CITY Calm Down is all about balance.
Despite the general perception that bands spend all their time making music, the lads from the Melbourne four-piece still have their day jobs.
“We’ve lucked out a little bit in that we’ve all found jobs that allow us to do music on the weekend,” drummer Lee Armstrong said.
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READ NOW“We all fell into these jobs where we can work four days a week and take leave when we need to go touring and stuff like that.
“Sometimes it can be a bit hard when you’re busy with the band because you don’t really stop for a couple of months but you have to do it.”
Armstrong said while it “would be nice” to just do music, he could also appreciate the balance.
“Having a job does distract you a little bit but doing music 100 per cent of the time, you might go a little bit crazy,” he said.
“I don’t know, I’ve never done that but I’d like to give it a crack at some point in my life.”
The alt-pop group is now celebrating the long-awaited release of its second album Echoes in Blue, which dropped on Friday.
“It’s been in our pockets for so long that I just wanted to get it out,” Armstrong said.
“It’s about balancing that work/music balance and dealing with that.
“And then balancing that and our relationships with our partners and all that comes along with it and the anxieties of that.
“It’s about life balance and getting it all right.”
He said the reaction had so far been “pretty positive”.
“Most of the people that I’ve shown it to, the big reaction is ‘oh, it’s a bit different from the first record but it’s kind of the same’,” he said.
“It carries some of the mood across which is what we wanted to do.
“You don’t want it to be a carbon copy; you want to grow as an artist or as a writer and that’s important to us.
“For me, it’s not a record that as soon as you listen to it you’re like ‘wow this is amazing’.
“I think it’s a good record if you keep listening to it, you can find more in it the more you listen to it.
“Voodoo by D’Angelo does the same thing for me where you listen to it a lot and it keeps giving.”
Now finding that balance is about to ramp up, with rehearsals starting ahead of an eight-show tour of the UK and Europe next month before returning to tour Australia with a first-time visit to New Zealand.
“There won’t be time between UK and the Australian tour to really do any rehearsals, so everything has to be prepared before we go overseas,” Armstrong said.
“There’s still a bit of time so I’m not worried about it but everything’s got to be done by then.
“I imagine we’ll be doing a few late night ones.”
Though Armstrong said he was excited to go to New Zealand for the first time, he wouldn’t have much time there.
“I’ll have to be back at work on the Monday,” he said.
“So we get there on the Friday, then have the Saturday and back Sunday.”
As part of the tour, City Calm Down will play its biggest WA show at Metropolis Fremantle on June 16.
“Playing these venues is a bit surreal,” Armstrong said.
“I never thought we’d be able to do that.
“I’d hoped but in the back of my mind I thought it’s a bit of a long shot to be able to do this stuff for anyone.
“It’s super exciting and I’m happy to be able to have that opportunity.”
He said fans could expect “some of the old and most of the new”.
“We like to do pretty longer shows,” he said.
“I think it’s worth putting on a really good show and it’s fun to do.
“You play for like an hour and 20 minutes and people can go away happy or we hope so anyway.”
THE ESSENTIALS
Who: City Calm Down
When: June 16
Where: Metropolis Fremantle (18+)
Tickets: www.oztix.com.au or 1300 762 545