Hailing from Southern California, emo pop punk quartet Calmgrove are a new band on the scene showing a lot of promise since forming at the beginning of 2018. We recently caught up with Calmgrove’s vocalist Eric Guzman to talk about the band’s history, inspirations and their plans for 2019.
For those that don’t know, how did Calmgrove get together and form?
The idea of Calmgrove started in late 2017. Tommy (guitar), Daniel (guitar) and I have been jamming in bands for several years and had new song ideas. We couldn’t find a singer so I switched from bass to vocals and through friends, we met Sean (bass) and Nolan (drums). Once the five of us started jamming, everything clicked and we began writing and playing shows.
Have you all always been musical and/or are you from musical families?
Music was that one thing that kept all of us sane growing up. We’ve all been playing music for 10+ years and love collaborating with one another. Some of our parents and siblings are musical and that definitely inspired us to pick up instruments of our own!
What is the meaning and inspiration behind your new song, “Keep Close?”
“Keep Close” was a song that I wrote about the moments when I am stuck in my head. There have been plenty of times where I can’t process my thoughts and often become overwhelmed over nonsense. “Keep Close” in particular was a song that was written multiple times lyrically – to the point of frustration. Most of it is blended with symbolism, but in short, it’s about the battle I had with getting my thoughts on paper while writing lyrics for the song. I can remember trying to write down the most accurate words for how I was feeling and then suddenly lose my train of thought; which would completely aggravate me. “Keep Close” is one of the first songs we wrote and has a very aggressive and upbeat sound – it’s one of our favorites to play!
Talk to us about your writing process and environment, what are some of the factors and influences behind your instrumental and lyrical content?
Our writing process varies from time to time. We’ve written parts of songs individually and then brought them to each other to complete. There are songs we have that we wrote all together at our lock out and each one of us brought something to the table. Our instrumental and lyrical content are driven by the emotions we feel. Our songs touch base on anxiety, conformity, heartache, and progressing from struggles. The music we make expresses the emotions and what we’re going through in a certain moment of our lives and we feel that listeners can relate.
Although you’ve only been together a little over a year, what has been the highlight of your musical journey so far?
We’ve played a lot of cool shows in the time we’ve been together, but one of the highlights was being able to play our favorite hometown venue, The Glasshouse. It was a rad show that Belmont was headlining and was great to play to new and familiar faces! We also really enjoy writing and recording. Anytime we can get together to share new ideas is something we enjoy.
Are there any plans to record and release new material this year?
Absolutely! We just wrapped up recording 2 new songs that will be released in the upcoming months! On top of that, we have plans to record our first EP and are aiming to release it in late summer or early fall. We’ve been writing a ton and are so excited to share it with everyone.
What are you most looking forward to accomplishing in 2019?
We are really looking forward to hitting the road and playing in new areas to new people. If were coming to a city near you, come out and check out the show!
Follow Calmgrove: Facebook // Instagram // Twitter // Spotify
