Let us introduce you to your new favourites…
The creative spark is a beautiful thing. An ember that, if nurtured and fully embraced, can make for totally healing and unique expressions of self. It’s rare that individuals fully submerge themselves in that otherworldly elixir, give all of themselves to its mystic properties, but it’s clear Sydney duo Cat & Calmell are well accustomed to it, that they truly live and breathe their art.
Their latest thumper ‘Dramatic’ sees them stick a glorious, bedazzled middle finger at the overlords not listening to the younger generation, the ones steering the wheel but won’t be around to witness the consequences of their actions when shit hits the fan. The accompanying video is equally as badass, the first instalment in a multi-varied narrative exploring the ins-and-outs of intergennational conflict, identity and striving for equality. It’s a killer display of talent, and at the end of the day, is a lovely result of two young creatives totally surrendering to their artistic inclinations.
We caught up with the duo to get the deets on ‘Dramatic,’ quiz them on their friendship and most importantly, find out who their favourite Powerpuff Girls are (Buttercup is superior I dont make the rules!).
Check it below.
You’ve said that you both love the ‘Powerpuff Girls’; As someone who grew up on that show, I need to know: who is your favourite each and why?
Calmell: Bubbles. I’m a Bubbles bitch. I was really emotionally connected to her. Because, I know she’s got a little bit of crazy in there and I’m the same. A little bit psychotic.
Cat: You are a Bubbles bitch. She’s super cute. But then a little bit insane. Cute. but, crazy. I’m definitely Buttercup. She’s like blatantly psychotic and I think that’s me.
Now that we’ve got the pressing stuff out of the way, congrats on ‘Dramatic’! It’s been a little while since it’s been out now, what’s it been like watching it grow and flourish?
Calmell: It’s so weird because we’ve had ‘Dramatic’ for a while. It’s just been sitting there and we’ve been listening to it every day. So, it’s just weird when people send us videos of them listening to it. We’ve seen people do covers of it as well. And I’m like “that’s so weird.” But it’s so awesome. We love it. And we just did an acoustic version of it as well, which came out the other day. And it’s just interesting catching a different vibe. But everyone loves it.
Cat: It’s already doing better than ‘Dumbshit,’ which is crazy. Because with ‘Dumbshit,’ we were like “Wow, that’s crazy that it got that many streams” and now ‘Dramatic’ already has more. And that’s great because we really love ‘Dramatic’ as well. It’s one of the songs where we actually talk about important stuff, or are hinting at important stuff. And not just like, “We’re so young and stupid.” So, it’s cool that it’s doing well.
Do you still look at it the same compared to when you dropped it? Or have you changed your perception to it?
Cat: I’ve always loved ‘Dramatic.’ It was always one of my favorites. It’s just made me so happy that people really like it.
Calmell: Me too. With ‘Dumbshit,’ we had that façade. That was the first song we ever wrote together. So, we had that for the longest. And by the time we were putting it out, we were like, “Yeah, I’ve heard this song maybe one too many times.” But, it was really cool because people from my high school, who are obviously younger than me, were saying things like “This is our year 12 anthem.” It’s really sweet. Because I’m like, “Maybe I’m not over this song” [laughs].
You said you wrote the track as a cry from our generation to theirs, referencing the people in power. Is that in regards to climate action, social issues or just the state of the world in general?
Cat: The song was sparked by climate issues. Because at the time we were writing it, Greta Thunberg was very much in the headlines. And Donald Trump was also very much in the headlines being like, “You’re a kid. You don’t really get it.” And it’s like “Ah, You can say that. Because you’ll probably be dead by the time everything kind of hits the fan.”
But we’re the ones that are going to be around for the crazy shit that’s going to go down, which is kind of what it means when we say “You can afford not to be,” like, we’re not being dramatic. This is our reality. And like “you’re not going to be around to see it now.” So, it’s kind of like us trying to bring the older generation to attention. Like ‘This is really pressing for us. You might not understand the level of pressing it is for younger people’ because we still have our whole lives ahead of us. And we have no idea what our future’s going to hold.
View this post on Instagram
After putting the song out, was there a sense of catharsis at all? As in sort of ticking it off the bucket-list and being able to continue to write about more light-hearted topics?
