IN CONVERSATION WITH 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER

interview by DOMINIKA GŁOWACZ

Four guys, one band, and millions of fans around the world. 5 Seconds of Summer was formed in 2011 in Sydney, Australia. What started as a group of friends playing small gigs here and there quickly grew into something much bigger. Today, they’re performing on international stages and selling out arenas across the globe.With six albums already behind them and another world tour on the horizon, fans are more than ready to hear a brand-new sound from their favorite band. The boys have shared a few insights about what’s coming next with the upcoming album and tour, and it’s clear they’re preparing something special. They promise that this new era will bring an experience unlike anything fans have seen from them before. And if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that fans are always ready to hear a few good inside details from the band.

Michael
full look ASHTON MICHAEL, shoes NEW ROCK

Luke
jacket SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO, shirt SCOTCH & SODA, trousers INFANTE, belt ZANA BAYNE

Ashton
jacket and shirt ASHTON MICHAEL, trousers KSUBI

Calum
jacket AELFRIC EDEN, shirt THEO, trousers LORD CULTURE, jewellery DEAN DAVIDSON

How are you preparing for the tour?

MICHAEL:  It's going well. We're definitely a little bit nervous. We're doing something really different from what we've done before. So we are kind of doing ultra preparations now! And I think that's always the fun for us to create tours and do stuff like that and always do something different. This one in particular, like I won't spoil anything, but it's definitely going to be the most interesting thing we've ever done. And it's the most  compelling show we've ever created.

This album feels quite different from your previous records, like Sounds Good Feels Good. Did you have any expectations or concerns about how fans might react to this new direction?

MICHAEL: Part of going into making music and making albums is like, you have to be confident and you have to believe in the sort of creative boundaries that you're pushing and you have to believe in your ability to create things that are unique as an artist. And for us, I really believe that we always follow what is going to continue to make us love creating music still. And for us it was creating something that was totally outside the norm of anything we've ever created before. Pushed to the ultimate extreme level of what we could do as a band and see how far we can push it without it, like tipping over, you know what I mean? And just constantly keep trying to do that. 

CALUM: I think this band has always chosen to evolve rather than constantly stick to what we know. It’s a balance of keeping the soul of the band while exercising the freedom of discovering something new.

LUKE: One of the favorite things about being in this band is that we have continued to keep evolving our sound, changing, taking risks. It was very important to us to make sure this album felt like nothing you heard from 5sos before but reclaiming some of that spirit and lyrical boldness from the earlier years.

ASHTON: After making music for nearly 15 years as a band, one of the greatest tools of entertainment and maintaining interest plus not to mention making new fans is to remain creatively free and explorative. Fear holds no place in the writing room or the creative realm for that matter. May I add, Sounds Good Feels Good is a special moment in our musical lineage because it only happened once. One of the greatest things to happen to music you’ve released is as the years go by the meaning and richness of the feeling of that record ripens and comes in and out of the frame for our listeners. Having a diverse catalog is key to having long term listenership. The human experiences 10,000 emotions, so you’re gonna need 10,000 different songs for every waking moment of life. 

Michael
rings PERSONAL FEARS, necklace DALMATA, necklace THEARCHIVE X YANA, necklace VITALY, shirt LORD CULTURE

Luke
t-shirt PALY HOLLYWOOD

Calum
t-shirt CALVIN KLEIN

Ashton
t-shirt CALVIN KLEIN

What made you decide that Everyone’s A Star! should be the title track of the album?

CALUM: It kind of summed up the energy of the album. The members in the band, anyone who’s ever influenced us, our families, friends and of course the fans. We want to be a band that promotes empowerment of self.

LUKE: The whole point of this campaign was to lean into the most heightened version of ourselves. Everyone’s a Star! as a song summed up the energy musically and lyrically for the whole album. It pokes fun at the way people perceive themselves today… Everyone is wrapped up in their own story, filmed from their point of view. There are no supporting characters. Everyone is the main character; no one more than us in this campaign. This album shows our relationship with that reality and how it has felt living through a distorted microscope as teenagers into adulthood. We’re ironically telling it from our point of view as the most egotistical versions of ourselves. 

ASHTON: Everyone’s a star! is a terrific phrase summing up not only the world's relationship with turning yourself into a brand on social media and the world's current obsession with creating viral short form content but also explores the inner world of the band exploring solo music endeavors on the side. It's a pro individualist phrase that encourages our fans to shine in whatever way they are special. 

Was there any song that wasn’t originally meant to be on the album but ended up making the final tracklist? What changed?

MICHAEL: I think Still Feel the Same was surprisingly last minute. That song was written a really long time ago, and then in the final hour everyone thought, ‘Wait, this sounds really cool, we should put it on the record.’ That one was definitely a last-minute addition.I think Jawbreaker ended up getting added pretty last minute as well. Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again almost didn’t make the album. I don’t know what we were thinking, but that one was close to being left off. Then one day we all listened to it together and realized the song was really great. After that, it obviously ended up making the album.

