Camp Cope is absolutely killing it at the moment. The Melbourne trio recently finished a tour for their debut self-titled album; which saw them play mostly to sold-out rooms. It has been a crazy old time for the 3 girls who are sure to have a busy rest of the year. We gave Camp Cope a disposable camera for the tour and had a quick chat to drummer, Sarah Thompson. 

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So, you recently released your debut album which has been received really well on triple J and from everyone I have spoken to. You have also been playing sold out shows on the tour, does playing shows feel any different since the release?  

I definitely feels different in some ways. Like, people know all of the words now, sometimes better than us, which is really nice. The venues have gotten a lot bigger too. Apart from that though, we’re not doing anything any differently than we’ve always done. We play with bands we love and who are our friends. We choose venues that we love and are run by our friends. Its a great feeling to be able to sell out a show that we’ve put together ourselves. 

 

Has the attention been overwhelming at all? 

It’s been a little overwhelming. We’re all quite anxious people who tend to hide in the corner of a show as opposed to standing under a billboard with our names on it ha. We’re terrible at getting photos taken and we are pretty nervous in interviews. On stage however it’s all great. It’s what we love to do, so the actual playing part I would say is the thing that isn’t overwhelming. 

 

I saw that Iona from the Great Cynics sang on the record, how did you go about teaching her to sing in an Australian accent? 

She is! Iona is a really good friend of ours. It was perfect timing that she happened to be in Australia when we were recording so of course we wanted her on the album. I don’t know if we necessarily taught her how to sing in an Australian accent, I think it was more her mimicking us haha

 

Who is the little girl on the album cover? 

The girl on the cover is a tiny Georgia Maq post accident / being stitched up in a hospital in Greece. I love the way she’s just sitting there smiling amongst the bandages and blood. It’s a really nice photo even though it was taken at a pretty horrible time. 

 

What is it like seeing people singing songs that you have written and are often very personal to you? 

Its amazing. I am not sure any of us will ever get used to it. I feel like it brings such a great vibe to the entire room. It’s so humbling.

 

Do you ever find it strange seeing men singing Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams? 

I don’t think men singing Jet Fuel is strange, however men pushing past women in a crowd, or being aggressive to other audience members while singing Jet Fuel is ridiculously ironic. It happened in Brisbane and it was just weird and really horrible. We don’t want anyone behaving like that during any songs in our set, but the fact that it happened during that song was mind blowing. 

 

Have you seen the latest viral 9/11 footage?  

I haven’t! But I’m not the one who’s overly versed in conspiracy theories….

 

You have been able to play some pretty incredible shows with some great bands this tour, has any stops/bands stood out? 

All of the shows on the tour were fantastic, we had such an amazing time. Our home-town show in Melbourne was definitely a highlight. The bands were all so awesome and the room just had a really nice atmosphere to it. Looking out to see rows and rows of girls in the front for each and every band was incredible.

 

Can you tell us much more about the situation with Georgia’s voice? Is there permanent damage to the vocal chords or will you get better? ((Please drink some tea.)) 

At this stage it’s not looking like anything permanent. I guess at the end of the day vocal chords are like any other part of your body - they can get strained / damaged, and need a break every now and then. Georgia’s voice is amazing and she can push it pretty hard when she wants to. We’ve taken a bit of a break to give her some rest and let her vocal chords heal. Plenty of tea and plenty of honey! There’ve been so many people who have reached out with similar stories which has been so comforting. We have some really excellent friends and peers in our scene. We’re super lucky.

 

Apart from The Poison City Weekender, what else do you have planned for the rest of the year? 

You’ll find that out in a few weeks….

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Check out the photos from the disposable camera we gave to Camp Cope below