Photo by Henry Calvert
The musical concoction of Calva Louise is as improbable as their members’ journeys.
Fusing rock, nu-metal, post-hardcore, punk and electronica with a Latin American flair and virtuoso keyboards – while a massive sci-fi concept ties it all together – three musicians from separate corners of the world have united on a musical journey that’s taken them to the Edge of the Abyss and beyond.
“The essence (of the narrative) is our story,” singer, guitarist and keyboardist Jess Allanic says. “It’s the path we’ve all been through and that made us meet and made us keep doing this.
Their appropriately named new album, co-produced by Pedumlum’s Gareth McGrillen, is the culmination of years of DIY hustling, relentless touring, stolen gear and rat-infested lodgings. It comes as the band is realizing their musical identity and seeing their lives’ work blossom on stages across the world, while their creative scope moves from graphic novels and custom gear to Allanic’s self-taught use of special effects in their music videos.
But their dream nearly collapsed so many times. They experienced homelessness, loneliness and feeling completely lost in a strange new world. They dragged themselves over the threshold and into the abyss, becoming each other’s family when they had none and motivating each other to push forward, no matter the drawbacks.
“We're always one millimeter away from falling into despair and falling into like, ‘No, we can't do this anymore!’” Allanic says. “But If you do a life project with this kind of friendship, everybody's there for each other. Nobody's left alone.”
That determination and experience is why their music resonates with so many. Even beyond the concept, Allanic’s lyrics draw in wayward souls who’ve also felt the unforgiveness of life and want to move, jump, scream or dance their problems away.
But Calva Louise couldn’t be at this point without the hard living they had to endure.
“Somebody told us this once: You’re at the end of the beginning,” she said. “You’ve already done your beginning. We’d already done that first mountain. The luck we had and the misfortune we had as well, all those challenges that make you. The naivety one has to have, and then getting smacked in the face by reality. We've done that. We're not there anymore.
“We already know where we're standing now.”
From humble beginnings
Calva Louise began in Allanic’s childhood bedroom outside of Caracas, Venezuela. A multi-layered science-fiction/fantasy story developed and began to weave into her love of music. She painted the walls with her vision, but soon realized she needed a bigger canvas.
In pursuit of her musical passion, she moved alone to France as a teenager and lived in a convent next to her school, where she met bassist and backing vocalist Alizon Taho. They formed a band and shared a singular focus to play music for the rest of their lives. Allanic and Taho spent years traveling to the UK and playing at every pub they could, then moved to London in their early 20s where they were essentially homeless.
“In London, we lived in like 10 different places,” Allanic says. “It was chaos. You didn't know where you’re going to sleep in two weeks. I still have my stuff packed. I still have the mentality of we’re nomads and we’re going to move, and it’s not true. Now my boyfriend is like, ‘You need to put your stuff in the cupboard!’”
When they eventually met drummer Ben Parker – another wayward soul who’d moved from New Zealand at 14 – the trio developed a deep friendship and they set out to develop Calva Louise.
Like the members, the music draws inspiration from everywhere. Heavy electronic beats mix with metal guitars and Allanic’s awe-inspiring keyboard playing. She sings in English and Spanish as the songs jump from club-banger to pit-rager to sing-along-dance-along and back again. Meanwhile, the lyrics serve the storyline while very honestly portraying the experiences and emotions of the members.
Allanic says, “Our friendship has evolved, and at the same time, (so have) those themes of feeling like you don’t really fit. Like you don’t belong.”
After releasing two albums — Rhinoceros in 2016 and Euphoria in 2021 – and developing a modest following, their late-2023 independent mixtape Over the Threshold turned up the dial on everything they’d done before. Songs like "Third Class Citizen” and “Oportunista” intensified Allanic’s rage and “go fuck yourself” attitude, while the title track and “Con Corazon” showcased the trio’s intricate musical abilities and emotional connection to their words.