CALUM: Everyone has their own tastes and favourites. I think maybe the last track Jawbreaker was contentious. But it’s a door opener for us and feels really authentic.

LUKE: All of the deluxe songs were added pretty last minute, later than you’d probably imagine. Start Over was one I really loved that nearly didn’t make it. This album was difficult to pick tracks as it had such a strong concept and narrative that some songs like Start Over over didn’t necessarily fit within but suited the band overall.

ASHTON: I Still Feel the Same funnily enough wasn’t chosen for the record until the last minute when we were voting as a group to choose the 14 songs on the album. All of a sudden it came out of the speakers really strong in comparison to the many songs we listened to in the final hours of deciding.

Do you think your solo careers influenced this album in any way? If so, how?

MICHAEL: I think the influence of our solo careers was mostly about trying to express ourselves individually and figuring out who we are outside of the band. That can be hard to understand sometimes. Once we made our solo records, I felt a real sense of empowerment for each of us individually. We now understand our own individual worth. Not that we didn’t before, but it feels a little different now. It’s rare in groups for each person to be their own artist, be successful on their own, and then come back together to continue creating great things. For us, it was also incredibly rewarding to see that we all went and did that, and then chose to come back together and create something again. That’s a big thing for artists. Usually, once people start doing something on their own, they realize they enjoy being independent. But for us, we were able to see the bigger picture. We’ve built something incredible as a band, and we don’t take any of it for granted. We all want to keep doing it together.

CALUM: Heavily. Learning a skill set by completely isolating and then bringing them back into a group environment helped a ton.

LUKE: It’d be impossible not to. Being able to spend time on each of our solo endeavors made coming back together as a band much more exciting and free. I had space to explore the exact sound and feeling I wanted to make on my own, so when it came time to write new 5SOS music I felt like I could take a step back and understand what the band should sound like, not just what I wanted it to sound like.

ASHTON: Our solo “careers” are just as important to the band as the band's records in many ways. Our willingness to de-shackle each band member from antiquated ideas that bands can’t make solo music has been very freeing and confidence building for each member in different ways. Also, we’ve been very inspired by KPOP and Hip hop groups that make great solo attempts and when they come back together they’re stronger than ever .

Luke
jacket ÉLUE, shirt VINTAGE, trousers GOLDEN GOOSE, shoes ACNE STUDIOS, belt CALIFORNIA DIRT, necklace VIVIENNE WESTWOOD

Ashton
jacket CRIMINAL DAMAGE, tank top KSUBI, trousers HONOR THE GIFT, boots OLD GRINGO, chain HOWSS

Calum
top ROUGH, kilt ASHTON MICHAEL, shoes NEW ROCK

Michael
jacket SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL, shirt LORD CULTURE, trousers KIIKIO, shoes NEW ROCK, jewellery RARE ROMANCE & THEARCHIVE x YANA

How has your creative process changed now that you’re older and some of you have families, compared to when you were teenagers starting out?

MICHAEL: It's just that it looks really different now. We don't write the same way or operate in the same way anymore. All of those things are positives, because if we were still doing things exactly the same way we were ten years ago, I don't think we would be writing or creating to our fullest. We've evolved, and we all respect each other's time and the new way we create. It's something that naturally evolves, almost the way a friend group evolves. We just make it work because it has to work. We figured it out.Part of what was really fun about this for me was that on Everyone’s a Star, Michael 5SOS is the most polar opposite version of myself in real life. I loved getting to tap into that. At home, I'm a stay-at-home dad, and when I get to do Everyone’s a Star, I become the complete opposite version of myself.It's really fun and keeps my personal life exciting. I really enjoy it all. Sometimes I feel like Hannah Montana or something.

CALUM: I'd like to think the spirit of it remains the same. We all still love to make music and it’s our life purpose and drive. But things definitely look different now. 

ASHTON: We still approach the creative process with an intensity and patience that we approached it with when we were teenagers and in our 20’s. The thing that has changed is we’ve become more efficient at seeking out collaboration. And getting smarter about the way we market ourselves visually. That’s a really fun component. 

Is there a song on this album that your younger self would never have imagined creating, but now you’re especially proud of?

MICHAEL: Some of the fun of it was getting to really push the, NOT OK , Everyone's a Star! , Boyband and stuff like those songs are very outrageous for us and things that I don't think fans ever would have expected us to do.

Evolve particularly as the most insane one. And I think getting to just full send and just have as much fun with the music as possible was really important to us, because we know how it's going to feel live. And we know that when we take this into a live space, it's just going to feel like an absolute party.

CALUM: I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again for sure. He would’ve loved that one.

LUKE: I’m really excited to play I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again. I’ve always loved that song and it seems as though it resonated with other people as well, so I’m eager to experience it on tour.

