Calum Hood, known for his role in the popular band 5 Seconds of Summer, released his highly anticipated solo album on Friday, June 13th. This album is a deeply personal project that features standout tracks, including "Don't Forget You Love Me," "Call Me When You Know Better," and "Sunsetter." Despite encountering a series of technical difficulties during our interview, Calum navigated the situation with remarkable poise, allowing us to engage in a meaningful conversation about the creative process behind his latest work.
As always, we asked Calum about his current playlist and musical influences for his album. His current playlist is shifting towards 90s shoegaze, featuring music from Slowdive and Turnstile. In contrast, the album was influenced more by alternative indie sounds and UK/European bands, such as Phoenix and The Radio Dept. Since it was Tuesday at the time of the interview, we heard the cries of his fans, and we asked Calum what his taco order was. He stated, "If we're going for street tacos, I would have to go with Al Pastor or a really good birria place; I love birria."
Calum said, "This album was mostly like born from a feeling. I think like a lot of the process we would get like a kind of track bed of a mood and I would just let whatever the instrumental I'd let it just pull out what it wanted to pull out of me, especially lyrically. And then I'd look out for those words and shape the song around the words that I was naturally singing."
The creation of this album was quite a reflective process for Calum, with him stating, "A couple of the songs are a homage of how I would write when I was younger, which was nice. So it definitely felt like I was connecting with that part of myself, just with the tools that I've learned from writing for, nearly 15 years. There were definitely times where I tried to really tap into more of that childlike state."
Calum spoke on how his heritage shaped his approach to music and creativity. "I find a lot of strength from my family, my whānau, my tupuna. A lot of these songs as well are about family members who have passed as well and from perspectives of family members and what it would feel like for them to have lost a mother or a father. It really helps ground me because it's something that is so intrinsic and something that I feel is so important for me to channel as a creative because it gives me a sense of identity and I think with that, It's who I truly am at my core."
The lead single, "Don't Forget You Love Me," serves as a poignant expression of vulnerability and the painful process of letting go. It captures a universal sentiment that many listeners will resonate with, exploring the emotions tied to love and loss. He shared with me that at first, "Don't forget you love me" was something someone said to him, but by the end of the song, it was a mantra for himself. "It was a situation. It was something that someone said to me, but then it became more of a mantra. It kind of crosses over different relationships in my life. It's kind of something I would say to my family because I left home so early, something I would say to myself. So it's multi-dimensional, I guess."
"I Wanted to Stay" stands out as a heartfelt love letter to his beloved dog, Duke, who has sadly passed away. This emotional tribute encapsulates the bond they shared and serves as a reminder of the profound impact pets can have on our lives. "the album was largely made kind of like going in for a day and then taking some time away, going in for another day. It was me just chipping away at it. Although the songs are very emotional as a whole, I was able to think pretty clearly about them. So I was able to really shape the songs how I wanted to shape the songs."
When talking about self-care and staying grounded creatively, Calum stated, " Yeah, I think like, you know, I think honestly just doing things like cooking for yourself is an act of self-love and it's also a form of creation within its most basic alchemical aspect. that's something that I've really incorporated into it. Taking myself on dates, just investing in myself, Releasing an album is an act of self-love as well. Backing myself. "
"Dark Circles" presents an intriguing alternate reality in which Calum's band did not exist. He reflects on the impact this might have had on his life and creatively expresses those contemplations within the song. Although Calum has shared the album with his bandmates, he candidly admits that he is unsure whether they fully grasp the meaning behind this particular track. He remarks, " I've shown them the album, they loved the album. I don't know if I told them directly what that song meant. Not sure if they know it, but yeah, I'd hope they react pretty well."
Calum speaks on how he was able to express chaos visually. He stated, "I think even just recording a video for every song is pretty fucking chaotic, especially with, the budget and the time that we had. But I reconnected with Andy DeLuca, who had worked with the band previously, which was really cool. But also Sarah Heisman. I felt just way more loose and I felt like the key was to be really expressive in some moments and really internal, basically just the opposite. It just really kind of showcases the difference between the two. And even like the colours that I chose for the album, like the vinyl sleeve is this bright orange and it has like all these different kind of mental graphic designs on it as well."
Throughout the creation of this album, Calum has undergone a therapeutic journey, learning to be kinder and gentler with himself in the process. The process has allowed him to find himself as an artist. He describes the process as "pretty liberating" he stated," It's actually allowing me to let go of a lot of these concepts, and it allows me to validate them. So it feels in a lot of ways like it's keeping me sane, which is nice." This project is not just a collection of songs; it is a testament to his growth, resilience, and the powerful healing that music can provide.
Listen to ORDER chaos ORDER here
