5 Second of Summer have spoken of their struggle to be taken seriously as a real rock band and singing about mental illness while top payers in the music industry sing their praises.
On being a band that actually sings about real issues teens are struggling with:
‘Look at top 40 radio,’ says drummer Ashton Irwin, who at 21 is the band’s outspoken elder. ‘No one is writing music that highlights what everyone is scared to talk about — which is that everyone is sick and depressed these days.’ Irwin once drew a butterfly on a fan’s wrist so she would stop cutting herself there. ‘People our age, we all feel like shit about ourselves,’ he continues. ‘We wake up and we look at our phones and there are a thousand opinions on who we are — or what we are. It’s destructive.’
On what it was like for them growing up:
5SOS hails from Hawkesbury, a ticky-tacky suburb of Sydney. ‘Our culture is working-class, like, f-ing violent,’ says Irwin. ‘You can’t afford shit. You take public transport. You buy $5 McDonald’s meals. It’s just epic, depressed suburbia.’
On their inspiration and wanting more from life:
‘It’s not part of our world in Australia to join a band — you’re a plumber, you’re a bricklayer, you mow lawns,’ explains Irwin. But local legends like INXS, Silverchairand AC/DC were part of their world. ‘There’s that raw aggression and love for a massive, distorted guitar that already exists in our culture,’ he adds. ‘But then we also loved California-punk melodies.’ Green Day, Blink-182 and All Time Lowwere 5SOS’ holy trinity.
Music Industry Insiders speak on 5SOS:
Benji Madden:
‘They’re 100 percent, absolutely a real band,’ says Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden, who co-wrote four tracks on Sounds Good Feels Good and the No. 16 Billboard Hot 100 hit ‘Amnesia’ from 5SOS’ debut. ‘They are one of the better young bands I’ve ever seen.’…’To sell out arenas and play ball on that level, you’ve got to have an insane work ethic — otherwise it doesn’t last,…Most bands want to smoke weed and play video games, and they don’t.’…’I really, truly believe that this band’s story could be different than any other,’ says Benji Madden. ‘We’re all kind of watching.’
Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman:
‘They’re genuinely nice guys and they’re good musicians,’ says Fall Out Boyguitarist Joe Trohman. ‘I’m rooting for them.’
Capitol Music Group chairman/CEO Steve Barnett:
‘They were teenagers and they’re men now — they’ve grown up before our eyes,’ says Capitol Music Group chairman/CEO Steve Barnett. ‘They have been successful enough to make the record they want.’
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