The Calling Card

Hailing from South Wales, The Calling Card formed in December 2009.

Supporting the likes of Ian Watkins, Zebrahead, Attack! Attack! and more, the band was chosen to play at Newport County Festival based and their song “Let’s Stay Young” was song of the week by Adam Walton on BBC Radio Wales show.

With all this and more behind them, we caught up with vocalist Benj to find out more about the band and their 2012 expectations!

Out of all the bands you have played with, which gig experience did you enjoy the most?

Benj – The Show with Ian Watkins (Lostprophets) probably. There were about 800 people there and they all seemed to be there wanting to hear good music and have a good time. It was the first show where people came up to me and were asking for photos and autographs which was the strangest thing ever. After doing this for 5 minutes Simon (Guitar) saw me and proceeded to steal my crowd with his dashing good looks! I never forgave him after that (Laughs)

You cite influences such as Jimmy Eat World, Biffy Clyro, Kids In Glass Houses etc. which of these would you say has the strongest influence on your material?

Benj – Out of those three I suppose it would be Jimmy Eat World and in particular their “Bleed America” album. Every song on that album could be a single – and a great one at that. When I’m writing a song I do tend to look at artists like those three to see how they all enhance a song.

How would you describe the band for those who have yet to discover you?

Benj – Good, honest music. That’s it. We couldn’t care less with what genre is this weeks fashion, we see ourselves as outsiders really. There’s not many bands out there that would feel comfortable playing the mix of shows that we play. We play with Metal bands, Hardcore bands, Pop bands. We just play our music and play as passionately at possible which I think is what is catching people’s eyes.

You started out with no management or backing and supported many-well known acts, do you have any advice for up and coming bands?

Benj – Just work as hard as you possibly can! There are tons of bands out there that have done much more than we have. If you are in a band that’s just starting out the best thing to do would be to go to as many local gigs as possible. Talk to as many bands as possible and gain advice and experience that way. If you get invited to a show on Facebook that’s great, then see who started up the event. Nine times out of ten it will be the promoter. Then you can get in touch with the promoter and send him a demo and see if maybe in the future you can get on one of his shows. Just talk to as many people as possible really.

What would be your dream tour line-up?

Benj – U2, Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters and us. Imagine how many stories you would hear on that tour. Would there be any venues big enough to hold that show? Someone book it now!

What do you feel has been your biggest band achievement to-date?

Benj – I know at the end of the month it will be recording our album which has been a long time coming for me. So far it is probably the weekend of headlining a show in Lepub Newport and selling it out, the next night playing with Alkaline Trio and then the night after playing with Deaf Havana. It really felt as if it was all coming together at that point!

You state you write about subjects which are less predictable, do you find audiences still manage to relate to them?

Benj – I think that if maybe we wrote songs like Battles and made it really abstract then maybe it would fly over people’s heads and make it harder for people to relate too, but take the Manics for instance. They can have a song like “Design For Life” and have all the intellectuals at the back listening thoroughly to the words stroking their beards and you can have the drunken yobs down the front getting excited by hearing the line “We only want to get drunk”. Even though we try to write good rock songs there are certainly enough choruses’ there for everyone to get involved.

What does 2012 hold for The Calling Card?

Benj – Hopefully we can release the album and get a few good reviews for it then set up some tours to promote it as much as possible, all before the end of the world obviously. Some people around here will say that if we get any good reviews it would be the end of the world! (Laughs)

You can find out more about the band by visiting their Facebook page now!

One response to “The Calling Card”

  1. […] caught up with vocalist Benj to find out more! Share this:TwitterLike this:LikeBe the first to like this […]

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