About Us
James Cisco – vocals, guitar
Caesar Slattery – vocals, bass
Jason Torrens – drums
Jacob Cole – guitar
James Cisco was born in Central Illinois and is known to moonlight with The Excellent Smithers among other side projects. As a baby his mother and father, both musicians, would lay him in a guitar case overnight rather than a crib as it was all they could afford. He spent his childhood attending bluegrass festivals and ragtime banjo conventions. As he grew older he took gigs across the USA playing in resorts, on paddle steamers, and in every seedy bar he could find. When he fell in love with an Australian he left the shores of his homeland and headed into the unknown taking the first shaky steps toward finding his musical soul mates.
As most musicians do, Cisco started frequenting pubs and clubs that hosted open stages in hopes of getting regular work with his mixed bag of Americana. It was one of these evenings when lightning struck with such ferocity that it left everyone’s ears ringing for months.
Paul ‘Caesar’ Slattery – the legendary frontman of Australia’s notorious disco soul band Pornland and man about town with Moreland City Soul Revue and many other soul acts – jammed with Cisco at the open mic and they instantly realised that their powerful voices and shared love of all things soul were uncannily matched – they formed what would be the beginning of Cisco Caesar shortly thereafter. Can lightning strike twice you ask? It sure can.
Jason Torrens was an Australian T.V. Star as a teenager playing the lead role in Pugwall and Pugwall’s Summer. Putting his acting past behind him he dedicated his life to being an incredible drummer in many bands, most notably The Reefers and Bugdust. James Cisco met him at of all things a family Christmas party. It seems Cisco and Torrens had similar taste in women and had in fact married into the same family.
Finally add one Jacob Cole, the gifted guitar player from The Portraits and Sal Kimber and the Rolling Wheel and you have one very unlikely group of musicians. The sound is unmistakeable: a voice-driven, songwriting band with powerful hooks in magic hands. This album is the culmination of chance, talent, and years of hard work.
These guys aren’t the only new band that you’re going to start listening to this year, but they might as well be.
“Get off your couch and come see these cats strut their own brand of vintage soul-rock and wail like nobody’s business.” – Beat Magazine, February 2013
“Cisco Caesar are pure quality. They sound like they’ve been beamed in from the mid seventies, a time when you had to be absolutely amazing to get noticed as a serious live band. Tight isn’t the word. Effortless – that’s the word.” – Horsham-Rocks.co.uk, August 2013