5 Seconds of Summer

5 Seconds of Summer is an Australian pop punk/pop rock band that formed on December 3, 2011 in a small town just west of Sydney. The band is made up of Ashton Irwin on drums and vocals, Michael Clifford on lead guitar and vocals, Calum hood on bass guitar and vocals, and Luke Hemmings on guitar and lead vocals.

The band formed after Calum decided to combine his jam sessions with Michael and Luke who didn’t really like each other. He would go between the two to hang out and play with them so they decided it would be best to come together. Luke already had a small following from the various covers that he had been posting on his YouTube channel, Hemmo1996. The guys soon started posting their collective covers on the channel such as Blink-182’s “I Miss You”, A Day To Remember’s “If It Means A Lot To You”, and Go Radio’s “Forever My Father”.

The trio’s Internet popularity soon climbed and they eventually booked their first ever gig. The only problem was that they needed a drummer, so Michael contacted Ashton through Facebook knowing that he was a local drummer. Ashton agreed because after all Michael did ask if he wanted to play to 200 people which turned out to be 12 people other than their family members. Even with the mediocre turnout the guys had a blast and decided that they wanted Ash in the band. On December 16, 2011 the band posted their cover of Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag”. From then on Ashton, the only one with a car and diploma, would pick up the three boys from Norwest Christian College who would constantly skip class to go to band practice. Michael and Calum even dropped out while Luke was unable to as his parents wanted him to further his education if the rockstar career didn’t work out

Their YouTube videos were gaining a lot of attention and even caught the attention of Louis Tomlinson of One Direction who tweeted a link to one of their videos which gained them a lot more attention. They later joined Hot Chelle Rae on their Tour and their opening act and One Direction on their Take Me Home Tour within the first few years of band-hood. They have also joined One Direction on their Where We Are Tour and have done many headlining tours around the world.

5SOS began doing the Mini Australian Tour on weekends while they were still in school and then progressed to doing the Twenty Twelve Tour. They have also done other Austalian tours such as the Pants Down Tour and the There’s No Place Like Home Tour.  They are set to return to OZ to do the Aussie leg of the Rock Out With Your Socks Out Tour in June of 2015.

After getting signed to Capitol Records it was much easier for the band to move to England to produce their music than stay in Australia so they did and began touring there as well. After headlining the UK Tour and opening both of the One Direction tours the band is set to return in May and June for the UK leg of the ROWYSO Tour.

They also lived in Los Angeles, California for a short time over the past few years and reside there as of today as they write and record their second album. They have been on a total of four collective tours around the United States and Canada between the 1D tours and their headlining tours. They were here in April for their Stars, Stripes, and Maple Syrup Tour and have done three shows for the US leg of the ROWYSO Tour which they will finish in July, August, and September.

Their discography is extensive, but mainly consists of EP’s. They started with their Unplugged EP in June of 2012 then later that year they released their first studio EP, Somewhere New. They took a recording break as they toured and then came out with their She Looks So Perfect EP in March of 2014 and then their Don’t Stop Ep in June which was shortly followed by their debut self-entitled album later that month. They also released the Amnesia EP and Good Girls EP with extra songs to go along with the singles from their albums later in 2014. As for 2015 5SOS has released their first live album, LIVESOS, and are currently writing and recording their sophomore album.  

If anyone knows me, they know that I love 5 Seconds of Summer and I can prove that with my three ticket stubs from all across the east coast. I have seen them open on both of the One Direction tours and I saw them on their Stars, Stripes, and Maple Syrup Tour and I already have my ticket for their ROWYSO tour in August. Their sound is great because of their pop-ish sound with punk influences. I plan to be a fan of them for a long time and I can’t wait for what else they have in store.