Good Trip, Bad Trip: City Calm Down

Touring tales with the fantastic Australian outfit...

City Calm Down are a real force in their native Australia, releasing two full studio albums one EP alongside some incredible tour dates.

An electric live proposition, the band have set their sights on Europe once more, with an extensive tour set to kick off at the end of summer.

We can't wait – a fantastic group, their depth of catalogue means you won't get a chance to catch them in small venues like this again.

Ahead of the tour Clash caught up with City Calm Down for another dose of Good Trip, Bad Trip…

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Best Trip…

We were lucky to have a few spare days in Berlin the last time we toured Europe. Jeremy was responsible for booking the accommodation for the tour and he crimped on the rest of the tour so we could enjoy some better accommodation in Berlin. Jeremy features again later in this short questionnaire. 

Worst Trip…

We played a festival in Queensland, Australia and one of the guys lost the key to the tour van. We didn't have a spare and the budget hire car company we used refused to drive the 2 hours out of the city to help us out (probably fair at 10pm on a Friday). It looked like we were going to have to ditch the car and hitch rides with other bands back to the city to catch our flight back to Melbourne the following morning but then the key showed up in lost property about 2 hours later. Celebrations of our escape ran into the wee hours.

Favourite venue…

The Forum in Melbourne (our hometown) is an amazing venue to perform at and see bands at. We're surprisingly popular in The hearts of our families and friends.

Best/worst exotic food…

Have you ever tried the Swedish delicacy surströmming (fermented herring)? No? Neither have I. I was considering it on a visit to Sweden a few years back however it's hard enough to stay in the same room as an open jar, let alone eat the stuff. The best would have to be an almond croissant in Paris. We were there about 18 months ago and we had a decent crack at eating an almond croissant from every boulangerie in the city.

Most interesting individual…

you've met on tour We met Adam Granduciel from the War On Drugs when we did the Laneway tour in 2018. He just popped up side of stage before out set in Fremantle. He was lovely and we were probably very annoying.

I remember yelling something to one of the guys on the other side of the stage while I was standing next to him. I don't think he appreciated that.

Worst on tour injury…

Circling back to our visit to Berlin last year, Jeremy (who has type 1 diabetes) had a bit too much fun which resulted in a hyperglycemic episode. He wound up in hospital around 4am in the morning. He recovered quickly after a saline drip. Everyone else was feeling a bit rotten.

Essential travel item…

It doesn't matter who you are in our band, the most important thing is Jeremy's diabetes kit. We were half way to Sydney for a show (it's a 10 hour drive) when he realised he had left his kit in Melbourne. We had to get my dad to meet us half way in order to make it to the show on time.

Essential travel tip…

Label your charger. This will avoid many fights when someone's charger goes missing.

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Catch City Calm Down at the following shows:

September
25 Glasgow Oran Mor
26 Newcastle The Cluny 2
27 Leeds Brudenell Social Club
28 Manchester Soup Kitchen
30 London Electrowerkz

Photo Credit: Sam Wong

Join us on Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.

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