Over the Threshold led to festival appearances all over the UK and Europe, a US tour with Vukovi, as well as their biggest opportunity so far: supporting Indian folk metal pioneers Bloodywood on a 26-city Return of The Singh tour.
It seemed like a match made in heaven, but after they accepted they had to ask themselves a hard and important logistical question: Could they even afford to go?
‘If that tour didn’t go well, I don’t know what would have happened to us’
“When we accepted the Bloodywood tour, we didn't know how we're gonna afford this,” Allanic says, mentioning costs for the crew, equipment, and travel, just for starters. “[Touring’s] such an expensive thing, but we literally risked it. We risked the jump. We’re literally at the abyss here.”
Their leap of faith paid off.
“We always felt their audience is going to understand, enjoy and appreciate all the different influences that go with our music,” says Taho. “It was definitely that. We've supported great artists before, but that was probably the best reception we've ever had from an audience.”
“It was energizing,” Parker adds. “All the shows were pretty much sold out. If not, they were full anyway. Just meeting all the people after the show, hearing their feedback. We’re so happy that we got to do it.”
Allanic couldn’t believe the size of the audiences or their emphatic reception to Calva Louise. To their music. To her dream. The little girl from a makeshift bedroom in Venezuela was now playing her story in Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague and Milan.
“Honestly, if that tour didn’t go well… I don’t know what would have happened to us,” she says with a hint of shell shock.
“Touring is for people that have a lot of means. When you don’t have it you either pray that people are going to like you and buy your merch, or help you out as they can. We’re so lucky that we had that reception. If not… we’re already in so much debt but it’d be ridiculously more!”
Entering the Abyss
Now with the backing of Mascot Records, Calva Louise spent their time on the road writing their next album. With a label came the pressure of deadlines, and the band had to adjust to working with a team after years of doing everything themselves. But their creative process never changed.
“[Edge of the Abyss] is still pretty much a very do-it-yourself album,” Allanic says. “We recorded exactly the same as we did with Over the Threshold. It was still very hard to put it together while traveling. We did it remotely. It’s not recorded in a studio. It was chaos, I’m not gonna lie.”
Thankfully, they had the guiding hand of Gareth McGrillen to help them navigate that chaos. McGrillen reached out to the band via Instagram after he heard Over the Threshold, striking up a quick friendship and working relationship with them.
“The biggest luck we had was that he was our mentor,” she says about the record. “We wrote two songs with him and he co-produced the album as well. It was insane. He was involved so much in the creation of this. We couldn’t fathom that somebody of his fame and talent was helping us out.”
They texted on WhatsApp at all hours of the day across countless time zones. McGrillen answered calls from Taho right before going on stage, and sometimes streamed mixes of the songs from his computer to their van.
Without McGrillen or his mentorship, they may have finally cracked under the pressure. He told them that, because of the time constraints, they’d never be fully happy with the songs and that was okay. The important thing was to give it everything they had.
That’s likely why Calva Louise dialed up their musical personality on Edge of the Abyss as well.
“WTF” – a song about frustration and purpose – morphs into a headbanging nocturne after starting with nu-metal aggression. The electronics in “La Corriente” give way to a pit ripper while having a Spanish verse that spotlights Allanic’s badass attitude and Taho and Parker’s unfailing ability to move and groove.
Taho’s walking bass lines on the Simón Díaz-inspired “Lo Que Vale” anchor the back-and-forth movement of the guitar and piano, amplifying the beauty and stabilizing the quick turns it makes.
He credits Allanic for challenging him and Parker with her wild ideas that lead them into uncharted territory.
“For me, it's always waiting to see what Jess is gonna come up with next, and how to lift it up as much as possible,” Taho says. “When Jess sends her demos I'm like, ‘Oh my god, I have to make something better (than last time). How am I gonna make something better? There's a million different versions of bass lines for each song, until it feels right.”
Influence of Social Media
Not to be overlooked, Calva Louise’s expert use of social media has expanded their reach and ability to connect with people across the globe. TikTok has been a huge platform to boost the band – thanks to Allanic’s sliding keyboard stand that Taho custom built -- and they have their own Discord server to directly engage in discussions with their fans.
