After only a short year of waiting, Melbourne’s City Calm Down are set to release their newest album, Television, on the 23rd of August.
Having explored cinematic tones, darker moods, and a Joy Division-esque vibe on their first two albums, In A Restless House and Echoes In Blue, City Calm Down have moved towards a fresh, more pop-like sound on album number three, with plenty of nods towards influences that still give them their signature sound that we’ve all come to love.
Between lyrics chock-full of concerns that all of us millennials face and should be thinking about, stripped down layers of instruments, and plenty of melodies that are sure to get us grooving, Television feeds pure energy to the fans who are hungry for more.
Boasting ten tunes, tunes like ‘Flight’, ‘Stuck (On The Eastern)’, and title track ‘Television’ having already been released to give City Calm Down fans a taster of what’s to come.
With great anticipation ahead of this record, we chatted with vocalist Jack Bourke and keyboardist Sam Mullaly to get the [City Calm] Down-low on what this album is about, how working with producer Burke Reid helped them to change up their sound, and what we can expect on their upcoming tour.
Check out ‘Television’ by City Calm Down:
So first of all, you guys are releasing your new album on August 23rd, how are you feeling about it? Are you excited to get it out there into the world?
Jack Bourke: Yeah, really looking forward to it. We actually finished it in April, I think. When you finish it, you’re kind of just keen to get it out as quickly as possible, but then there’s a whole lot of stuff that goes into actually promoting the release and video clips, and interviews, and stuff like that. So, yeah, really excited to get it out and yeah, move on to the next thing.
Sam Mullaly: Yeah, pretty stoked! Songs have slowly been coming out over the last couple of months. It’s really nice to see them make their way, finally, into the public view, and yeah, pretty stoked to be playing them live as well. We’ve played four of the new tracks live now in a few early shows, and will be playing more of them soon on tour, so pretty pumped for it!
The new record came about after a bit of a quick turnaround — was there anything that drove you guys to make a new album so quickly, or was it just a natural thing?
Jack Bourke: I was just writing more songs, and it sounded like we had a record ready and, so, we decided to do it.
I think it’s always freaky knowing when you’re ready to make a record, but I think we’ve always been pretty good at just focusing on songs. And, working with Burke [Reid] this time, he kept pushing us on the songs and, yeah, that was pretty much it.
Sam Mullaly: We started off with a plan just to make an EP in the amount of time that we did and I think it started to come together a lot more quickly. Jack actually took a lot of time off work and was writing a lot, and that sort of sped things along.
We sort of got closer towards the deadline when we realised we had almost a full album there. That might just come from having a bit more time put into it, but also maybe just having a bit more of an idea of what we wanted to do.
Check out City Calm Down’s ‘Mother’:
With that gap of a few years between the first and second City Calm Down albums, was there any sort of apprehension about making this new record quicker?
Jack Bourke: Not necessarily. I don’t know if there’s any issues from, like, marketing for records if they come out sooner or later, but I guess you can’t really concern yourself with that stuff. I think that stuff is more read into it after the fact.
Like, King Gizzard [And The Lizard Wizard], for example, release records all the time. So, I don’t know… it’s not like we’re missing out on releasing music as quickly as they are, well, I don’t know how they do that. It’s insane, but I don’t know [laughs].
I don’t think we’ve really thought about there being any issues with it. If the songs are good, the songs are good. We thought that they were, and we hope that heaps of other people do too! We’ll see!
Sam Mullaly: No, not so much apprehension, I guess. You know, we would’ve liked to have made the second album quicker, but we weren’t capable. Yeah, it wasn’t ever a thing to think like, “ah, let’s give it a bit and take a while to make a second album,” [laughs]. It just didn’t come together like we would’ve hoped it to.
So, maybe it was a bit of a surprise when this one came together a bit quicker and a bit easier. But, I think it was just the material there. You get to a point where you’re like, “these are good songs that the band writes, and we actually have an album worth of material, and it stitches together, and we like it.”
