Xavier Rudd opens doors for Calypso Cora, led by son Finojet

With his rock band Calypso Cora, Finojet Rudd is at the start of what he hopes is a long career in music – but when it comes to studying persistence, the roots of his inspiration began at home.

Finojet Rudd with father Xavier backstage at the Night at The Barracks concert in Manly. Picture: Mikey Conlon

At 19, Finojet Rudd is at the start of what he hopes is a long and fruitful career in music – but when it comes to grit and persistence, his inspiration began at home with his famous father.

With his bandmates in NSW north coast act Calypso Cora, Finojet has released a handful of songs and begun the patient journey of building an audience.

By supporting his father Xavier Rudd on tour, however, the quartet has dramatically increased the numbers of ears attuned to its polished indie rock style, including a recent performance at Manly, Sydney, before about 3000 people.

“It’s great to go from bartenders to thousands,” said Finojet. “The last gig we played was at Night at The Barracks, which was huge – and then we went back to playing the Brunswick Hotel to pretty much nobody. It’s humbling, but it’s good.”

Indie rock band Calypso Cora. L-R: Finojet Rudd, Finn Condon, Sebastian Awad and Lucia Stewart. Picture: Joaquin Noah

Of playing to fans of his dad’s globally popular brand of acoustic roots music, Finojet said: “It’s impossible for me to think that it can one day become that. It just seems like a fairytale, but I’m intrigued. It makes you want to work at it until that becomes reality. From how dad explains it, he was in the exact same boat that I was, asking the exact same questions.”

With 2.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Rudd certainly found the right answers in his own work, which now spans 10 acclaimed albums. His Freedom Sessions tour continues in Coffs Harbour on Thursday and Friday, followed by Brisbane (November 15), Gold Coast (November 16), Adelaide (November 22) and Melbourne (November 23), with Calypso Cora in support.

In a joint video interview, Rudd Snr reflected on his second son’s nascent progress as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.

“I think he’s got a lot more confidence than I had early on. Where I probably needed a few beers to get going, he doesn’t,” said Xavier, 46. “He’s a rock star on stage; he owns it when he plays. It doesn’t matter if it’s 3000 people there or five, he has a charm with the audience, aside from his talent.

“I’m really proud. I’m really stoked to be able to be there in this capacity. I’m not dominating anything; I’m just able to open a few doors, and that feels really good. It’s not about me – it’s about watching my son open up and do his thing.”

For readers of The Australian, Calypso Cora contains another father-son link of interest: bassist Finn Condon is the son of senior reporter Matthew Condon.

Naturally enough, Finojet first knew the award-winning journalist and author primarily as his bandmate’s dad. “But when I heard that he was somewhat of an icon, I started listening to more of his stuff, and especially his audiobooks. It’s just incredible the way he speaks,” he said.

“He’s so poetic in his delivery, and he’s so passionate about everything – even if it’s about going to the shops or something, he talks in the exact same, formally seductive kind of way. He’s something else. It’s enjoyable just to listen to him talk about how he cuts the lawn.”