Calmell: We definitely still want to do more of that sort of writing in the future. I think Cat and I are very honest people. And I think you’ll see that reflected through our music. Especially as we’ve got a more younger audience. So, we want to be as real as we can while still having fun. I think you’ll see a lot more of that in our upcoming music. We still write about dumb shit but –
Cat: It literally is just writing about whatever is on our minds. Sometimes it’s just stupid dumb shit that’s on our minds. Or like the typical stuff that a teenager or someone in their young adulthood wants to write about. Like being in love or doing literally dumb shit. And then also at the same time, we’re also going through a lot of different things –
Calmell: Especially a lot of different generational issues.
Cat: Personal issues and then the global stuff is just always there. So, it just really depends on the session. But we… I don’t know if it’s all catharsis putting it out. I definitely feel good putting it out and having people be like, “We really love this song.” But putting a song out doesn’t solve the issues or everything going on. So it’s still something that is out there. And I think there definitely will be more of that. Even the songs we’ve got coming up on the upcoming EP, spoiler alert, but we talk about this sort of… there’s a song where we kind of romanticise the idea of getting old and we’re like, “I can’t wait to get old.” And it’s almost sarcastic. Because we’re like, “We don’t really know if we’ll get the chance to. But, can’t wait!” type thing.
I imagine when writing about those themes, the temptation to write a ballad or slow burn must be super high. ‘Dramatic’ is anything but. How did you decide on the vibe of the tune and why was it necessary for this release?
Cat: We almost do it on purpose every time as well. Even with ‘Get Old,’ which is the other song that we were like, “We want to write lyrics that are kind of concerning where you listen to it.” You’re just like, “Oh, are they okay?” But, the song makes you want to-
Calmell: Get up and dance to it.
Cat: I feel like ‘Dramatic’ has that darker undertone, while still being upbeat. Whereas our other song is just like purely a festival jam. But I think it’s a choice that we consciously make every time. We like the idea of having really nihilistic lyrics with a super upbeat vibe to a song. I think it’s way easier to digest the message that we’re sending or what we’re trying to talk about. And it’s just a coping mechanism of our generation as well, just to like make memes out of stuff, make TikToks about it. Just almost take it lightheartedly. Because, there are so many serious things going on. If we were constantly having super serious conversations, which are also important, it would just be a lot.
Calmell: Cat and I can’t really take ourselves seriously together. So, in our music, we’re being completely honest and a little bit bleak. But we still want to be able to just like dance to our songs and let everyone relate to it. And not make it so depressing and somber.
Cat: Yeah, very bleak. But I’d still rather scream out the really sad lyrics in a super cathartic way.
The video is pretty intense for the tune and matches the lyrics pretty dead on, specifically the whole silencing aspect with the doctor having no face. What was the creative process behind it?
Cat: I think it was very much… We’ve created our own Cinematic Universe. Someone asked me this on my Instagram account during a Q&A. We’ve created like this ‘Cat and Carmell Music Video Cinematic Universe’ where all of our music videos kind of connect to tell a story. So spoilers, but with ‘Dramatic,’ it’s the Pre… What’s it called? Like a prologue? Or just the video that actually happens before ‘Dumbshit.’ So, it’s not in chronological order. So, we made ‘Dramatic’s’ music video fit into the overall storyline we’re telling. But also fit into the song itself.
Calmell: I love that. You’re the one that’s constantly putting spoiler alerts out there.
Cat: I love it.
Calmell: Our label loves it!
Cat: Do not get me on a live stream.
View this post on Instagram
You guys are still relatively new on the scene, what’s it been like entering the industry at this crazy time? Have you learnt any lessons for when things properly get going again? Even on the social media side or just keeping that engagement going?
Cat: I feel like it wasn’t a conscious choice we made to be like, “Oh, because we’re in a pandemic, we have to be more active on social media.” We really are just like a complete product of our generation. Like addicted to our phones, constantly on Instagram and everything else. So it’s second nature to just go live and talk about it. Keep some interactions on our stories and all that stuff. I think it’ll… Even once things go back to normal completely again it’ll be the same.
Calmell: But, we just… Before we got into our music properly we knew we always wanted to have that connection with our fans and listeners. And we just want to be as real as we can. And we have been that through the pandemic alongside them… Like once things get back to normal, we still want to-
Cat: Yeah, and we would make stupid videos, YouTube videos and blogs and stuff. And we still do. Even on the set of our music video shoots now, we’ll just shut our phones until the makeup artist comes in and we’ll just be like, “So, are you having fun?”
Calmell: They love it.
Cat: They love us.
I absolutely love your look and the overall aesthetic you both have. Is that something that’s always been there? Or has that developed as you’ve explored your artistry?
