Introducing Interview: The Calm Fiasco

Having formed back in 2012, Glasgow band The Calm Fiasco deliver uptempo indie-pop filled with catchy guitar riffs, vibrant melodies and buoyant beats.

Influenced by the likes of Two Door Cinema Club and Phoenix, the band have received support from Amazing Radio and The Sunday Mail, as well as playing two sold out headline shows at King Tuts.

With their new EP out next month, we caught up with Del from the band to find out more…

Hi, how are you? Who are we talking to today?
Great thanks! I’m Del.

How did you all meet?
Well, I’ve known Andy the drummer since primary school – we’ve been through wrestling, football stickers, Pokemon, the lot. We met Harry through mutual friends, although it feels as though he’s been there since primary school as well. I met Greg at college when we were studying sound production, and we hit it off straight away.

Is there a particular way you approach writing music? Do you start around a riff, a lyric or just jam it out?
Not really. My phone is full of random notes. It might be something that someone has said and that might be the catalyst for the song, or other times it has snowballed through a riff. I’ll take the words and chords down to studio and we dissect the song from there. It’s probably more daunting playing the new song to the boys as opposed to playing it to a live audience.

Who did you tend to listen to growing up? How do you feel it’s influenced the music you now play?
Growing up I listened to a lot of different music through my parents. The Beatles were always on in my house (cheers dad). My earliest memory of music is probably Michael Jackson (BAD album) – I would entertain (I think) my grandparents singing into one of those daft aluminous mics jumping about the living room.

Your latest track ‘She Said’ is really lively, is there a story behind the lyrics?
My girlfriend had said to me that she received a text from someone saying “Sorry I was leading us astray” – I immediately put it on my phone and it just stemmed from there. At that point I was listening to Ryan Adams (Taylor Swift album) on repeat. Most of the time I’m just playing/writing what I think sounds good.

Scotland tends to produce a lot of great bands, more than you’d think for a small country. Why do you think this is?
We’re always checking out bands and we always leave thinking “fuck me that was good” – I can’t put my finger on it but it definitely helps you as a songwriter. It helps raise your game.

Are there any Scottish bands we might not have heard of that you’d recommend?
There are so many bands in and around Glasgow although right now we are really into: Bad Mannequins, Kvasir, Crash Club and Vigo Thieves.

Who would you put in your dream supergroup?
JEEZO! Right, I’d have Brandon Flowers on vocals, George Harrison on guitar, Chad Smith on drums & Sting on bass – BOOM! I’d buy a ticket for that gig.

What can we expect at one of your live shows?
A bloody marvellous time.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?
We’ll be releasing the lead single ‘Lose Control’ at the start of April and the EP THE FEAR will follow soon after. And who knows what will happen from there, watch this space!

Huge thanks to The Calm Fiasco for answering our questions! 

The Fear, the new EP from The Calm Fiasco, is out 22 April via Chewy Records.

Mari Lane

Mari Lane

Editor, London. Likes: Kathleen Hanna, 6Music, live music in the sunshine. Dislikes: Sexism, pineapples, the misuse of apostrophes.