ASHTON: Every song you make is a little piece of yourself. To be proud of it is not the word I’d use, it more feels like gazing upon yourself in a mix of words and music. A song that is particularly reflective of my feelings is the rocks. Metaphorical Self sacrifice for the people I love is something my younger self would be proud of. 

What changed your perspective on being labeled a “boyband,” and what inspired you to embrace that term by making it part of a song title on the album?

MICHAEL: I think when we grew up and looked back on what that was, it was a lightbulb moment where we realized that being called a boy band isn't a bad thing. For the longest time, we assumed that the term ‘boy band’ came with a negative connotation. Then we had this conversation where we thought, wait a second, being called a boy band is awesome. It represents so many great things that we love. It's youthful, it's exciting, and traditionally it's fueled by female fan bases who are often the ones telling culture what's cool. When we talked about it, we were just asking each other: why did we ever think that was a bad thing? I guess the negativity came from the implication that you don't play instruments, that you don't write your own songs, or that you don't have your own artistic vision. That’s the connotation that sometimes comes with it, and that was why it frustrated us. But our whole career has been about going against what people say we can or can't do. I think we're probably the last boy band of our generation that’s still together.

CALUM: I love it. It’s not our burden anymore. I used to get so in my head about it. I realise one of our strengths is being part shapeshifter. 

ASHTON: Have you ever been bullied at school?  When you start to Own the phrase the bully calls you, it takes all the power away and puts it in your hands. Ready to wield whatever way you wish to. We chose to use the title in a creative way and use it to fuel emotional response from the public to get people to listen to our music. 

Michael
jacket and shorts MARGIER, shirt KSUBI, shoes NEW ROCK, jewellery VITALY & DEAN DAVIDSON

Calum
top PRO CLUB, shorts MILLI POINT TWO, shoes NEW ROCK

Luke
jacket THEO, shirt VINTAGE, trousers INFANTE, shoes ACNE STUDIOS, belt chain HOWSS, belt ZANA BAYNE

Ashton
jacket and trousers THEO, tank top STRIKE OIL, boots OLD GRINGO

Songs like ‘Chest’, ‘Wishful Dreaming’, ‘I’ll Find You’, and ‘Start Over’ feel especially powerful and have quickly become fan favorites. What made you decide to include them on the deluxe edition instead of the main tracklist? And can fans expect to hear them live on the upcoming tour?

CALUM: They kind of represent each member of the band a little more definitively than the standard album. We also just think the more songs the better.

ASHTON: Every night's a mystery, you never know what you’re gonna hear!

Which song from the album do you enjoy performing live the most, and why?

CALUM: NOT OK seems to resonate really well. It has a really powerful energy and message. 

LUKE: I’m really excited to play I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again. I’ve always loved that song and it seems as though it resonated with other people as well, so I’m eager to experience it on tour.

MICHAEL: I think performing Everyone’s a Star! live is going to be very surprising for a lot of people!

Did you include any hidden Easter eggs in the album that only longtime fans might catch?

MICHAEL: We went a little out of control with the amount of references, hidden details, meanings, and parallels to real life. What’s really fun about the tour we created is that if you're a diehard fan, there’s a space for you. There’s room to theory-craft with your friends and dive into all those details. But if you're more of a casual fan, you’ll still understand and enjoy it. You don’t have to think about it too deeply. 

What inspired the return to some of your iconic fashion looks, like Michael’s red hair, but with a more evolved, updated style?

MICHAEL: Yeah, I think we were trying to do something that felt like flipping what we've been doing on its head. Our fashion, the music, everything. For me, it was also the hair. It was about asking how we could make everything feel as different as it’s ever felt, almost like the polar opposite. That was the joy in it for us. The beauty of being in Five Seconds of Summer is that you never get bored because you're never doing the same thing over and over again. Every time we create something, it sounds different and it looks different. It’s really about pushing boundaries, getting creative, and allowing all of us to have that freedom.

TEAM CREDITS:

talent 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER @5sos
photography KEVIN SIKORSKI @escaperealife
styling MARTA DEL RIO @marta.del.rio
art direction TSIANN ALEXA @nebula1star
production 199X New York @199xnewyork
producer DAKOTA GRIFFIN @iamdakotagriffin
makeup and hair ALI SCHARF, FAYE CELESTE, FITCH LUNAR, and ARIANNA CHAYLENE BLEAN @ali.scharf @fayemesss @fitchlunarhair @ariannachayleneblean
lighting JOHN NOVAK @novak.novak.novak
digi tech JESSE TAM @jessetam_
set design JENN SCOTT @meatjenn
photography assistants COOPER BURTON, LUKE ANACLERIO, and CARIANNE OLDER @cooperburton @lukeanaclerio @carianneolder
styling assistants ALEXANDRA GRUSELL and GRACE TAYLOR @aligrusell @itsgracetaylor
bts KELLY HOWARD @kellyhoward
editor TIMI LETONJA @timiletonja
interview DOMINIKA GŁOWACZ @domi.glowacz
cover design ARTHUR ROELOFFZEN @arthurroeloffzen