Walking up the stairs to a studio in Redfern, Sydney, the distant but assuring echoing of guitars sounded. The source of the sound was one of Australia’s premier new groups that have been somewhat of a hidden gem for the past few months. 5 Seconds of Summer are a band hailing from Sydney’s West and having only been together for around several months, they have managed to summon a loyal fan base, consisting of over 40,000 Facebook fans. The four teenagers may not have known what was in store for them when they started out in their bedrooms individually, only a few years ago, however, their current success is undeniable, and it’s more than logical to expect greater things to come as the band break the local music scene into international success.
Until then, the band will try their best to contain their success to some extent, playing modest venues across the nation. Having announced a handful of intimate dates at Sydney’s Factory Theatre, Brisbane’s The Old Museum and Melbourne’s SUB, and then crashing both ticketing sites within seconds, the popularity of the four, known personally to all fans by their names: Luke, Calum, Michael and Aston, is second to none.
Win Tickets To 5 Seconds Of Summer Sold Out Sydney show (Friday 25th May) for one lucky fan and a friend. Winning is simple! All you have to do is follow these simple rules.
1. Like the Music Feeds Facebook page.
2. Like, share and comment on the link to this interview on the Facebook page.
3. Wait until 7PM, Monday, 21st May to find out who wins!
Unsure what to expect as I entered the studio, to the warm sounding guitar riffs ranging from original tracks to an impeccable rendition of Stevie Wonders ‘Superstition’, I was met by four of the nicest people I have ever encountered. It seemed as if the modest, and slightly nervous group, had not completely realised the magnitude of their current success.
All right so first off tell us a little about yourselves.
“We’re a four-piece band from Western Sydney with myself our lead vocalist and guitar player, Calum Hood, on bass and vocals; Michael Clifford on guitar and vocals; and Ashton Irwin playing drums and percussion with some vocals. We’re all still trying to juggle this with school, but we’re making it work as best we can”. Laughed Luke Hemmings, who seems to be the heartthrob of the band.
So how did the band form?
“It all started out with just Luke uploading videos to YouTube, which pretty quickly started getting thousands of hits. After that, Michael and I, who went to the same school as Luke, just sort of fell together and started making videos together. It really took off when we covered Next 2 You by Chris Brown & Justin Bieber. It was our first video that got over two hundred thousand views and since then the channel, our Facebook and Twitter accounts, just sort of started getting heaps of momentum.”
The momentum of the band has taken them to a new level of success. Having accumulated their own personal army of fans, without releasing any original material they have racked up a solid 17,000 Twitter followers, nearly doubling the amount held by iconic Australian Electronic group Empire Of The Sun.
“It was a couple of months after that in December 2011 when we needed a drummer for a show that we were playing and we knew Ashton through mutual friends. After playing our first gig together we really liked him and everything just sort of fell into place and we asked him to join 5 Seconds of Summer.” Continued Calum.
You guys record covers of a stack of bands from different styles and genres, but haven’t done too much of your own material; can we expect some originals coming soon?
Quashing the dubious few who questioned the pop-derived style of the band, Calum emphasized the need for a “5 Seconds of Summer Spin” recognising the importance of originality when performing covers.
“We cover a mix of our favourite songs and bands that are a major influence on our original music and we also cover music that is popular, but at the same time putting the 5 Seconds of Summer spin on them.”
“YES!” He continued, excitedly. “We have been working on originals for many months now and are nearly ready to show our dedicated fans!”
The band will be exhibiting these originals for the first time as they take the stage on their small tour of capital cities, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
What about the prospect of an album or EP?
On the subject of original materials, all members of the band were quite excited about the prospect of an album or EP, hinting at their current plans to start recording after their tour finishes.
“Everything is coming together slowly but surely”. Stated Ashton, taking over from bassist and vocalist Calum. “We’ve only really been a band for four months, but we are hoping to begin working on our debut release of original stuff as soon as possible. We’ve got a bunch of writing sessions coming up and we’re rehearsing a few times a week and writing all the time. We really just want to get it right for our fans and give them something they want, we’re all pretty excited though. We’ll also be getting into the studio soon to record some of our fans favourite covers professionally and get them out on iTunes!”
The importance of digital media and other assorted sites has been an imperative aspect to their success. Without their impressive use of sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, the band may not be in the position that they are in today. Their social media sass has even grabbed the attention of American radio giant The Hot Hits, who called them “the band you should be obsessing over”.
So you’ve just announced two intimate dates in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne; can we expect any more concert announcements soon?
When asked about the prospect of another announcement of shows across Australia, the band was quite enthusiastic.
“Well we’re playing two concerts in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne at the moment, but we’re all really busy writing music and rehearsing to get our live show as tight as we can.”
Setting their hopes high, the boys continued, stating their desire for a national tour, and the hope of a handful of international shows arose.
“We’ll definitely be playing some shows soon though and then do a full Australian tour when we release our EP. We have so many fans in Europe and Asia too, so we hope we can do some shows overseas soon.”
You have a fairly committed fan base that spans across the globe from Australia to Brazil and even a stack of fans in Europe; how does that feel having so many fans across the world?
It became obvious within minutes that the quartet had big aspirations, but it took them a while to realise how big these aspirations really were.
“We really never intended to be known worldwide. We just thought a few of our friends would watch the videos, maybe their friends at best”. Chuckled Michael.
“We get fans coming up to us wherever we go now, we have fans sending us mail and doing drawings of us. It’s a pretty surreal feeling for all us boys because we’re still in school and still do all the normal stuff just like other teenagers. We love our fans so much though and we are so grateful to have such a dedicated fan base.”
Who would be a band that you would want to collaborate with in the near future?
“There are so many!” laughed Michael. “Some of our favorite bands are All Time Low, Mayday Parade, Boys Like Girls and New Found Glory so obviously we would love to collaborate with them! We also love heaps of Aussie bands and would really love to work with Tonight Alive.”
In the brief hour or two that we were together, it became clear that Michael, Calum, Aston and Luke maintain the essential characteristics that many artists lack as they progressively grow. Although it is only early days, it’s clear that the musical forecast for the next few years reads only one thing: Summer.
5 Seconds of Summer will be playing two extremely intimate and sought-after concerts in both Sydney and Melbourne in a matter of weeks. Crashing the ticketing website within seconds, and selling it out only seconds after that, it seems that there will be no chance to get tickets.
However, Music Feeds is lucky enough to have one double pass to their Sydney show (Friday 25th May) for one lucky fan and a friend. Winning is simple! All you have to do is follow these simple rules.
1. Like the Music Feeds Facebook page.
2. Like, share and comment on the link to this interview on the Facebook page.
3. Wait until 7PM, Monday, 21st May to find out who wins!
