On the back of their latest single “Sense of Self” chosen for a Major Label release, we caught up with Melbourne based four piece City Calm Down to chat about the song, the Melbourne scene and more.
Tell us about yourselves… how did you form?
We formed in early 2008. Sam and I have been friends since early high school and I had played in a band with Jeremy (bass) for a number of years. When that band dissolved we decided to start collaborating and shortly after this we got in touch with Michael (drums) who was in the year above Sam and I at school.
Melbourne really is a melting pot of opportunity for young bands. With so many venues incorporating live music into their businesses we have found it easy to pick up shows and develop our live sound. We’ve been lucky enough to play with some fantastic Melbourne bands (and a few from interstate too) and often the line-ups involve an interesting blend of genres…so while it may be slightly odd to see a band such as ours playing alongside a psychedelic rock band I think it gives the punter exposure to music they otherwise may not have encountered.
What’s the hardest thing about being an up-and-coming band in Australia – particularly in Melbourne?
There are lot of things that make being an up-and-coming band difficult. The hardest? I would say getting people to hear your music has been and always will be the most difficult thing and I think this is true for any artist. We’ve been performing live for about four years now and we’ve slowly developed a small fan base as a result but there is simply so much content online that getting a peak into that market is extremely difficult. That said, I the fact that it is so difficult motivates us to work harder and write better music.
Tell us about the track “Sense of Self” – what about it do you think attracted Major Label to it?
Well to tell you the truth Major Label hadn’t heard the song when they contacted us. We released an EP in the middle of last year and Sami from Major Label had listened to it and so she emailed us to see if we had any unreleased material that was close to being complete. Fortunately we were in the process of finishing off ‘Sense of Self’!
What do you hope people who listen to it take away from it?
I think this song has a stronger focus on melody than our earlier stuff did. We also spent a lot more time developing the sounds of the synthesizers we used. We purchased a lot of new gear (we’re currently recording an album in our home studio) and I think we were able to get some interesting and unique sounding parts into the track.
How did the Major Label opportunity come knocking? Was there any hesitation when it did?
Sami from Major Label emailed us about 6 weeks ago after she listened to our EP online. We had heard of Major Label and knew that they were focused on releasing singles from unsigned bands. This was the ideal opportunity for us as we had a single that we would otherwise have released ourselves.
Have any new opportunities come out of the Major Label deal? If not, anything you’d like to see happen?
As the single was only officially released last week we’re still in the early stages. We’re happy to take each day as it comes. Hopefully as a result of this release more people will hear our music!
What fellow Melbourne bands have you been following in recent years?
White Bird & Lemons (RIP), The Raffaellas, Northeast Party House, the JSBs and Ross de Chene Hurricanes are all bands we have played with on a number of occasions. They all make fantastic music!
You can listen to the single below, and purchase the track through Major Label HERE.
