INTERVIEW: Call Me Malcolm, ska-punk band from UK, go deeper, darker, heavier
Photo: Call Me Malcom’s new album is called Me, Myself and Something Else. Photo courtesy of the band / Provided by Earshot Media with permission.
Call Me Malcolm, the ska-punk band from the United Kingdom, recently released their latest album, Me, Myself and Something Else, featuring the singles “Wake Up, The Monster Said” and “What You Burn.” The five-piece group hails from South London, and the new recording follows on the heels of 2018’s I Was Broken When You Got Here.
The band has always been upfront and honest about the important issue of mental health. Their lyrics, although anthemic and raging, touch upon topics and occurrences that are serious and contemplative. For the new album, the band goes deeper, darker and heavier with their music.
Recently vocalist and guitarist Lucias Malcolm exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox about what fans can expect in the future from the band. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can your fans expect from Me, Myself and Something Else?
Fans of the last album will have come to expect brass hooks, crunchy singalong choruses and an open and honest attitude to talking about mental health. This new album takes all those and goes deeper, darker and heavier. The world has become a trickier landscape to navigate in the last two years, so Me, Myself and Something Else reflects that.
How long did it take to record the new album?
The album took two weeks in the studio for the band, but that’s always a little misleading. They were 12-14 hours days, and before that [we] were writing solidly for 18 months. After that our producer Oz Craggs (who is an absolute wizard behind the desk) mixed for another week or thereabouts.
Are you excited about your new collaboration with Wiretap Records?
Unbelievably excited! We were already huge fans of Burnt Tapes (our brothers from the UK) and Audio Karate, and have been feverishly falling in love with the other bands on the roster. Rob at Wiretap has been so welcoming and passionate about our album, it’s been thrilling to see our fan base in the U.S. grow so rapidly.
What inspired the new song ‘Wake Up, the Monster Said’?
‘Wake Up, The Monster Said’ is the first track on the new album so functions as something of a statement of intent. Musically, it came about after the bass player (Trev) and I were playing around with some more technical, heavier, synchronised riffs, which later became the breakdown section of the song. So from there we built outwards. Lyrically, it was about exploring the self-destructive and oftentimes desperate nature of depression, and how that can make everyday routines such as getting up and out of bed so utterly impossible.
How much has the coronavirus disrupted the band’s plans?
In a way it’s made life more simple for us. Our album release tour was shut down whilst it was still in its booking stages, which was a shame but obviously necessary. In the meantime it’s allowed us to focus solely on the marketing and release of the record. This, when you’re all juggling full-time jobs anyway, meant we’ve been able to give the PR the attention it deserves.
What’s the future look like once all this settles down?
We have some major plans in the works. I hate to be coy, but we can’t go into too many details as it’s not our place at this stage. However, the bottom line is we’ll be heading out for a full U.K. tour, hitting Europe, and then making our way across the pond [to] the U.S.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Call Me Malcolm’s new album is Me, Myself and Something Else. Click here for more information.