Cat: I think it wasn’t something that we developed to be Cat & Calmell as artists. It’s just our own personal journeys. This is how we dress in our everyday lives. We live in Camden and we dress up so ridiculously. We have tooth gems and like crazy makeup.
Calmell: I just shaved my eyebrows!
Cat: She had heart eyebrows today, it was lit! And its just a largely older demographic sometimes where we are. And we’ll just be absolutely out there for them. And we love it! But, it’s who we are. The personal style has definitely developed though.
Calmell: Both of our styles have developed over the last few years. But we go through all these different phases. There was a point where we would dye our hair every couple of months as well.
Cat: Every couple of weeks! So many phases. It’s never going to stop. But, we love it. It’s a big part of our artistry.
Calmell: But then we found our hair colour purely for our Cat and Calmell Universe. And for our story, we have to keep our hair. But now I’m stuck in this hair and I don’t wanna dye it blue anymore. Do you know what I mean?
To start to cap off, you both seem to feed off each other so well. How does each of you sort of compliment each other artistically, emotionally, etc?
Calmell: Cat is literally my therapist. I refuse to see one because I’ve got one right here for free.
Cat: I keep telling her to see one.
Calmell: I tried to see one once it was traumatic. So I’m not doing that again.
Cat: It was a terrible mistake.
Calmell: It was awful. Then my boyfriend’s seeing him. Anyway. Sorry, I’m oversharing. No, but, okay. So emotionally, Cat and I have said we’ve developed a sisterhood, so we’re always 100% honest with each other. Even if it hurts and trust me, it does hurt. But, like I said before. It honestly helps with our music. Because, we never really clash musically. And especially, when we’re writing, Cat and I have these like persons where we write where we go in like opposite ends of the room. And we write our own melodies, our own lyrics. And then we come back together and we’ve got a song. And it never really clashes. And if one has an opinion, we take it onboard and-
Cat: Like I might write a bit. And I’m like, “what do you think about this for the pre and come up?” And there’s no egos involved as well. I wouldn’t be like, “Oh well, fuck you!” But, I think we have such a good read on each other’s energy. And also like I can tell going through a session if Calmell is not really feeling it. Or if she’s just having an off day. And sometimes when I have those, Calmell will step in. Also just artistically, Calmell is really able to voice what she’s feeling in a song or where she wants production to go and stuff. And then I’m typical Capricorn. Run like the business side of things. We’re made for each other. What can you say.
Calmell: Capricorns and Geminis are not supposed to get along.
Cat: We’re not supposed to get along. But It works somehow.
View this post on Instagram
Finally, it’s clear you guys are proper rays of sunshine when you’re together. But you also go into some pretty deep themes when creating. Do those deep, creative moments change your friendship after creating? Is there an added depth or understanding there?
Cat: Calmell and I, throughout our entire friendship, have been completely unfiltered with each other. We’ve been friends for six years now and it’s evolved to a sisterhood. But, even before we wrote songs about serious stuff. I would go down these rabbit holes where I would learn about something, or an issue that’s going on, or just a theory that… Just something that’s a little bit unsettling. But then I’ll talk about it with Calmell. And we’ll just go on these three hour long FaceTime conversations or just like hangout. Like, we’ve been deep-diving into these issues way before we even started writing music together.
Calmell: I think that helped us write our music. Because, we already have so much fun. And we’re really good at communicating with each other. And, we love just talking shit about everything. And we’re good at expressing our emotions and our thoughts, which has helped with our music. And even in sessions we like to involve our producers in our conversations as well.
Cat: Some of them love it, some don’t. Sometimes they’re like, “you’re oversharing,” but there are some producers are like-
Calmell: The producer Hauskey, who produced ‘Dramatic,’ he loves it. Them two go on for hours, and I have no idea. I’m just trying to comprehend. But those two are like literally exact same. But we like to involve our producers. And whether we’re talking about relationships or real world problems. We like to just have those three hour communication sessions-
Cat: Our sessions always start with a really long conversation full of oversharing and way too deep topics.
Calmell: I love it. That’s our process!
Cat: A lot of our trauma bond.
Sorry, did you say “Trauma bond”?
Cat: We did.
Calmell: It’s a thing. You invented that.
Cat: I didn’t invent it. That’s just what close relationships are.
Calmell: The more you know!
Cat and Calmell’s new banger ‘Dramatic’ is out now. You can buy/ stream it here. You can also cop tickets to their upcoming shows at Mary’s Underground here.