You guys noted that the new songs come from a bit more of an existential place. It seems that a lot of the lyrics in this album deal with real-world issues that affect the current generation, what was it about those issues that inspired you guys to create songs about them?
Jack Bourke: I’m always sort of working that out after we finish the record, primarily because when I’m writing I’m trying to understand what, I don’t know how to phrase this, I’m usually writing for feeling rather than trying to, sort of, melodically put together a message or something like that.
So, the way the songs take shape is based on, usually, more of the emotional fabric of what’s going on in the music, and the lyrics try to draw on that and reflect that. So there are narratives and themes to those songs, but, yeah, it’s always an interesting process of after the record’s been finished, then seeing a bit more in them.
The lyrics aren’t supposed to be necessarily about anything in a really concrete sense, but I think, on the whole, the record is sort of looking at is, how we live with lives in the 21st century in the face of small or big challenges. Every generation has had its challenges and, I guess, living in Australia for a long period of peace time, we haven’t had to face all of those challenges like wars that previous generations have chased.
But, I think the challenges we face are, sort of, like with going into things like climate change, and stuff like that, where there’s like those clear, existential threats. But, say changes in labour markets, and how it’s harder to get a job, and you’ve got to be a lot more flexible in the skill sets you hold so that you can transition from one thing to another because, you know, the job you’re working now might not be there in ten, fifteen years time.
That might just be my experience, but I sort of get a sense that it’s easy to feel lost in what your role is, particularly when there is almost this shroud of doubt or anger around what humanity is doing to the planet. So, I think there’s this real sort of existential, not crisis — I don’t think it’s a crisis, but it’s a fervour, I think, that is taking hold.
I don’t necessarily think that it’s good or bad, but I think, yeah, that the record is just piecing together stories that maybe question, not a practical way forward but just an emotional way forward. It doesn’t really bear any fruit. It doesn’t really have the answers, necessarily, but I think it’s just trying to pull at threads a little more and see what’s there.
Sam Mullaly: There’s a bit of a look, I guess, at the fact that the content isn’t a political record, but it’s more like a comment on the landscape on which people are existing and having this conversation.
At the moment, you know, there’s quite a separation between people where some are in the group on the hard left and others are in the group on the far right. There’s not too much communication happening where people are really listening to each other or coming to the table with any sense of like, “ok”, or trying to understand the viewpoint of someone else, and trying to compromise.
You can see that happening in politics or social issues at the moment. It’s just a bit of a comment on that, I guess. Where do we go from this point where people are so divided that there’s no ability to understand each other?
Check out City Calm Down’s ‘In This Modern Land’:
I’ve given the new album a listen, and it definitely has a different vibe than the previous records. Considering you guys said you wanted to “shake things up with this one,” how exactly would you describe the new approach you’ve taken?
Jack Bourke: Well, when we started working with Burke [Reid] we had, like, twelve songs and he sort of got us to focus on like five or six songs that he thought were very different from the old stuff with the mission being to, not on a third record essentially, rehash what we had done previously.
I think you get to a point where you have two records where, musically, it’s somewhat somber, new-wave, pop, (which we love making and we’re really proud of those records) but, I think we just wanted to get out of our comfort zone a bit and do something new. I think that’s what drove us to do the songs that we did, and Burke said a few times, “simple doesn’t mean easy… it can be really hard to do really simple things” and I think that’s what we were really focused on.
And, sort of even before he got involved, we were trying to simplify things, but when Burke got involved, it sort of crystallised what the mission was, and helped us move forward. So, yeah, I think decision to press forward was kind of pursuing simplicity in song writing and not over complicating things because, often by adding more and more things, you just cloud what the song’s are about.
Sam Mullaly: So, when we finished Echoes In Blue, it was the album that everyone wanted to make at that time, but then we came to a bit of a crossroads where we said, “we want to make something different” and we thought we should make something that was a lot more ‘poppy’, and people seemed to be on board with that.
