SOARING POPULARITY: Selling out their debut concert tour was another clear indication of the Australian boy band’s status as the latest teen appeal heart-throbs.

By Geoffrey Rowlands

Seeing a 20-second ad before a YouTube music video was all it took to know 5 Seconds of Summer were destined for massive chart success. Selling out their debut UK concert tour in under five minutes was another clear indication of the Australian boy band’s status as the latest teen appeal heart-throbs.

Only the boys themselves, Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin, are surprised by their popularity. They were genuinely stunned to find their first major label single, She Looks So Perfect, had stormed straight to number one in Britain.

“I actually cried of happiness when I heard we were top,” admitted 19-year-old drummer Ashton. “I was ecstatically happy and just felt the tears rolling down my cheeks.”

“I was totally speechless,” added bassist Calum, 18. “I’d never experienced that kind of reaction before. I guess it was a combination of joy and shock. Being number one is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“We can’t thank our fans enough,” remarked singer and guitarist Luke, 17. “They’ve made it all possible. We started out posting videos on YouTube of us doing cover versions and everything spread from there. Without YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, we’d probably be just another young band playing on the music circuit around Sydney.”

Luke, Calum and 18-year-old guitarist Michael met at school. A shared interest in music meant they quickly became firm friends. Their need for a drummer saw Ashton join the band in December, 2011.

“We built a social media following quickly enough to do a couple of Australian concert tours and release two EPs during 2012,” Michael revealed. “The concert venues were not exactly enormous but our fans packed them out and our first EP hit number three on the Australian iTunes chart.”

Their debut single, Out of My Limit, was released in November, 2012 but only made available to fans in Australia and New Zealand. Despite this, the song video was viewed more than 100,000 times during its first day on YouTube.

Although the boys had no major label record deal, their work was appreciated by influential people. One Direction members Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan both posted links to 5 Seconds Of Summer videos on their social media accounts.

“We owe a lot to One Direction,” Luke confirmed. “They’ve championed our songs and gave us the biggest break we could ever hope for by inviting us to be the opening act on their Take Me Home world tour.”

“Apart from a few weeks off in May, touring with One Direction took up most of our time during 2013,” Ashton explained. “We didn’t have all that long to work on songs for our debut album.”

She Looks So Perfect was written in Los Angeles by Ashton and Michael along with multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer and singer/ songwriter Jake Sinclair.

“Jake is an amazing guy who has worked with so many different people,” Michael stated. “Everyone from Pink to Panic! At The Disco, Chiddy Bang to Daughtry. He adapts to your style of music.”

“It was Jake who had the basic idea for She Looks So Perfect,” Ashton added. “We thought the concept was really cute. We expanded it and ended up with the three of us writing the song together.”

Having now finished recording their as-yet-untitled debut album, when is it scheduled for release?

“The fans hate us saying this but it will be out sometime soon is the only information we can give,” Calum smiled. “A specific date hasn’t been decided. I think we’ll issue at least one more single before the album. We can only ask fans to keep watching our social media websites. We’ll tell them the release date as soon as we know for sure.”

 

in brief

Michael Jackson

A new Michael Jackson album is set for release on May 13. Xscape contains eight tracks which have never previously been issued. The album was executive produced by Antonio ‘LA’ Reid who sourced the songs from material on which Michael had completed his vocals. LA then worked with producers Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Jerome ‘Jroc’ Harmon, John McClain and Stargate to create musical accompaniments which “contemporised” each track.

A deluxe edition of Xscape will also be available. This features both the newly crafted songs and the recordings in their original form.

 

Nico & Vinz

No more new material will be heard from Norwegian duo Envy. Not that Nico Sereba and Vincent Dery are giving up the music business. They have simply changed their name to the more personal sounding Nico & Vinz.

“We discovered there were so many other groups called Envy,” Nico explained. “The name change eliminated confusion and avoided any possible legal problems.”

After finding significant chart success in Scandinavia, Nico & Vinz have launched a world-wide promotional campaign with their 2013 hit, Am I Wrong.

“This was our most successful single,” Vincent (Vinz) stated. “It makes sense to use this song in the first phase of promoting ourselves on the international market.”

The video for Am I Wrong can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg1sT4ILG0w. Also posted here are links to the videos for their other smash hit, In Your Arms, and Envy’s first Norwegian hit, One Song.

 

Wolfmother

Australian rockers Wolfmother surprised fans by announcing the release of their third album, New Crown, through a posting on the trio’s Facebook page. It is available to hear in full at (no www.) wolfmother.bandcamp.com/. The video for lead single, Heavy Weight, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEmFDP3eN0.

Much more of their work can be found at (no www.) myspace.com/wolfmother/music/songs

 

Woman’s Hour

Woman’s Hour has been broadcast on BBC national radio for the last 68 years. The English four-piece band of the same name have been around for a considerably shorter period. Hailing from Kendal in the county of Cumbria, the three guys and a girl got together in 2010. After relocating to London, they have attracted critical acclaim for their smooth indie sound and built a solid following on the UK music scene.

Their 11-song debut album, Conversations, is set for release on July 14. But the title-track has just been issued as the band’s latest single. It is posted at (no www.) soundcloud.com/womanshourband. Also here are three more songs from the album along with some earlier work and several remixes. A few of these tracks are offered for free download.

 

Beverley Martyn/Nick Drake

English singer/songwriter Nick Drake received little recognition during his brief life. His three albums each sold no more than 5,000 copies on initial release. But the last 20 years or so have seen interest in Nick’s work peak to such a degree that headlines are made by the discovery of any new material. So it is that folk singer Beverley Martyn’s forthcoming album, The Phoenix & The Turtle, is receiving so much publicity. It contains the song Reckless Jane which Beverley and Nick created together during a jam session at her home in Hastings two months before his death in 1974. This song, plus the other tracks on Beverley’s album, can be heard at (no www.) soundcloud.com/walesatthefringe. Beverley’s live performance of Levee Breaks is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLgZvB1tEPg