CHICAGO | Paris, France based band Oracle Sisters made their stop at Schubas Tavern in Chicago back in September on their first North American headline tour. Their debut album Hydranism was released onto streaming platforms earlier this year in April, and the band took the beginning of the autumn season to tour the United States, playing their album in various cities across the country. With touring in new cities such as Chicago, the band uses their time to connect further with their audience. I got to chat with the band about their experience touring in America and the creation of their album.
“America is the land of the free…we’ve enjoyed everyone singing along on this tour! It can happen in Europe too, but sometimes because of the language barrier in some countries they might know the words less,” they said.
Being foreigners, there is much to explore in America, especially in those cities the band has never toured previously.
“Discovering new small towns on the way to new big towns, enjoying American cuisine (which seems somewhat novel to us coming from France), the wide expanse…the surprising breadth of nature here,” the members explain. “The antique stores and thrift stores, the graphic design of old hand painted shops, curiosities, the myths and legends and the variety.”
As for the debut album itself, writing Hydranism was an interesting yet memorable experience. They were writing and recording the album on the island of Hydra in Greece, when the unexpected happened.
“When we went in to start recording the island went into lockdown, and so we were sort of trapped in this beautiful studio for a month recording to our heart’s content as winter and storms rattled the windows outside.”
Recording this album during the lockdown really proved to the band that they can take all the time they needed, as during this point in time, the world was uncertain. They proved this with the release of their album three years later, and it is without a doubt incredibly special to the members of the band.
“It’s our first fully formed album, we used it as a chance to experiment with different approaches in production and different styles of music we love,” the band said.
“Hopefully it captured the spirit of a time in a timeless place.”