As a fixture of Australia’s music scene since the early days of the 2010s, San Cisco is a band whose bubbly and catchy tunes have helped to establish a loyal and dedicated fanbase in the years since. The trio have also been lucky enough to receive countless prestigious nods in the music industry by way of awards and nominations, even finding a spot in triple j’s top 10 in their annual Hottest 100 – something that pretty much every Aussie artist hopes to one day achieve. In other words: San Cisco are a mighty big deal.

We sat down with the band’s members – Scarlett Stevens, Jordi Davieson and Josh Biondillo – to chat all about their newest and fifth studio album, Under the Light, as well as how they navigate today’s music world with such a well-established legacy.

Howdy everyone! You guys have been a staple in Australia’s music scene for over a decade now. Looking back, how would you describe the journey to get you all to where you are today? Scarlett Stevens: Yeah, we’ve been described as ‘Australia’s most consistent band’. We got a little taste of success very young, and we are so lucky that we got to see the world and play at so many amazing festivals, I feel like we have grown a lot musically. Jordi Davieson: It’s a combination of a shared vision, and the fact that there’s three of us that all want to do a similar thing together is like one in a million. I still am in disbelief about it all; it was pure chance that we’ve gotten this far.

In your entire discography, what are your favourite songs and why? Josh Biondillo: I think the new ones tend to be my current favourites, because they’re fresh and exciting, but there are a few from the back catalogue that I still really like. SS: I like a lot of the early ones. JD: “Girls Do Cry” is a fave of mine. I still chat with the girl who made it, she replies to my Instagram stories! I do think that a high point in our songwriting is “Too Much Time Together”, it’s a song that still holds up today.

What about the fans – what do you think their favourite songs are? SS: We get a lot of requests for “Hey Did I Do You Wrong?” and our cover of “H.O.L.I.D.A.Y.” by The Wiggles. JD: Yeah, there are always a few deep cuts that fans are drawn to.

SS: Ben Elton once came up to Jordi and told him that “Too Much Time Together” is his favourite track! JD: He also told me that there’s only one time in anyone’s life when they can make something really good, so now I’m worried if we’ll ever be able to write something that good ever again.

The band’s last album, Between You and Me, showed a more emotional side to San Cisco with songs like “Gone” and “On the Line”. What inspired this songwriting? JB: The record before that one was The Water, and I still feel a deep connection to it. I was going through a transformation stage in my life and so when we started recording Between You and Me, I was on the other side of it and I had a real fire inside of me to create stuff. I also think that we all had a shared vision of how we wanted the record to look and sound; the synergy was huge. The way the album came about was very traditional and San Cisco-y, it all just fell together really well. SS: And you’re always drawing inspiration from the relationships around you, and that album was a snapshot of where we all were at that time. We were growing up, losing friends, gaining friends, breaking up and having all new types of relationships. JD: Going from like, a young adult to an actual adult was like a second coming-of-age, and that experience also helped to inspire a lot of the songs.

Talk to us about the band’s newest album, Under the Light. SS: We have a few collaborations on this album, which we don’t usually do, so that was new and exciting! JB: Not only that, but it was also the first time we successfully recorded an album in our home studio. I felt like there was a real air of community about it since usually we go to Melbourne or somewhere where it can feel a bit isolated, so this album feels like it’s reflective of the personal community around us. JD: Collaboration is such a magical thing. JB: It’s like we’re opening up our relationship a bit – we’re becoming more polyamorous.

What songs off this album are you most excited to perform live? JD: I’m excited to play “Summer Days” now that it’s out. It’s such a great feeling when the crowd learns a new song and starts singing along to it with us. SS: We’ve still got a bit of learning to do, but the new tracks are sounding good live – I’m excited to perform them all. JB: We have been planning these songs for like forever. The singing and the guitar playing in this record are so intense, so I’m keen to pump them out.

How has the Aussie music scene changed in the 15 years you’ve been a band? JD: There are a lot of new bands, obviously, that are young and exciting. JB: I also feel like change is such a necessary thing in any kind of industry, and the music industry always wants to cater to young people. I feel like the 18-25-year-olds are engaged in stuff that’s different to what we were listening to at that age, and the landscape has changed since streaming came along. We watched as Spotify became a thing and the death of iTunes, so there’s nowhere now where you can buy a digital copy of a song. It sometimes feels super-saturated; there’s now more music than ever before.

JD: I’m also not sure if there are more or less music festivals these days. SS: There are a lot more indie festivals, but nothing huge for big and mainstream artists, I think. JB: TikTok is now such a huge thing, it’s a powerful platform but Universal Music has taken their stuff off, so who knows what music will be like on there now! SS: I also feel like, on a social level, the Australian music scene is a lot more diverse, which is great. It just feels like a much more inclusive space, which it hasn’t always been.