What are your names?
Tony Cecchetti, Chris Couto, Will Lloyd, JeanSe LeDoujet

What is the band’s name?
CALICO

How did you come up with the band’s name?
The name CALICO comes from the title of a song that will appear on our second album. I was on a mountain biking trip with some friends in Kamloops, BC a few years back. On our drive home the sun was setting over the dry rolling hills and the colour of the hills reminded me of the particular colour pattern of calico cats. The mixture of orange, red, yellow, white, black on the hillside was gorgeous. Over a zoom call one night at the start of this project, we were thinking of names and CALICO just stuck. It made sense and came from a song.

What is your genre of music?
Folk-Americana

Give us a little bio about you.
CALICO’s originator Tony Cecchetti, is a Folk-Americana artist from the Bay Area currently residing in Victoria, BC. Amidst the isolation and chaos of the pandemic in early 2020, good friends (Tony Cecchetti, Chris Couto, Will Lloyd, and JeanSe Le Doujet) connected through writing music together while in the intimacy and confines of their own homes. From this, the collective CALICO was born. The hope is that the nostalgic and deeply poetic music created by CALICO moves you. Maybe it reminds you of a place or a feeling, a lover, your childhood dog, a walk with an old friend on a starry night, or maybe those you miss most in life and don’t see enough. May it bring you joy, peace, and love. Thanks for listening.

What made you go in to music?
I have always felt connected to playing music. When I was a kid I was a drummer. My moms let me bang on the drums for hours in our garage and I played for our little school band when I was in the fifth grade. Eventually I donated my drum set to the local high school in El Cerrito, Ca and over the years got into playing the Djembe. My mom took me to this amazing percussion store in Vancouver, BC for my 19th birthday when I first moved up to Canada and bought me this beautiful Djembe that I still have to this day. I remember the man we bought it from blessed me with the drum before I left. After a while, I stopped playing as much percussion and decided to pick up the guitar. I always loved singing and wanted to learn to play and write my own tunes. It took me a little while to find my voice and my own sound but eventually it started to come. With the support of good friends who owned a yoga studio in Squamish, BC. They encouraged me to start playing their live yoga classes and I loved doing it. Guiding people through their yoga practice was profound stuff. The journey really started there and took off for me at that point.

Are you signed?
No

You released your debut single ‘Oh My Mind’, tell us more about the single.
Oh my mind was written back in 2016 and has been sitting around since. I used to play it for live music yoga classes over the years and it was written to help me fill the full hour of the class. Initially I didn’t have enough music and really didn’t play much guitar. Oh My Mind came to me one day when I was sitting in my background reminiscing about where I grew up. When Covid initially hit and the lockdown kept us in doors in early March of 2020, I decided it was time to start properly recording my tunes. Along with Chris Couto, we began building and transforming the songs and Oh My Mind was one that we felt really strongly about.

What is the meaning behind the single?
The song is about nostalgia. In its purest form it is about searching for my place. I wrote it at a time of instability and uncertainty and over the years it has become a reference point to how far I’ve come. The song is about missing home and being a kid hanging in Tilden Park, the hills behind were I grew up in Kensington, Ca. The hope is that the song makes the listener feel and think in a similar way that it has done to me. Maybe it evokes a particular memory of your own life that you miss or something that you’re still searching for.

Describe the track in two words.
Deep Nostalgia

Will we see a music video for any of the track?
Maybe one day

Do you have any online shows coming up?
At the moment we do not.

Do you have any collaborations coming up with any up coming artists?
No

Would you be up for collaborations if other musicians wanted one with you? and who would they have to contact?
I think it would be a great opportunity to collaborate with other likeminded musicians that share the same passion and hold space for creativity. If anyone were to be interested they can email us at calicomusic.mgmt@gmail.com

Do you play any instruments?
Within the band:
Tony Cecchetti sings lead and acoustic guitar
Chris Couto on drums, Latin percussion and background vocal
Will Lloyd on Lead guitar
JeanSe LeDoujet on bass

Who are your influences?
Bob Dylan and the War on Drugs are two big influences. I am also a big fan of Nathaniel Rateliff, Mandolin Orange, the Black Crowes, and old rock n roll from the 70s. I grew up listening to my mother’s record collection from the 70’s up in the mountains at our little A frame cabin in Lake Tahoe, Ca. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Simon and Garfunkel, the Stone, Marvin Gaye… Too many to count. All inspired me.

How do you get inspiration to write songs?
I write most songs about a theme. I have taken a number of song writing workshops from a friend and mentor of mine, Michael Averill, in Vancouver, BC. His style is unique and inspiring. He gives a prompt and we have one week to write a song. Many of my songs were written this way and most were written about some particular theme or idea if not coming from a song-writing workshop

Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
No idea. But I’ll live every moment the best I can and thoroughly enjoy my life as a father.

When you’re not doing music, what do you do?
I love to grow food. I have a background in agriculture and am quite passionate about permaculture and regenerative agriculture. I love being out in the yard with my 1 1/2 year old and can’t wait to teach her about growing her own food. I love to ride bikes, be active, and play sports. I love watching corny rom coms with my lady

What was the song you listened to most that influenced you to go more in to the music scene?
Really hard question to answer but I’m gonna say two songs from one of my favorite albums of all time, and one of the best ever in my opinion. Bob Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Review Live in 1975. Romance and Durango and I Shall be Released off that album…Pure magic. I could say many more but I’ll stick with those two before I go ahead and change my answer.

What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
Both my mothers have always pushed me to challenge myself. I remember going to an open mic once with nothing prepared. My mentor, Michael Averill, ran this open mic night and lured me into it. I was terrified. I took a couple shots of tequila and went outside to call my mom before it was my turn to go on stage. I was like, “I have no idea what I’m doing and I have nothing prepared”. There are 10 people out there watching and it feels like 10 thousand. I remember my mom telling me that it would be just fine and what would life be if you didn’t feel those butterflies, those nerves. I got on stage with a guitarist I’d never met. Well, we met on the stage. Michael had asked him and a friend who was a drummer to come up as he played bass. They just started playing and eventually I worked up the nerves and started free versing. I liked writing poetry in my head on the spot and singing it simultaneously. Next thing I new there was a woman singing backup vocals on a line we had been really grooving too. It was amazing. Transformed my perspective of what I could do. It was a serious challenge. One of the reasons I’m so passionate about getting my music out now is because I wanted another challenge like that. I’ve always been scared about sharing my music and self conscious about it. This is just another challenge that I’m happy to cross paths with in my life.

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not about the industry and just as an artist?
Write poetry. Poems are so profound and come from within. The best songs in my opinion are poetry. They resonate with the ear, the heart, and the mind. The music will come but allow yourself freedom in your writing process.

What quote or saying do you always stick by?
I was raised by the Golden Rule-Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

Where in your hometown is a must go to visit?
The Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland A’s. I spent 100s of hours there are a kid getting autographs from players, watching batting practice, and then the games. I’m a huge A’s fan and that stadium and who comes to it is one of the best representations of the bay area. It’s straight soul.

Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Instagram
FB