ATP! Interview: 5 Seconds Of Summer

Before we go any further, don’t automatically dismiss 5 Seconds Of Summer as just another boyband making pop music. Actually, let’s just eradicate the word ‘boyband,’ because that is something they are not. 5 Seconds Of Summer are four teenagers from the sunny shores of Australia that are fulfilling their childhood dreams of making music, music that fuses the best bits of pop and rock to create the upbeat melodies that the quartet so easily deliver. Alter The Press hopped over to London recently to catch up with the boys at a ping-pong bar. No, seriously.

With the release of last years EP Somewhere New and having recently dropped the video for their forthcoming single "She Looks So Perfect" obviously we wanted to get the gossip on what we can expect from the debut album.


“We’ve got like nearly over 100 songs written [for the album] because we’ve been writing for over a year now. There’s one track that we’d really like to get a female vocal on, so we’ll see what happens” explains drummer, Ashton Irwin.

The boys have been hard at work in the studio the past few months, and they’ve had some exciting guests in to help them on their way, y’know just Alex Gaskarth from All Time Low and the Madden brothers, of Good Charlotte fame. So what was it like working with their heroes? Mikey clearly had a bit of a fan-boy moment when he met Alex G, “It was just amazing” he says, “I just look up to him so much and when we were writing with him, just seeing him there and shaking his hand and him being like ‘It’s nice to write with you’, I was just so happy to be there.” They’ve also written with John Feldmann, Jake Sinclair and Steve Robson, whom they say have all been key to developing the overall outcome of the album. Alex himself has co-written at least three songs with the band, so hopefully we can expect to see an appearance from him on their highly anticipated debut record.


As for the sound? Luke [Hemmings, vocals/guitar] says the EP and the new single are a really good indicator as to what it’s going to sound like. “It’s going to be really guitar-driven, very high-energy.”

And they definitely want to bring that high-energy to their US headline tour. Got tickets? Well expect one hell of a party! “We like our shows to be a big party vibe y’know? We want it to be an amazing experience” expresses Luke. “We want a show that fans can get involved in.”

Even though 5SOS have toured with One Direction (and are heading back out with them in August) they told us that they don’t have a favorite member (sorry Styles fans), and that despite the fact their musical styles are somewhat different, all of the 1D guys are super supportive of 5SOS and their career. Once they’ve finished dominating the world this summer on a number of tours, the guys expressed their desire to hit the road with the likes of Mayday Parade and All Time Low (obviously). How about Warped Tour? “Yeah definitely, if they want us we’d love to!” Let’s keep our fingers crossed for next year then!


From the chat we had with 5SOS, it’s crystal clear that they are all about the music. They just want to spend their days writing, they want to play shows in as many places as possible and follow their dreams, just like any other band. This is only emphasized when we discover their main influences, “My favorite band, musically and live, is Paramore – I think they’re incredible. Their song writing is incredible and as the drummer of this band, the drums on the new [Paramore] record were just amazing.” We totally gave Ashton a massive high-five for that comment.

Stating Green Day and Blink 182 as their favorite bands growing up, and Arctic Monkeys and Imagine Dragons as their newer influences – it’s easy to see where their sound developed from, and we praise them for that. “We just want to be the biggest and the best band that we can be really, see how far we can take it.”


And to finish things off, with a single named "She Looks So Perfect" we wanted to know how they’d describe they’re perfect girl. As Ashton and Luke explain, they like ‘weird’ girls. “I’m a big fan of character, something individual in a person is amazing” says Ashton, and Luke adds that he likes, “Somebody comfortable in their own skin and has some charisma.” Well there you go!

5 Seconds Of Summer will release their "She Looks So Perfect" EP on April 1st via Capitol Records, which is now available for pre-order. Dates and ticket information for the band's upcoming North American tour can be found here.

Fans in the United Kingdom can purchase "She Looks So Perfect" now via iTunes.

- Tamsyn Wilce