FOR India Seddon-Callaghan the COVID-19 pandemic has been a time of farewells and new beginnings.
After months of inaction due to being unable to rehearse her folk-rock four-piece India and The Journey To The East announced they were disbanding last week after an EP and a handful of singles.
But from the ashes Seddon-Callaghan has moved on with her new funk-rock band Viragos, which is Latin for warrior woman.
Seddon-Callaghan and her housemate and guitarist Rana Ellway began writing songs together during the coronavirus lockdown and realised quickly there was a chemistry within their rhythmically-driven music.
"We joined forces in that way," Seddon-Callaghan said. "We stated off looping and jamming at home and wrote a bunch of songs.
"We thought this would sound awesome in a band, so we got the band together, a five-piece."
Joining the pair are Southern End drummer Duncan Brown, keyboardist Bree Young and former India and Journey To The East bassist Alex McWhirter. Ellway will play guitar and Seddon-Callaghan will handle vocals.
"This band is definitely focusing on the dance element," she said. "I'm just the singer, which is so freeing. I'm going to be incorporating a lot of movement into my performance. I used to be a dancer and I gave up that passion to do music, but now I'm bringing that back for the new band."
Viragos already have a set of original music and plan to make their live debut next month at Lizotte's.
