Macc band in Rolling Stone

Above: Cassia by Tabeah Berler for Rolling Stone

American music mag, Rolling Stone, carries a feature on Macclesfield’s own Cassia this week.

Andy Greene writes:

The post-industrial town of Macclesfield, England, has a rather unfortunate reputation due to its tiny size, perpetually grey skies, limited employment opportunities, and lack of even a single movie theater. At a low point in 2004, the Local Futures Group called it the “least cultured” place in England. When tourists do come, it’s often to visit the grave of Joy Division frontman/Macclesfield native Ian Curtis, who died by suicide in 1980 after creating some of the saddest (albeit staggeringly brilliant) music in rock history.

But a new rock trio, Cassia, have emerged from Macclesfield with a wildly euphoric sound that’s the antithesis of Joy Division’s moroseness in every possible way. Over the past few years, they’ve risen from the pub circuit to large halls and festival stages all across Europe, and racked up tens of millions of Spotify plays for bright, joyful anthems like “Right There” and “Drifting” that turn every show into a celebration of life.

“I suppose you can go one of two ways if you live in Macclesfield,” says Jacob Leff, Cassia’s drummer. “You either embrace the dark thing and write something that’s cold and angry, or you can imagine something that’s more of an escape. And it’s not like we’ve wanted to get away from Mac. It’s more about escaping the dreary weather.”

Cassia lead singer Rob Ellis agrees. “I used to think that where we lived was a limitation,” he says. “I thought we’d have to move somewhere to get this thing going since we didn’t have a manager or any way to promote ourselves. But we wound up grinding it out, and I think it put us at an advantageous position living in Macclesfield because it allowed us to imagine these other spaces, and write this music.”

As a kid growing up in Macclesfield, Ellis loved MGMT, Vampire Weekend, Bombay Bicycle Club, and other indie acts. Leff was more into his parent’s music, including the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Police. When he got a bit older, neo-soul acts like D’Angelo and Erykah Badu broadened his horizons. He also became entranced by Paul Simon’s two world music albums, Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints. “It didn’t feel like a traditional form of songwriting,” he says. “He did such interesting and weird things with the rhythms and the vocals.”

Full story appears in Rolling Stone HERE