The Long Road HOME - The Caezar Interview
Six years have passed since the release of Caezar’s blistering debut, TIME. It’s been a turbulent six years for all of us, and many things look and feel different to how they did back in 2018. But Caezar’s ability to deliver spine-tingling, anthemic, grown-up rock has endured beautifully. In fact, with their brand new release - HOME - it seems to have thrived, reaching a whole new level of richness and musicality.
HOME is set to be released on all platforms from 22nd February 2024 and is available to preorder HERE. As part of the release for the new record, Caezar plan to kick off with a live show at CCA in Glasgow on 22nd February, where you’ll be able to hear tracks from the album live for the first time. Tickets for the show are available now. The album has been produced by Pete Fletcher (Escapologists) and mastered by Miles Showell (The Beatles, Sting, The Police and many more from Abbey Road Studios) along with a half-speed cut for vinyl press. HOME is set for vinyl, CD and digital release courtesy of Vertere Records from 22nd February 2024. Up On Satellites, the first single from HOME, is available to stream on major platforms now.
To celebrate the release of this stunning new record, we sat down with the band to lift the hood on their fascinating creative process, and find out how HOME came to life.
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Joe Donnelly and JJ Gilmour join us via video call from Glasgow. We’re lucky; it’s not an everyday occurrence to find Caezar in the same room together. Joe and JJ live at opposite ends of the British Isles - JJ in his native Scotland, Joe in southern England - coming together every few months for live shows, writing sessions, recordings, or a catch up. You might be forgiven for wondering how easy it is to successfully collaborate on a musical project whilst living so far apart. But to witness Joe and JJ together is to immediately understand how they make it work. The chemistry between them is electric from the start. They’re two people who truly enjoy each other's company, a bond that is evident in the honesty and adventurousness of the music they make together.
But given their relative distance from one another, how did they come to form a band? For the uninitiated, Joe and JJ regale us with the story of how Caezar came to life.
Caezar Begins
‘It all starts with The Silencers’.
Both Joe and JJ were, at various times, members of legendary Scottish rock band The Silencers. Formed in 1986, The Silencers grew into a household name across Scotland and beyond, much loved for their folk-influenced rock, and touring with (among others) David Bowie, U2, and The Pretenders. Joe and JJ’s membership of the group never overlapped - Joe had left the band by the time JJ joined - and so the two never actually met in person.
That was until a number of years later, when JJ began to plan a Silencers reunion show, in aid of founder-guitarist Cha Burns who was suffering with cancer at the time. “JJ had the idea to bring everyone who’d ever played in the band back together for a fundraising gig for Cha.” Joe tells us. “…it was over that week that it became apparent that the two of us had a real connection”. Sadly, Cha Burns passed away soon after the gig.
Joe and JJ, united in grief, began working together creatively - swapping demos back and forth via email. “It felt like a perfect way to honour that friendship [with Cha Burns].” A week in Donegal, Ireland, followed. This is where Joe and JJ started to organically and effortlessly bed in their unique sound. “We played what we had to a couple of people whose opinion we trusted…and we started to get the feeling that we were really onto something special with these songs”.
It was around this time that Joe happened to bump into an old friend. Touraj Moghaddam, founder and CEO of Vertere Records.
Joe and JJ with Touraj Moghaddam, Miles Showell, and label-mates Elles Springs and Will McNicol
“I was always a big fan of The Silencers, especially their early stuff”, Touraj tells us, a few days after our call with Caezar. “When I first heard Caezar’s songs, I heard so much of that Silencers magic in there”. In the modern music industry, it’s rare to encounter a record label executive who has such evident love for his artists. But Touraj, first and foremost, is a true fan of Caezar and their music.
“I love Joe’s bass playing”, explains Touraj. “He’s almost like this human metronome. But then as the track progresses, the bass lines transcend groove and become more like a beat or even a melodic line, and then suddenly it all just comes to life. Combine that with JJ’s incredible lyrics and voice, and this is the real, unmistakable signature of Caezar.”
In truth, Touraj was somewhat instrumental in the birth of Caezar. “We’ve known each other for years, and just happened to bump into each other one day”, Joe remembers. When Joe explained that he was working on tracks with JJ Gilmour, Touraj was keen to hear them for himself. “After I sent Touraj the tracks, he called me up and said ‘we’re starting a label under Vertere, and we’d like you to be the first release’. This was what really gave us the impetus to get the first record made”.
The first release, TIME, was a roaring success for Caezar. Its stripped back, brilliantly honest songwriting won a string of plaudits across music - culminating in a nomination for Scottish Album of the Year in 2019. A string of high profile tour support shows followed with Big Country, Simple Minds, The Pretenders, and more. And Caezar began to amass a dedicated following of fans right across the country.
The long road to HOME
‘It feels like a long time, but we’ve never really stopped working on a new album since TIME.’ JJ tells us. “Joe would be constantly demoing stuff in a studio down in Windsor and sending ideas up to me”. Between the release of Caezar’s two records, JJ was busy releasing and touring his own solo record, ‘This Time Will Pass’, written throughout lockdown. “For me it really came down to a question of, when do I have proper time to sit down and really sift through these [Caezar] ideas Joe has given me…he’s so prolific that it can be quite a job!”.
Although Caezar weren’t physically producing a new record, they were still busy growing their fanbase with extensive, nationwide live shows and tour dates. In 2022, Caezar went on to support iconic Scottish rock outfit Simple Minds on their 40th anniversary tour - opening the show and joining Simple Minds onstage to perform some of the band’s brand new releases. The link with Simple Minds goes back many years. Joe grew up with Simple Minds vocalist Jim Kerr, and the two have remained great friends throughout their lives. So much so that Joe was asked to contribute to a book on the band’s history, and was interviewed as part of a special, feature length documentary, ‘Everything is Possible’ available on Paramount + now.
