of their travels to share with us the highs and lows of being out on the road.


On Tour With The Settlement

Hey, Calvano here from The Settlement, here’s a little pic diary of our ‘She’s Alright’ tour.

First stop on the ‘She’s Alright’ tour was The Spotted Mallard. We’re are familiar with this venue and love watching people walk into the place for first time, such a rad space. The lads, especially Baker, were pumped to get back on the road with the boys.

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Next stop was the amazing Swagger Fest. Wendee (band van) was packed tight and ready for a weekend of tunes and catching up with new and old mates. Matty (violin) did hold the “van packer/tetris” badge, but our drummer Harry took that badge from him with this magnificent effort below.

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Swagger Fest absolutely delivered and we were feeling a little bit “loopy” after it all but definitely a festival we would love to revisit.

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Next stop was home for a bit before hitting Belgrave and the QLD leg of the tour.
During this time I thought it’d be a good idea to chase my ‘Hoop Dreams’….

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While playing basketball, I had a freak incident which landed me with two broken ribs, a punctured lung and a badly smashed kidney. This news was gutting and cancelled our shows at the Sooki Lounge and all the QLD leg of the tour. My hospital was brief and blurry….

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So with the hole in my lung healed and with two broken ribs it was time to hit the road again. First stop, Halls Gap for the inaugural Peaks & Sounds Fest. Halls Gap is one of our favourite spots, it’s just bloody byardiful!

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After that it was time to leave Vic and head to NSW. First stop was Stag & Hunter (Newcastle). By then the lads had got sick of me whining about my ribs and I was banished to the back of the van. After that we hit up Leadbelly (Sydney) and The Pier (Port Macquarie). It was great to hit up some new venues in NSW.

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After a 26hr day of travelling non stop the lads and I were pepped. It was a great tour with ups and downs but we cant wait to get back out there in 2017, fit and well! - Tone Deaf

Victorian stompy alt-folk quintet The Settlement recently wrapped up a session at renowned studio The Aviary to lay down their impending debut album, and The Music is stoked to be providing an early taste in the form of the new clip for LP cut She's Alright.

Fuelled by a subtle, growing sense of urgency, the slow ignition of the track soon picks up and opens out into gleeful, fiddle-laden folk-rock revelry that ably sets the tone for the eagerly awaited LP and their upcoming east-coast tour dates.

According to frontman Adrian Calvano, the track was written several months ago as a reflection on "some looser nights and how things have changed".

"It's about the little devil inside everyone that wants to come out and play," Calvano said in a statement.

"Sometimes we run with the devil and that's fun for a bit, but everything gets flipped upside down when you meet that special person that makes the devil quietly disappear."

The clip itself, directed by Bianca Milani of An Architect Photographed My Undies, sees Calvano taking centre stage as an increasingly debaucherous scene materialises around him, all streamers and booze and unidentified fluids and pig masks of the sort that used to be popular at weird upper-class orgies in the '90s. It's mesmerising stuff, and the fact that it's backed by such a solid tune is just icing on the cake, really.

The band are on the cusp of setting out for an extensive run of shows through Vic, Qld and NSW, kicking off at the Spotted Mallard, in Melbourne, and Wandiligong's Swagger Festival, before taking them to Belgrave, Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Brisbane (two shows), Halls Gap, Newcastle, Sydney and Port Macquarie.

If you're into it, She's Alright is available via iTunes, and you can connect with The Settlement at their Facebook page.

For more information, including a full list of venues, dates and other booking information, see theGuide. - The Music

The Settlement, a Victorian alternative/folk band from the rural town of Hamilton, are anything but settled these days. A rising star of the music scene, The Settlement are about to embark on the second leg of a nationwide tour, off the back of the release of their new single She’s Alright, and in anticipation of their forthcoming album.

Before they hit the road again, the guys from The Settlement – Calvano (vocals, guitar), Baker (bass), Matty (violin), Jase (guitar) and Harry (drums) – kindly sat down with me to discuss their new single She’s Alright, their soon-to-be-released album and what the future holds.

Hi guys – Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions today, I’ll start by asking how you all came together and how long you’ve been together for now?

Cheers, thanks for taking the time to ask a few questions. The band started a long time ago in Hamilton, Vic. It’s only a small town so there wasn’t many young peeps playing tunes, so I suppose we just gravitated towards each other. Along the way we’ve met other musicians and if they on the same vibe they slotted in. The Settlement has been going for about 2 years, but we’ve been jamming and gigging with each other for about 6 years.


How would you describe your sound and the type of music you perform?

Well we hope we sound Australian. And we hope we sound like us. It’s hard to describe our music as we aren’t a specific genre. There’s influence from Irish reels, Italian rhythms, 80’s hair, fat-fingered bass and all kinds of other inspirations. We like to describe our sound as ‘honest’.

