Calling All Cars
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Calling All Cars

With the release of their third album Raise the People, Calling All Cars are showing progression and growth in the sound many fans have become accustom to over the years. If you are hoping to find the same band that released ‘Hold, Hold, Fire’ and ‘Dancing with a Dead Man’ in these new songs then you may be disappointed, but as frontman Haydn Ing reveals, it’s a risk the band was willing to take.
“Obviously the album isn’t what a lot of people were expecting,” says Ing. “You’re always going to hear a few ‘what the fuck is this shit!’, but that happens every album. Overall it’s really good, and we are gaining a lot of fans who would never have been into the band.
“At the end of the day you have got to do it for your enjoyment, otherwise what are you really doing it for? I think we were just keeping ourselves happy and hoping that the old fans would dig it and a lot of them have. Obviously there are a few who just want us to record our first album again, but I think it’s about keeping it fresh.
“If you do listen to the first album against the third it sounds like two different bands, so we were expecting it, but it’s always nice to hope that your fans will grow with you. I’ve always been a fan of bands that change their sounds and don’t just stick to one formula.”
The growth of the band’s sound was always going to be a factor coming into their third album, as their comfort with the recording process allowed them to explore new elements and tones, but there was also a desire to break their Aussie rock mould and deliver a more international sound.
“I think we have kind of been dubbed with that Australian rock label for the past two albums, so I guess we thought we would do something a little bit different this time,” explains Ing. “I think the first couple of albums were very much in tune and correct and we really had to focus on playing the parts as well as we could. I think this time going in we knew what kind of shape we needed to be in playing wise so that we could come in and go for the vibe and the feel. Also having the parts down better, we could play around with tones a bit more and have a bit of fun. It was definitely a more enjoyable process recording this album.”
For a band who loves to stay active and give their followers new material it’s certainly been a long wait between albums for fans, but it may be a much shorter interval between albums three and four.
“I think this album in hindsight took too long,” says Ing. “We like to turn it out as fast as possible, but just getting all the ducks lined up just took longer than we thought; just things like getting the record company sorted and who we were recording with, but I think it worked out well in the end. We are already thinking about writing for the next album, so you always have to keep yourselves active.
“We already have a few songs in the bank. That’s something we want to focus on, having this next album done hopefully by the end of this year, so that we can get into the studio straight away.”
With the ‘Raise the People’ tour now underway, the band will be showcasing their new songs around Australia, with Ing revealing what fans can expect at the shows, saying: “Obviously we are going to be playing a whole bunch of new songs. This tour we are definitely going to be playing our longest sets and a whole bunch of old songs – a whole bunch of new. We feel like we are playing the best we have yet.”
With an always impressive live show it’s clear the boys have learnt valuable lessons playing alongside the likes of AC/DC, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age (just to name a few), all experiences that have shown the boys what it will take to make it to the next level.
“I think it comes down to having the voice and the passion behind what you are playing and singing about,” says Ing. “Whether it’s Dave Grohl or Josh Homme, they are just 100 per cent believing in what they are singing. It’s a conviction kind of thing, and if they believe it, then it translates into the crowd believing it too.
“It’s given us the experience of what it is like and what you have to be. Those bands have proven to us that you really do just have to work you arse off – that’s what it comes down to, just don’t stop. Again, at the end of the day it’s about having fun, because all of those guys love what they are doing.”
There will be no slowing down for the band once this tour is over, with plans to take off to Europe straight away. In a fashion similar to Kickstarter, the band got their fans to fund their relocation to Europe by selling everything from digital downloads of their new album to the band’s very own tour van.
“Well, originally we were planning on going to Europe regardless, so we realised we were going to get rid of a whole bunch of stuff because it costs more money to freight gear and all that stuff then it does to just buy it when you’re over there,” explains Ing. “We had the tour van and a whole bunch of stuff so we were like, ‘Why don’t we sell it to the fans rather than random people’. We are planning on flying out the day after the last show of this tour, so it’s pretty full on.”
When&Where: Waterfront, Geelong – April 12; Easter Festival, Bendigo – April 17; Mynt Lounge, Werribee – April 18; The Loft, Warrnambool – April 19; Torquay Hotel, Torquay – April 20; and The Karova, Ballarat – April 23
Written by Zach Broadhurst

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