There’s a lot of buzz around Melbourne quartet City Calm Down and it’s no wonder. Their Movements EP released late last year was a slow burning collection of intelligent cuts of indie electronica and shoegaze that showed great promise, and the intense energy of their live shows has landed the band slots supporting Alt-J and CHVRCHES when they tour Australia in July.
Their track “Stay” features on “Coming Up, Not Down Vol II” an exclusive mixtape curated by our mates at I OH YOU that you can download now for free. We recently caught up with City Calm Down for a quick round of Finish This Sentence…
Our act consists of Jack Bourke (vocals), Sam Mullaly (synths), Jeremy Sonnenberg (bass) and Lee Armstrong (drums).
People have described our sound as new wave/post-punk.
But we prefer to call it like it is (that is, new wave/post-punk).
My local music scene is diverse
You can come see me play on tour with Alt-J and Snakadaktal or CHVRCHES soon!
The best thing about playing live is when people know the words to your songs. Not many people do, so it’s always a bit of a bizarre moment for us when people sing along.
The hardest thing about playing live is moving all our shit around!
My dream gig would be performing at Glastonbury.
A band/musician that’s been a major influence on me is Joy Division/New Order.
My favourite ‘guilty pleasure’ record/artist is probably Katy Perry.
An Australian band you should listen to is Jagwar Ma.
I like them because their feel for groove and rhythm is amazing. They are superb melodically too.
If I could turn back time I would see New Order perform at The Hacienda.
The best kind of fans are the ones that buy/wear our t-shirts. We’re always surprised when people do buy them though.
Whatever you do in life, make sure it isn’t just because it’s fun. People that subscribe to that idea are full of shit.
Download Coming Up, Not Down Vol II now.
