Australia alt-pop outfit City Calm Down head to Newcastle this month to play the intimate The Cluny 2 so Lee Allcock caught up with the band to speak about British crowds, cricket, and touring across Europe.
You’ll be making your way from Australia to play The Cluny 2 in Newcastle this month, so what can gig-goers expect from your set?
Seven of us squeezed onto the stage trying to not put each other’s eyes out with guitar necks and flailing limbs! Our live show used to just include the four of us; however, we tend now to write more parts in the studio than we can play so, over time, we have added a few more members to help out.
As an Australian band, what do you feel are the main differences between a British crowd and an Australian crowd?
The accents, of course. And also, the boos whenever we mention the cricket. That never happens in Australia …strange!
You’ll also be heading right across Europe on this tour, but where are you most looking forward to visiting and why?
Newcastle! It’s always exciting touring new places and we’ve never been to Newcastle. After that, it would have to be Berlin which was a lot of fun last time. Although, one person in the band did party a little too hard after the show and possibly ended up in an emergency. Thankfully, he’s okay now.
What was it like working with producer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, The Drones, Julia Jacklin) on the album? Did he offer you any advice?
He was amazing to work with as he really dives in and pushes you to your limit. There were times where all of us would be uncomfortable or unsure of how an idea would turn out but if you just let go a little and trusted him, it would generally work out for the best. I really enjoyed that challenge.
Your new album, ‘Television’, has a different, sharper and more focused feel to it than your previous releases. Having been together for some time, did you feel like it was the right thing to shake things up a little?
Yes. It was a conscious decision to change things up for this record. I’ve always liked bands that develop their sounds through their career and I guess we all just thought it was the right time for us to do something a little different.
City Calm Down head to The Cluny 2, Newcastle on Thursday 26th September. Tickets, priced at £10.00 in advance, are available from tickets.gigsnortheast.co.uk.