Over time though, track listing for a new record slowly started to take shape. The next question became, where were they going to record album number two? “During this process of getting ready for the new record, we found that we wanted to change things up from when we made TIME.” JJ tells us. “We love everything about that first album, but the question became ‘how far can we push ourselves musically? How much can we evolve the sound from the first album?’. A change of studio and geographic location seemed like the right way to go”.
Black Bay Studio, on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides
The venue for this geographic and creative shakeup? Black Bay Studio - arguably one of the most remote professional recording studios in the world. Located on The Isle of Lewis on the ruggedly beautiful north west edge of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, it’s a remarkable space for making music - deeply cut off from any potential distractions, but packed with what JJ refers to as ‘lovely musical toys and trinkets’ for creating incredible music.
“The team who work up there have done a lot with bands like Mogwai…they had this more alternative, avant-garde background that appealed to us”.
Joe and JJ spent five solid weeks at Black Bay Studio, living just off from the live room and working the record until it was done. It was a decidedly old school way to record an album - an intense process of creation that is vanishingly rare in modern music production.
“It was good for us to get away. All that was there was us, the songs, and the music…in this kind of environment, there’s no escaping it - you’ve got to do the work, and that’s exactly what we did”.
Whilst the intensity of approach had a noticeably classic feel to it, Joe and JJ were still able to take advantage of modern technology to make the best record they possibly could. They collaborated remotely with a whole host of incredible musical talent, all of whom have added to the rich musical texture of the new record. Musical contributors included horns from Joseph Fletcher, keyboards and programming from producer Pete Fletcher, drums from Darren Lackie and Mark Brzezicki, backing vocals from Louise Connell, strings from David Crichton, and many more.
The Live Room at Black Bay Studio
The result of this long-form creative process was HOME - a record of deep musical richness and intricacy, surrounding some big, swaggering stadium-rock songwriting of the absolute highest calibre.
“HOME has this atmospheric, wall of sound quality to it that is almost Pink Floyd-like in its scope and scale”. Touraj tells us. The Vertere Records CEO is a huge fan of the album Caezar has created, and is greatly impressed with the scale of Caezar’s musical achievement. “It’s reminiscent of U2 in terms of the listenability, but with these stunning melodies that wouldn’t be out of place in prog or psychedelic rock”.
“The first album was quite clean and sparse - there was a huge amount of space…this new record is busier, but never at the expense of the melodies or the lyrics…one of the first things I noticed was the position of JJ’s voice in the mix. On the first record the vocals are the biggest and loudest thing on every track…on HOME, the vocals sit back into the arrangements and let the music do more of the work.”
“It makes it such a deeply engrossing listening experience.” Touraj explains.
All of this intricate musicality elevates every track on the record, but never comes at the expense of the songwriting. Wherever you look, there’s deep and meaningful songcraft to be found on HOME. It’s there in Up On Satellites, Dance Little Angel Dance, and the title track Home. We ask Joe and JJ, how did this particular title track come to life?
“Recording the album where we did is definitely part of what made that song [Home] what it is. We are literally Home. That really matters.” Joe tells us.
“Joe actually changed the dimension of that song”. JJ interjects. “When I took the first lyrical stab at Home it was a much more personal story. Joe came back to me and said ‘I don’t think this should be a song about your home, I think it should be about everybody’s home.’ That’s what made the lyrics more universal. Home can be anything. It could be a castle or a shed, or in a loved ones face, you know? It’s for everyone.”
This universality makes Home a song that connects deeply with anyone who cares to listen to it. It makes for a wonderfully cathartic and emotional end to a stunning selection of tracks.
HOME represents two masterful musicians operating at the very top of their game. Joe and JJ have given absolutely every last ounce of creativity and talent to this record - and that level of commitment and creative application makes HOME an incredibly meaningful listen that reveals more every time you press play.
HOME comes to life
Once the recording process was wrapped, it fell to Touraj and Vertere Records to work their magic and bring this new album to the public in the finest way possible. After a stunning mix by Nick Davis, the record was handed over to revered mastering engineer Miles Showell. Once mastered, Miles gave the record an exquisite half-speed cut for vinyl on his own custom-made Neumann lathe, prepping it for release on 22nd February. Miles uses a unique cutting process that ensures an unparalleled level of sonic performance and clarity in the final product.
Miles Showell with his custom-made Neumann lathe
His bespoke mastering system is extensively powered and cabled using Vertere high-power signal cables and mains power cables - specifically designed for maximum resolution, clarity, dynamics and total lack of noise. It all adds up to elicit the finest sonic experience it is possible to achieve through analogue listening.
The record was then sent to be pressed in London by The Vinyl Factory - representing the very first time Vertere Records have used the company to produce their vinyl. Speaking of this new collaboration, Touraj said, “It’s really, really impressive. The quality of the pressings is amongst the best that I’ve encountered. They’ve preserved so much of the musicality from the master in the test presses…they have done an amazing job”.
HOME will be pressed onto black vinyl, “Some of the quietest black vinyl I’ve ever heard”, says Touraj.
We leave the last word to Joe and JJ. What are they hoping fans will take from this new album?
“Home can be anywhere - it’s a universal idea that applies to anyone and everyone. We hope that means this record connects with all who care to listen to it and enjoy it. This is a record we’re immensely proud of, and feels like a huge creative step forward for us as a band. We’re very excited to share it with the world”.
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Pre-order your copy of HOME by heading to this link. You can also join us for the album launch party at CCA Glasgow - you can get your tickets here.
Article written by Lee Broderick for Vertere Records.
