Barely three years ago Luke, Michael, Calum and Ashton were just like countless other boys at school: putting a band together, writing songs, posting covers on YouTube, dreaming of stardom. Flash forward to now and as pop-punk/rock demi-gods 5 Seconds of Summer, they are shaping up to be the biggest teen mega-sensation since One Direction. School’s out for summer – forever!
5SOS were formed in 2011 when Sydney-based friends Luke Hemmings (lead vocals/guitar), Michael Clifford (guitar) and Calum Hood (bass) were joined by Ashton Irwin (drums) and began uploading clips of themselves performing popular hits such as “Next to You” by Chris Brown ft. Justin Bieber, quickly amassing hundreds of thousands of views and a growing army of fans. Despite having no official promotional backing beyond the social media of Facebook and Twitter, their debut acoustic EP “Unplugged” reached #3 in the Australian iTunes chart in 2012.
Having developed their writing and sound further with members of Australian punk band Amy Meredith, 5SOS released second EP “Somewhere New”, led by single “Out of My Limit”. It was the video to this song and to “Gotta Get Out” that were then legendarily graced with tweet-shout outs by Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan of One Direction, causing an inevitable skyrocketing of the band’s fandom. This was followed by songwriting sessions with the likes of McFly, All Time Low and Busted, an unprecedented supporting slot on 1D’s 2013 worldwide Take Me Home Tour, as well as their own headline blitz of Australia.
With 2014 tours of the UK and US/Canada having sold out within minutes, the band’s infectiously catchy and anthemic first official single/EP “She Looks So Perfect” (due 23 March) hitting the #1 iTunes spot in over 40 countries on pre-orders alone, and their long-awaited debut album due later this year, 5SOS are undoubtedly a lock-in for the pop stratosphere. “So down”? We and surely every sheila on the planet don’t bloody think so, mate!
Pop Scoop! sat down to have an in-depth interview with 5SOS right before their recent headline gig at UEA LCR in Norwich. They spoke about life on the road touring, their crazy career trajectory so far, what keeps them grounded and together, collaborating with their musical heroes, and their upcoming debut single “She Looks So Perfect” with its racy video. In addition, they faced a few of our Quick-Fire Biographical Trivia Questions – with some surprising results!
Check out the backstage pics of our 5 seconds of summer interview by our official photography partner Lee Blanchflower of 99Probs below:
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