A Quick Chat with Cali Rd
Made up of brothers Sam Hunt (vocals/guitar/banjo) and Jack Hunt (vocals/guitar/drums), Cali Rd have been surrounded by music for as long as they can remember. Born in Adelaide, they spent their early years listening to classic rock and watching their dad perform in country bands. The pair began music lessons from the age of 6 then as teenagers moved to a remote cattle farm near Alice Springs. It was these formative years where the isolation of the outback gave the brother’s the space to sharpen their craft. From Alice Springs, the pair headed to Darwin, where they continued writing separately while juggling adulthood and their trades; Jack as a carpenter and Sam an electrician. It wasn’t long before The Hunt Brothers built a loyal online following revealing the undeniable spark they had together.
Hi guys, great to finally meet you both. What inspired the move from The Hunt Brothers to Cali Rd, and what does the new name represent for you both?
Cali Rd represents a couple of very important things to us. We were both born and raised on California Road, in McLaren Vale, South Australia. On top of that, California Road was the name of the band that Jack and I played in with our Dad and his brother. We played surf rock instrumentals, because that’s what we jammed to in our drum room back at our house. We shortened the name to Cali Rd because it’s now only half of the original band, so we thought it was cool to represent that in the name.
You’ve lived in places ranging from a remote cattle station near Alice Springs to coastal Cronulla. How have those contrasting landscapes influenced your songwriting and sound?
We grew up close to the beach in SA, and spent a lot of time surfing on the south coast of Australia. We traded that in as early teens when our family moved to a cattle station in Alice Springs, and spent years out on the red dirt. That time in the country shaped us as much as the coast has, which is why there are elements of surf rock/pop as well as country throughout our music.
As brothers, what does your creative process look like, and who usually wins when you disagree over a lyric or musical idea?
Our creative process comes together well. We often start by coming up with our own melody ideas whilst out and about, and will voice note them to play to one another later. It’s a joint process beyond that, we will flesh out ideas lyrically and build up demo’s together. If we both aren’t 100% fully behind an idea, then we won’t do it.
Because you wrote the song together, how did each of you contribute to telling such a personal and emotionally specific story?
We are brothers and best mates and have lived together our whole lives, a lot of these stories whilst personal, are stories that we have been through at the same time.
What was it like working with producer Robby De Sa, and how did he help shape the final sound of ‘Never Love Again’?
Robby was one of the first people we worked with in Sydney, and immediately we forged a brilliant working partnership. He understood exactly the sound we were after and helped shape it very quickly. He is an incredible writer and producer, and the first 3 singles we are releasing are all produced by Robby.
What do you hope listeners experiencing a similar kind of heartbreak take away from the song?
A heartbreak takes time to heal and there’s multiple phases during that timeline, we hope that this song can provide comfort and relatability for anyone going through a tough time, and we want them to know that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Congratulations on the new track ‘Never Love Again’. What can we expect from Cali Rd over the next six months?
The next 6 months are huge, we will release our debut EP at the end of the year and you can catch us on tour up and down the east coast, tour dates are on our website!
Cali Rd live shows:
Fri 14 Aug 2026 – Gold Coast, QLD (supporting Jack Botts)
Sat 15 Aug 2026 – The Espy – St Kilda, VIC (supporting Jack Botts)
Sun 16 Aug 2026 – The Metro – Sydney, NSW (supporting Jack Botts)
Fri 21 Aug 2026 – TBH Fridays – Wollongong, NSW (headline show)
Sat 22 Aug 2026 – 7th Day Brewing – Manly, NSW (headline show)
Fri 4 Sep 2026 – Hotel Brunswick – Brunswick Heads, NSW (supporting Boy & Bear)
Sat 5 Sep 2026 – Kings Beach Tavern – Sunshine Coast, QLD (supporting Boy & Bear)