F  L  A  U  N  T

Melbourne punk trio CLAMM, made up of Jack Summers, Masie Everett and Miles Harding, have released a powerful new single “Liar.” This song deals with mental health and the importance of positivity, even in the face of internal conflict.

“Liar” is the second single from CLAMM’s debut album Beseech Me, which is set to be released April 9th via Meat Machine. CLAMM did not hesitate to cover complex subjects on this album, addressing issues surrounding dangerous power structures and oppression with a sense of maturity and optimism.

Check out what CLAMM had to say about their musical journey and stream “Liar” below!

How does the influence of US rock shine through in your music?

We are greatly influenced by US rock. I guess as teenagers we were listening to heaps and heaps of Ty Segall and Oh Sees. I think we were pretty Interested in what Goner Records, In The Red, Drag City and Castle Face were putting out. So I think when you've listened to that sort of music for so long, it's going to come through in your song writing. It is that kind of music that probably made us want to start playing music together. 

Why did you choose to write your single ‘Keystone Pols’ from the perspective of an authoritarian figure? 

I think it felt like quite an ominous song. The instrumentals we had sounded almost mechanic and unrelenting. This scary repetitive sound instilling fear felt appropriate to tie to an authoritarian body of some sort. I find it scary the amount of power the government and its police have and I also find it scary how they chose to use it.

How did growing up in Melbourne influence your musical sound? 

It must have affected it just as much as our US rock influence mentioned above. When you are growing up around the time of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control and a thousand other bands of a similar calibre I think it’s going to affect things whether you know it or not. I think the bar is really high in Melbourne, there is good music everywhere and you don't really think about it until you leave Melbourne. 

How did the three of you know you wanted to make music together, did you always know you wanted to create music in a trio?

I think we like the rawness of a trio. We are able to get our point across and be loud enough as a trio. Miles and I have been playing music together for as long as I have been playing music so it always feels right to play with him. Maisie had the opportunity to join the band and learn the songs in a week for a Bass Drum of Death gig back in late 2019. It was all very rushed but she nailed it and since then I think it has just felt right for all of us. We are all pretty relaxed and enthusiastic. Its easy and fun playing together.

What is your favorite element of performing? 

CLAMM has definitely got a cathartic element to the live experience. It’s really a matter of leaving it all out there on stage I think, which sounds cliché but is true. I think even for Miles and Maisie, who are very relaxed people it is a massive release to just go nuts for half an hour. Miles says that our sets are the most quiet time for him because he just taps out of everything and enters a trance of motoric hammering.

Has your perspective on music changed over the past year? 

Yeah it has, everything is different and everything has changed for us. Some really big gigs that we had lined up got cancelled and we sort have had to adjust to the momentum of everything coming to a big halt. Then there was the whole livestream thing, which we weren’t too keen on. I  really didn't want livestream gigs to become the norm, although I was appreciative of bands trying it. Definitely not our thing. I guess everything is just different now. The writing process is different because we can’t try songs live when gigs aren’t allowed. I definitely appreciate the live experience more having had it taken away. We haven’t played since March 2020. I think we have all been listening to music more during this time. I guess things will continue to change until we reach some sort of ‘new norm’ and then maybe we can fully realize how much our perspective has changed. For now, it's still a bit of a COVID whirlwind. 

Has your music developed since your debut album? 

Yes, massively. I think we play the songs live a lot differently even. It was recorded so long ago and put onto a tape and we didn't really think anything would come of it. These were songs we had very quickly written and just thought we’d put down. There definitely wasn't much thought behind it all, that being said we are glad that it's been received fairly well and some people seem to enjoy it. But since then, we feel like we have upped our game a lot. We are really excited about some new stuff we are writing and feel like we are coming into ourselves a bit more as a group.