The five-piece band includes Benj Squibbs on vocals, Simon Strickland and Stephen Parry on guitars, Kyle Jones on bass and Hob Nob on drums, blending indie, rock, punk and pop, with throbbing bass lines, orchestrated side by side with cool drum beats, catchy guitar riffs, and energetic vocals.
In spite of the big names that they have opened for, they come off as one humble, down-to-earth group of men simply looking to just do what they love. Read on to find out more about them in Bandbucket's (BB) interview with Benj (B) and Kyle (K) on behalf of the rest of the band.
BB: What do you like the most about what you do?
B: We just love being an honest Rock band which is getting rarer and rarer these days.
K: I love playing live. Performing to any amount of people is great. Just playing loud and jumping around is such a rush! I’d happily play to an empty room for 30mins.
BB: As an unsigned band, what difficulties have you faced when trying to book live gigs?
B: The crazy thing is that some promoters will not book bands that don’t have a big enough Facebook following. When we started out some actually said, “Sorry we can’t book you until you have 2000+ friends." Utter bananas.
BB: You’ve opened for several bands over the past two years. Are there any bands in particular that you would like to open for?
B: Biffy Clyro would be pretty special! Any band that supports them would really have to step up their game. They are probably the best live band on the planet right now.
K: Opening for Bayside for me would be epic. I love the band and feel they're as passionate about their music as we are. I’ve only gotten the chance to see them live once but they blew me away. They love what they do and it shows.
BB: What is the toughest thing about opening for another band?
B: Like I was saying about Biffy Clyro, you really have to step up your game if you are supporting bands like that. Or with a band like Alkaline Trio, their crowd were only there to see them and couldn’t give a monkeys about anyone else playing even though us and The Exposed played much better than they did.
K: It all depends on what band is headlining. It’s always nerve-racking when you're opening a metal show and have no idea how responsive the crowd will be to the style of music we play. Other than that usually I’m just happy to play. I don't mind if we open, headline, whatever, as long as we get to perform.
BB: Where do you draw the inspiration for your lyrics from?
B: At the moment its band like Lower Than Atlantis and Twin Atlantic. I can’t write stories like Springsteen I can only write about things that I see and believe in. I would feel like a fraud if I didn’t.
BB: Is there anything you would like to say to your fans and everyone else out there?
B: Support your local music scene and support The Calling Card
K: Thanks for taking the time for checking out this interview. If you haven’t already check us out at www.facebook.com/thecallingcard and keep an eye out for out album that will be out later this year. Also if you have time check out some other great welsh bands like Straight Lines, Tiger Please, Manhattan Coast, King and Country, Struck a Nerve and The Dolts.
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