Where Echoes In Blue is quite cinematic, and a bit darker, maybe a bit more lush, and this one is less layered, and a bit more ‘poppy’ and more straight-to-the-point.
I think that’s reflected in the change of sound that people are commenting on, at least. It’s a bit different than what people got used to City Calm Down sounding like.
Part of that came from us having that decision of, “okay, we want to do something different,” and when you come to your third album and you make the same kind of things, it can get a little bit boring sometimes, and boring for the listeners, and boring to the artists making it. There’s been a lot of people who have commented saying that it was a lot different from what they were expecting.
Check out City Calm Down’s ‘Rabbit Run’:
Were there any specific artists that you felt influenced by during the making of this album?
Jack Bourke: I was listening to bands like T.Rex and The Clash. The Smiths are probably a band that have been a touch-point across numerous records, but I think that on this record, maybe the sound palette doesn’t come through as much, but just trying to find a bit more drive with the song writing as well.
One of the great things about The Smiths is Morrissey’s ability to cut to the point in a really funny way, and also in a dark way, but it’s sort of cheeky. I think, looking back, I finished working — I was working full-time up until the middle of last year — and taking that time pressure out of the album mix just, well, I was a lot happier [laughs], and I think also more willing to look outside rather than in.
We were listening to The Replacements, and a bit of The Jam, Lou Reed, and The Velvet Underground — I think there were a few songs where we drew quite heavily on some of their work.
Sam Mullaly: I know Jack was listening to T. Rex a lot at the time, and I was listening a lot to Iggy Pop. I guess listening to how they use synthesisers in a way that sort of lets the guitar support compared to the way that we use them in Echoes In Blue and In A Restless House.
So, I guess coming at it from a bit of a different perspective is kind of what gives it that bit of a cinematic or darker tone. It comes from that synthesis of trying to use a bit more guitar to bring out that pop sound.
It’s always a bit of a risk changing anything in your music. Was there any fear that an attempt to “shake things up” might divide the opinions of City Calm Down fans?
Jack Bourke: Not really… I think we’re really enthusiastic about what we’re doing and I think it’s the kiss of death when you start trying to think about what your fans want. Obviously, if you’re a megastar whose music provides music for a lot of record label executives, then they’re going to want you doing the same thing, because that’s what people will want, or will pay for.
But, we’re fortunately not in that position…well, perhaps unfortunately, because we really don’t make any money [laughs]. But, I think that makes you far less beholden to anything. You’ve got the freedom to do what you want to do, and that’s what we wanted to do.
It’s funny, like though social media, people feel inclined to comment when they don’t like a new song, which is fine, but I do find it funny when people do that. I think I saw a comment the other day where someone said, “your first two records were way better,” and I was like, “well, I’m looking forward to hearing your first two records.” [laughs] Because it’s just like, you know, it’s fine… you can comment on people’s stuff, but I have relatively thick skin.
Sam Mullaly: Yeah, I guess that was a consideration — it definitely is. Like, if you do something again and again then people are going to get bored whether it be your original fans or yourselves, or the fact that you won’t really attract any new people to the table.
And, the only real measure that we have, really, is what the four of us like, and what we’re playing or listening to, and if it’s a song that we think will work for the new record. In the end, you’re not doing any songs that show that you’re trying to second guess what other people are going to enjoy or not.
Check out City Calm Down’s ‘Stuck (On The Eastern)’:
Since City Calm Down has been together for 11 years now, how has your song writing process changed in that time? Or, has it changed?
Jack Bourke: Yeah, I mean, it goes through ebbs and flows. 11 years ago we had no idea how to write a song — we might still have no idea, but I think that we think we have an idea, but back then we definitely knew we didn’t have an idea.
So, we were just bashing instruments together until we had a melody and then gradually worked together like a Frankenstein type song. I think, over time, we’ve just been trying to simplify things. If you look at our early stuff until now, it’s just been getting simpler and simpler, and I think they’re great and amazing songs when you listen to them, but they’re just incredibly complicated.
