Prior to the band’s inception, Maq had been performing solo and upon hearing that Thompson played drums was insistent on jamming. “Georgia had never even played with drums before. It’s very different because you’re actually following someone,” explains Thompson. “Georgia’s face was crazy, it was this giant beaming grin and she stopped to say ‘Oh my god’.” While Hellmrich wasn’t present at the first jam she asserts her position in the band confidently. “I hadn’t even met Thomo before and I didn’t know what to expect but I realised from the first rehearsal that no one was listening to what I was doing. That’s why I do whatever I want on bass,” she jokes.
Having played in other projects prior to Camp Cope, each member expresses the joy of getting to work with your best friends. “It’s easy because we get along well and we can tell each other if something’s shit, not that it ever is,” says Thompson. Maq adds fondly, “I’ve never had a friendship like this where you create something together because I’ve always been a bit of a loner, but these people are special. We’re like a team.” “I feel the closer we’ve become the easier it’s been to make music,” Hellmrich says. “I know where Georgia’s going to go in her head now because I know her so well. We have a constant text thread and when I get on my break at work there’s 24 messages from Georgia and Thomo.”
The band’s rise over the last year has been rapid, seeing them play sold out shows all over Australia, reach #36 on the ARIA charts with their debut album and support the likes of Screaming Females and Modern Baseball. The band note their Melbourne album launch at The Curtin as a highlight, still riding the wave of excitement three months on. “That night was crazy,” Thompson says. “It was the first show we played where we had any recorded material whatsoever apart from demos. It was really weird for us because we aren’t used to anyone except for ourselves and friends knowing the words. I can never hear the crowd but at that show I could hear them over the top of my foldback, even over the top of Georgia.”
“There’s something really special about shows with people who aren’t men,” says Maq. “We had a representation of all the unique kinds of people that come to shows. It felt really good to be able to do something like that and support other women, non-binary people and trans-people. When I go to a show that’s all men I’m like ‘What are you doing, you’re not helping anything’.”
In regards to what the band feel ready for in terms of opportunities, Thompson is clear when outlining the band’s stance. “I get a lot of emails everyday from every person on the planet who can see a quick buck. I don’t think it’s a matter of being ready for things, we’re just going to do what we want anyway. No one’s going to tell us what to do so it doesn’t really matter.”
As for how they feel when they’re on stage, given the increasing size of the audiences Hellmrich is quick to express her fear. “It’s terrifying, that’s why we look at each other and scream with our eyes. But we have each other, so no matter how scary or big the shows are we can look at one another and know that we’re all feeling the same thing.”
Camp Cope’s songs are notably very personal in nature with Maq, the band’s lyricist, emphasising the importance of being vulnerable within songwriting and sharing your experiences with an audience. “It’s like yoga. When you touch your toes and want to retract you instead leave it and relax into the pain, so the more you tell people these personal things the easier it is. That way your vulnerabilities become your strengths because they’re out there.”
“It’s like when Eminem does that rap battle in 8 Mile and says crap about himself before the other guy can say it.” Hellmrich adds. “To sum up Georgia is Slim Shady,” laughs Thompson.
The band’s influence is already being felt in a major way as they become one of the loudest voices on issues relating to the representation of women and the LGBTIQA+ community. “I see shows as a political statement,” says Maq. “If you give a microphone to an all male band you’re giving them a platform to be heard. If you give it to a woman, trans or non-binary person you’re giving them a voice and bringing them into the picture. Men who are in bigger bands need to step up and do something and stop supporting the boys club, because the boys club can fucking take care of itself.”
The band are currently in the process of putting together a zine titled People Like You and Me to give women and LGBTIQA+ people an opportunity to get their work published. “I want people to catch on to what we’re doing and why it needs to be done,” says Maq. “We have a platform now where people listen to us so we want to give back to other people who don’t have a stage to speak on,” adds Hellmrich.
Soon to play Sad Grrrls Fest, Camp Cope understand the festival’s importance in a male dominated market, where the inclusion of just two female performers on a bill is considered an oversight rather than a massive failing of the booker. “Every show’s a boys fest,” Maq says.
“Sad Grrrls Fest shows how many female musicians there are,” adds Hellmrich. “That’s a very full bill with very established, talented women of varying genres. When people go ‘Oh there’s just not enough women to put on every bill,’ it’s like, no there actually is. I’m also very excited about the festival as a networking possibility. When we played Queer & Now in Wollongong it was amazing to meet a lot of female and queer young kids who had similar experiences. A lot of the bands on Sad Grrrls and Queer & Now I didn’t know before and now when we have a show we can put them on it.”
The band are also gearing up for the Poison City Weekender, taking place in September, the same festival they played for their second show only last year. “There’s so many cool and diverse bands on both the Weekender lineup and Sad Grrrls Fest,” says Thompson. “There’s a bunch of stuff that hasn’t been announced yet for the Weekender which is really cool. Bands that I think are really important for people to see. I’ve been going there long before I started working for the label and you don’t rock up for one band, you go for the whole thing. It’s important to have those bands on the bill.”
The future for Camp Cope is certainly shaping up to be mammoth as the band talk allusively about their plans for the next six months. “We’ve got some stuff coming up that’s a different audience to what we’re used to in different settings. There’s heaps of cool stuff coming up that we can’t announce yet,” says Hellmrich.
“We’ll only be a band for a year and a half next year and we’ve got such big things planned,” adds Maq. “I’m so proud of us.”
BY HOLLY PEREIRA