You list Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan among your influences but are there any other artists you’ve been inspired by over the years?

I personally have always love Cat and Dylan because they aren’t genre specific in my ears. Other artist that inspire us are the artists we hang out with – Centre & The South, Bill, GUMS, Harrison Storm. Watching those guys kick goals and tackle the industry inspire us. We all push each other to keep bettering the last thing we did.

Your song, She’s Alright, the new single from your forthcoming album, is such a catchy tune. What inspired the writing of that song and is it indicative of the type of material that will be on your album?

My fiancee inspired that song. Without sounding all “lovey dovey”, I met her and she changed the way I looked at the band and what we were doing. The song itself is probably the most ‘rockiest’ song on the album but still has a connection to the other tracks.


The video for She’s Alright is incredibly busy visually, it’s quite colourful and looks like it was a total blast to shoot? How long did it take to shoot the video?

It’s all a blur really. Matty (fiddle) just had a baby girl, Amara Jean. We all went out in Brunswick the night before and things got a little outta control. Anyway we had to be a Bianca’s (Director/An Architect Photographed My Undies) at 7.30am, some us hadn’t been to sleep and some had had a couple of hours, so it was a rough day. The shoot only took 3-4 hours and it was heaps of fun which made the hangover bearable.

When can we expect your debut album to be released?

We have been working with the legends at Footstomp Music and we are thing February 2017 .. stay tuned.

Coming up in November you have a series of tour dates in Queensland, New South Wales and another in Halls Gap, Victoria. Do you enjoy being on the road?

Love being on the road! We have the best band van (Wendee) – which makes life easy – but recently have a major hiccup to the tour, I went and broke 3 of my ribs, punctured my lung and bruised the hell outta my kidney on the basketball court chasing my ‘hoop dreams’. I’m just about to go to the Doc to find out if I’m allowed to fly and if i we can play the Queensland leg of the tour.

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And finally, if you could perform at any gig, event or festival in the world, what would be your dream gig?

Honestly, all those big festivals would be great and don’t get me wrong it’d be a dream to play them. But I’d love to get a paddock with a nice view somewhere in the Western Districts of Victoria, gather all our mates and people we love, gather all the bands and artists we know and love and get them to bring their pals and just play, dance and party … Actually we kinda just did that at Swagger Festival! [laughs]

For more on The Settlement, please visit: http://thesettlement.net.au
or follow them on [Facebook][Twitter][Instagram]

Upcoming Tour Dates:
Friday November 4 – Miami Marketta, Gold Coast, QLD
Friday November 4 – Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, NSW
Saturday November 5 – Brooklyn Standard, Brisbane, QLD
Sunday November 6 – Leftys, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday November 19 – Peaks & Sounds, Halls Gap, VIC
Thursday November 24 – Stag & Hunter, Newcastle, NSW
Friday November 25 – Leadbelly, Sydney, NSW
Saturday November 26 – The Pier, Port Macquarie, NSW - Tinsel and Tapshoes

The release of The Settlement’s first album is drawing closer but the Hamilton band is far from standing still.

PROGRESS: Adrian Calvano and The Settlement in action earlier this month at the Music in the Vines event in Macarthur. Picture: Brianna Young
PROGRESS: Adrian Calvano and The Settlement in action earlier this month at the Music in the Vines event in Macarthur. Picture: Brianna Young
The debut album will be released in July, preceded by the release of a third single in May.

The band’s second single, Clean Trouble, was premiered on the Rolling Stone Australia website.

The Settlement lead singer and guitarist Adrian Calvano said the endorsement from Rolling Stone was a huge moment for the band.

“We were stoked about being recognised by Rolling Stone,” Calvano said.

“We have a good team around us helping to spread the word about what we are doing.

“We have giged pretty hard and we are building credibility in the industry and something like this really helps.”

The Settlement has been together since 2015, having started life as Buddha in a Chocolate Box back in 2005.

Calvano said the band is making the impact it had set out to when it began as The Settlement.

“In 2015, we decided to really take our music seriously,” Calvano said.

“We were sick of just playing covers, we wanted to get our own music out there. The change of name and a bit of a change in the line-up was a new beginning.”

The Settlement continues to grow a large fan base with their strong live shows.

They have played major festivals across the country, from Gympie to Queenscliff and many in between.

They have also played close to home, starring as one of the headline acts at the Music in the Vines event in Macarthur.

The refinement of their trade continues both on and off stage.

The band is just back from a four-day camp at a homestead outside Ballarat.

Calvano said it was a valuable exercise.

“It was very productive, it was great to wake up each morning and everything was there, set up and ready to start playing,” Calvano said.

“We wrote, played and discussed what wanted to do and how we could do it.”

The Settlement’s next major outing will be in Stawell during the town’s famous Stawell Gift carnival at Easter. - The Standard