Like, ‘Life On Mars?’ by David Bowie is an outstanding song, but it’s incredibly complicated, and you couldn’t call that simple, but in order to get to ‘Life On Mars?’, you sort of have to walk before you run, and I think we’re still trying to work out how to walk.
You know, like trying to be able to write two and a half, three minute music that holds your attention for that whole time is really hard to do and I think that in the short to medium turn is still going to be a big challenge to us with trying to find those songs that do hold their ground for the whole time.
That’s not to say that we don’t experiment. I think that you can still experiment a lot in that environment. But I think when we were starting out it felt like, “ah, a long song…it’s like six and a half/seven minutes, and it’s got like three different bridges and then the chorus does something different in the end, and that makes it even more of an interesting listen,” but you spend so much time thinking about those, sort of, distractions from what makes the songs interesting.
So, yeah, kind of doing away with a lot of that dead weight of the songs, and replacing it with more interesting ideas, I think, has sort of been the trend for us.
Sam Mullaly: It has a lot, actually. I think we started off jamming a lot together and it was such a slow process with writing because it was almost like a spray and pray kind of situation, there. Also, in those kind of early days of those situations, you had no real grasp on listening to what the other people were doing and whether it’s honing into what they’re doing.
Now, we’ve gotten away from sort of jamming, and we’re better at honing in on ideas at home and bringing them to the table together to share. But, this album in particular, because Jack had taken a lot of time off of work, he kicked off a lot of the ideas that are on the record.
It has changed a lot since the beginning, specifically this one where we have had a lot brought by one person, and then had it shaped by the rest in the band.
Check out David Bowie’s ‘Life On Mars?’:
You guys worked with Burke Reid on this new one — what was it like working with someone who has such an impressive track record? How did his involvement help influence the end result?
Jack Bourke: He was a huge influence on the end result. I originally thought before meeting Burke that I’d be really intimidated by him, and he’s such a friendly and lovely person.
Everyone in the band really clicked with Burke right away and it was through that where he was able to just keep pushing us to improve the songs and it never felt like, even though he was sort of continually placing these demands on us, the songs just kept getting better and better, and he just wouldn’t give it a rest, but it never felt like you were doing it for a sergeant — it was a real friendship there from really early on. He’s just got an incredible work ethic, for one.
By the time we finished the recording sessions, I think we were all wrecked, you know, by going from 11 in the morning until three in the morning, and then getting up and doing it again for six or seven days straight.
He just really understood the vision and we understood his vision. That was the foundation point for why it was such an experience that from the very first time we met there were a lot of “yesses” between all of us, so that’s really good because you’re going to have so many “nos” along the way.
That starts to get really irritating, and starts a lot of friction in the project, which sometimes you need because people are forcing each other to make better decisions or come up with better ideas and that’s tricky, but if you have everyone on the same page from the start, then you can work through all those “nos”.
Burke was just really able to get us all on the same page and, well, that’s not to say that our previous experiences weren’t as great as well, but we were trying to go in a new direction which was going to be challenging for us, and it was really helpful to have Burke coming in, and he was really enthusiastic about change, and helped us achieve it.
Sam Mullaly: Working with Burke Reid was good because he helped push us and helped us get something out of us that wasn’t necessarily there already in the demos that we made.
When we worked with Malcom Beasley previously, he was really fantastic with getting ideas down that we already had for the record. Burke was quite the opposite, and wanted us to leave those ideas at the door. We knew what we had done in the past and wanted to do things a different way, or do it in a way that was sort of more akin to the influences that we were going for. It was such a lovely experience.
He’s a lovely guy, really out there, and quite fun as well, because sometimes you’re stuck in there for hours on hours on hours without having any sleep or rest, and it gets tiring. He’s good at managing us and the band as well, in terms of managing how we are with each other because you can only spend so much time in a room with one person sometimes, and sometimes things can get flare-y.
