Remember that song ‘Sweet like chocolate’? Some of you, perhaps. The point I’m trying to make is that the Cadbury Sisters are a band that genuinely live up to this mantra, with all the three members (Jess, Mary and Lucy) the great great grandchildren of William Cadbury, the founder of that multinational confectionery company.
The band are currently embarking on their first headline tour, but thankfully Hanna managed to grab some time with Jess just after the release of their EP ‘Close’.
What inspired to begin making music?
A major inspiration for us has been Laura Marling. I remember hearing her music for the first time and thinking she was amazing. Her first album – ‘Alas, I Cannot Swim’ – is just her and her guitar; we just fell in her love with her style and tone. I think you can hear her influence in our music.
Can you remember when you first heard yourself on the radio?
Yes! It was on Radio Stroud (a local station in Gloucestershire), about four or five years ago. It was our first radio interview and it was so embarrassing. They would ask us questions and reply in unison with “yeah”!
What’s been your most memorable show to date?
That would have to be our show in Bristol on June 12th of this year. It was sold out and our first headline show, so doubly amazing for us.
Do you have any advice for girls who are in a band or want to form a band?
The number one piece of advice I would give is to stay true to yourself, first and foremost. Also make sure you have a clear idea about the noise you want to make and the messages you want to convey. Focus your creativity and don’t get distracted. Most of all, be confident. Know your instrument and know what you want to do with it. When we first formed The Cadbury Sisters, we would just go along with what the sound engineers wanted us to sound like, as we were too shy. They would be talking about mix monitors and whether we wanted them ‘switched’ – we didn’t have a clue what they were going on about. So we did our research, and gradually we learnt to tell them what to do.
Finally, what’s next for The Cadbury Sisters?
The rest of this year’s looking pretty full. We have some studio time booked for November. We’re still in the process of writing the next EP, but we like the pressure – which is ideal when we have a set time to write. There’s also a tour planned for late-2014, going into 2015, so plenty of exciting things going on in the world of The Cadbury Sisters!
Hanna 