“Social media grabs in people from differing interests,” he says. “Some might be interested by the story, or the fact that Jess does all the special effects, or how we customize and build our own gear. Everybody arrives through a different video that focuses on a different side of the project, which is great because that's how we view ourselves.
“It's a very multifaceted project, and all the aspects are equally as important. People get hooked on or intrigued by one aspect, then end up discovering more. I feel like there’s a lot of things (about us) for people to explore and retain their attention.”
“It’s an open journal,” Allanic says of her philosophy to their social media presence. “If we had to make an ad of ourselves, which picture would we choose? What will we want people to know about us? We want the information to be out there. It’s not about the engagement of going viral or all this kind of stuff. It’s more about the information (being) out there, like little crumbs for whoever wants to look or find us.”
The end of the beginning
At the end of the day, Calva Louise is Allanic’s vehicle to share her story with the world, and it’s now become entwined with who she and the band are.
Fearlessly choosing to use a rock band as her medium – instead of film, novels or video games – she’s met two kindred spirits in Parker and Taho who see and amplify her vision. A growing community of fans now feel less alone, whether because of their words and music.
And this may be the most impressive thing about Calva Louise: how her dense and sprawling science-fantasy narrative comes across so personal and relatable. A listener might never know about Louise, the “tree-men” or the fractal universe, but they can resonate with “Aimless”, “”Hate In Me” or “Tunnel Vision.”
“We get loads of comments on YouTube and social media of people getting really deep and personal with the songs that are out,” Taho says. “That’s just incredible to see the different ways that you would never expect people to connect to the music.”
“It's very hard to combine the narrative story [of the songs] with the intensity, the abstraction of the feeling of when you listen to music,” Allanic says. “So (the album’s) not exactly in the order of what the story would be as chapters.”
That’s something that may come later, when they have the means and budget to make films or multi-part videos. After all, Calva Louise has proven they are more than just three friends from disparate parts of the world playing music together: they are a creative force that literally have the ability to go anywhere and do anything they choose.
For now, though, they’ll keep going the way they always have: focused, determined, and with a dedicated vision of where the band is going to go, even if they have no idea how to get there.
Edge of the Abyss is the sound of a found family giving everything they have for each other, and opening an invitation for the world to join them.
“I just hope that people take it in, (and that) it does more good,” says Taho. “Even if it’s just having a good time and headbanging to the song, or getting deep and personal with the lyrics. As long as it’s something positive, then great.”
Allanic wants the record to give its listeners “energy and motivation.” That would be success in her eyes, if her project can give someone the urge to create and follow their heart.
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Edge of the Abyss by Calva Louise is available July 11 via Mascot Records. Get the album - HERE
Catch Calva Louise live on tour with Mike's Dead and SickSense on the 18 Nights in the USA Tour. See a complete list of dates below. Get tickets - HERE
CALVA LOUISE ON TOUR:
WITH MIKE'S DEAD + SICKSENSE
9/3 — San Francisco, CA — Brick and Mortar Music Hall
9/4 — Los Angeles, CA — The Roxy Theatre
9/6 — Las Vegas, NV — The Usual Place
9/7 — Phoenix, AZ — The Underground
9/9 — Austin, TX — Mohawk
9/10 — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall - Upstairs
9/12 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade - Altar
9/13 — Orlando, FL — The Social
9/15 — Asheville, NC — Eulogy
9/16 — Nashville, TN — DRKMTTR
9/17 — St. Louis, MO — Off Broadway
9/19 — Grand Rapids, MI — The Pyramid Scheme
9/20 — Indianapolis, IN — Hoosier Dome
9/21 — Columbus, OH — Ace of Cups
9/23 — Brooklyn, NY — Elsewhere: Zone One
9/24 — Philadelphia, PA — Ukie Club
9/25 — Boston, MA — Middle East Upstairs
9/28 — Chicago, IL — Cobra Lounge
