Cavolo Nero started with curiosity. What began as a school assignment at the Herman Brood Academy quickly turned into an obsession with rhythm, groove and musical exploration. Inspired by artists like Fela Kuti, Tame Impala and the psychedelic dance scene emerging in the Netherlands, the band set out to create something that doesn’t belong to one genre or culture. Instead of copying traditions, Cavolo Nero blends influences from around the world into their own sound somewhere between psychedelic groove and global dance rhythms. The result is music that’s designed to pull listeners into a shared moment on the dancefloor. In this interview with Durum Records we talk about their journey, Club Mountain disco and what to expect from them in the upcoming months.
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Introduction
What does the name ‘Cavolo Nero’ mean to you?
There’s actually not a very deep story behind the name. When we needed a band name for the assignment, we were listening a lot to Mauskovic Dance Band. We joked that if they could name themselves after food, maybe we should pick a vegetable. Chris suggested cavolo nero – the Italian kale – because it sounded funny and distinctive. So that became the name. What’s funny is that when we later released our first EP, we suddenly noticed many bands in the same scene also starting with a “C”: Chica Chica and Cocobolo. It almost felt like a scene forming by accident. We didn’t plan it that way, but suddenly we were all playing shows together. Now people even send us photos when they see cavolo nero in a supermarket somewhere. That’s a nice bonus.
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard you before?
That’s always a difficult question for us. We often describe it as psychedelic groove, because the music combines groove-based genres with a psychedelic atmosphere. Another way to put it could be eclectic dance music, because it draws inspiration from many styles. The funny thing is that influences like Fela Kuti and Tame Impala are equally important to us. On the one hand we love traditional dance rhythms, but at the same time we listen to a lot of modern indie and psychedelic music. Our music ends up somewhere in the middle of those worlds.
What themes return in your music?
Many of our songs are instrumental, so the themes are more about atmosphere than about lyrics. One recurring idea is escapism. We try to create a moment where people can step out of everyday life and simply experience the music together. During a show we want to create a place where everyone can just enjoy the moment and let everything else go for a while. Even though there aren’t many lyrics, we still try to put our emotions into the music. The way we play often reflects how we feel that day. Improvisation plays a big role in that, sometimes the music says things that words don’t need to.
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Roots
Which artists have influenced your sound?
For me (Chris) personally, my musical journey started with funk and rock. I was a huge Red Hot Chili Peppers fan growing up. Later I started discovering new sounds and different musical traditions. Khruangbin was a big moment for me, because it was the first time I heard instrumental music that felt like it was telling a full story. I also played for years in a klezmer and Balkan band at a music school in Amsterdam, which introduced me to different rhythms and time signatures. Bands like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are also inspiring because they use microtonal scales and create their own universe instead of copying one style. That approach resonates with us a lot, we also have the ambition to create our own universe in which different genres come together.
What does “fusion” mean to you as a band?
For us fusion means creating something that becomes your own sound. We’re careful not to copy musical traditions directly. As a band of mostly Dutch musicians, it wouldn’t feel right to simply make a straight Afrobeat record, for example. Instead we take inspiration from different rhythms and genres and combine them with our own background in indie and psychedelic music. That way something new emerges – something that feels like Cavolo Nero.
You also organise your own festival. How did that come about?
It actually started with the album release. Instead of just doing a regular show with a support act, we thought it would be more exciting to build an entire evening around the music we love. SkatecafĂ© allowed us to curate the whole line-up, which was amazing. The concept comes from our album Club Mountain Disco. The idea behind the album is a club with different rooms where each room represents a different musical style. Our festival is basically a physical version of that concept, moving between genres from traditional dance rhythms to electronic club music. We want to show the world that these different dance genres could exist next to each other, from cumbia – which to me is mostly about dancing – to techno.
Live
What do you want people to experience at your live shows?
We want our shows to feel like a journey. Ideally the audience gets pulled into a kind of trance where the music flows continuously. Instead of playing separate songs with pauses in between, we try to connect pieces so the set becomes one long arc that people can disappear into. Improvisation also plays a big role in that experience. Our keyboard player Daniel, for example, comes from a strong jazz background, so there are moments in the set where musicians can really stretch out with solos and improvisation. What we enjoy is finding the balance between those worlds. In traditional jazz the focus can be very heavily on solos, sometimes at the expense of danceability, while more electronic or structured live acts are often very tightly arranged. We try to sit somewhere in between – pushing the freedom of improvisation while still keeping the music moving as a danceable trip. The audience plays an important role in that as well. When the crowd gives energy, we naturally respond with more energy on stage. And even if the audience takes a little time to warm up, we try to find that energy on stage together and pass it back into the room. That exchange is what makes a live show special.
What live moment stands out for you?
Our album release show at Skatecafé last year was very special. We had worked on that show for a long time and it also became a small festival with other artists. Because it was our own event, the audience felt very connected to what we were doing. There were moments during the show where everything just clicked, the crowd, the music, the atmosphere. It was quite emotional as well because it felt like all the ideas we had finally came together in that moment.
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Inspires
What can we expect next from Cavolo Nero in 2026?
Right now we’re working on new music and slowly writing our next album. For the first time in a while we actually have time to experiment. Our first record was written in between touring and festival shows, but now we can dive deeper into certain genres and ideas. At the moment we’re exploring cumbia rhythms, but that might change again soon. We like the idea of immersing ourselves in different styles and seeing what happens when we translate them into our own sound.The goal is to write and record the next album more intentionally within one creative period. And next to that, a new edition of Club Mountain Disco in May. The first edition was such a success that we felt we should do it again as soon as possible!