He made it very enjoyable to work with him and he definitely brought new things to the table, and he was able to catch on to the ideas and influences we were going for, and was able to suggest further things to listen to or further ideas that really fit in that vibe that we were going for. And then, we were able to lock on to those ideas and do them as those people who have done them.
Check out City Calm Down’s ‘Border On Control’:
So, you’ve also said that you guys “want the songs to carry the same intensity they’ll have when [you] play them live” — how do you think you’ll carry that into the live shows, themselves? Is there anything specific that you’ll be doing differently on the upcoming tour?
Jack Bourke: Yeah, the major change with the live shows is that since there’s so many layers of guitars in the new songs that we’ve brought in an extra guitarist, who also can play saxophone, the guy is a bit of a wizard. So, that’s the main change.
We’ve played three or four songs that were new for a few warm-up shows that were in May, and they seem to be coming together really well, which is exciting. I think when we were writing and producing it, you do things that you can’t do in a live gig, but I think that in terms of the energy. We’re trying to make the studio record capture the way we see it.
You can’t really play every song live, like for one you don’t need to, but for two there’s also some songs that are better being left on record and some songs work really well live, so we usually will just try playing the ones that really turn out well live and if they’re not working well live, then (after giving them a really good crack), we’ll sort of just go, “aw, maybe we’ll come back to it and do it in the future.” If there was red hot demand for a certain song, then we may play it, but that may need to happen first with some songs, I think.
Sam Mullaly: We’ve had a bit of a line-up change with the people that will be joining us. So, we’ve added another guitar to the line up list, as well, as there’s a lot more rhythm guitar. Our ideal approach was that we wanted to try and play everything live, or have that live sound and the edge that there is from having people on stage.
There’s always quite a lot of us on stage, and then we’ve added another guitarist to that, so staying with that almost ‘70s rock theme of having the piano in there now. It sort of comes to heading away from that heavy synth sound to more piano and organs that are like that ‘70s style.
Then, I guess, with any kind of change in sound like that, from our perspective, it should change the productions perspective. We’ve lightened up the way that we are approaching it, so changing it is a bit of a metamorphosis to us, as well — just trying to approach it in a bit of a way where it’s a bit of an evolution of the whole presentation…not just the music, but also the visuals.
Bit of a cop-out question, but what are you hoping that City Calm Down fans will take from this album?
Jack Bourke: I don’t know, really. I think there can be a tendency or a desire to find answers in music, or in art, and I think it can be really tricky trying to put those answers forward, as the artists can take their own answers out of it.
Yeah, I think there are some questions that we need to think about as a culture and society that, you know, if only one more person starts thinking about those questions, then that would be great, but if not, that’s fine too.
Sam Mullaly: What will they take from the album? I don’t know! I’ll give you a bit of a cop out answer, then [laughs].
I’ve always enjoyed the way that Jack writes. It’s not in a very direct way. You hear people say that they take so many different things out of songs, like some parts really help them, and because it is quite different in it’s meaning that kind of applies to people in so many different ways and the ways that it applies to their lives.
Just hoping people come along on the new journey, and like what City Calm Down sounds like in a more poppy way.
City Calm Down will release Television on August 23rd. Order your copy of the record through the band’s website.
Check out City Calm Down’s ‘Pride’:
City Calm Down Television tour 2019
Friday, October 11th
(With special guests Exhibitionist and Brightness)
Manning Bar, Sydney, NSW (18+)
Saturday, October 12th
(With special guests Paradise Club and Blush Response)
Lion Arts Centre, Adelaide, SA (18+)
Friday, October 18th
(With special guests Sweater Curse and Sycco)
The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD (18+)
Saturday, October 19th
(With special guest Flossy)
Rosemount Hotel, Perth, WA (18+)
Saturday, October 26th
(With special guest Murmurmur)
Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne, VIC (18+)
Tickets on sale now through the City Calm Down website
