When 5 Seconds of Summer drummer Ashton Irwin announced that he wanted to produce solo material a few years back, it threw a curveball into the band. Side projects can often signal the beginning of the end for successful bands, but Irwin going solo ushered in a new era for all members. Frontman Luke Hemmings soon followed Irwin’s debut solo album, 2020’s Superbloom, with 2021’s When Facing the Things We Turn Away From. Guitarist Michael Clifford was next, dropping his debut solo track in April of this year, with bassist Calum Hood finally releasing his own debut solo single a little over a week later. It was the first taste of Hood’s debut album, ORDER chaos ORDER, set for release on June 13th.
Speaking to Rolling Stone AU/NZ from his LA home, Hood admits that Irwin coming to the band about wanting to pursue a solo venture was something they never thought would happen.
“I literally just talked about this when I was on the phone to Ash[ton] the other day, and I was like, ‘Man, you really blew the door down in terms of us discovering what we were capable of as a band dynamic,’” he says.
Despite the other 5SOS members going solo, Hood wasn’t thinking about his own material. Initially hesitant, he told himself that if he was ever to release a solo album, he had to “lay my heart on the line.”
That journey began while Hood was balancing 5SOS commitments and exploring what he could do as a solo artist. By the time he had 12 tracks made in his home studio (“shitty demos,” as he calls them), he stumbled upon Jackson Phillips, the US musician behind indie-rock project Day Wave.
Hood took the leap and DM’d Phillips on Instagram. Soon, the pair jumped on Zoom during COVID and threw around ideas before finally getting into a studio together where they wrote the album’s fourth track together, “I Wanted to Stay”.
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“That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, OK. I have more of an idea of where this is going now.’ I pretty much scrapped all the other shit that I wrote, except for one song. That’s how the journey started.”
Like the other 5SOS members, Hood’s solo work is a complete step away from the sounds that made the Sydney quartet a global sensation. Of course, there’s inspiration from Day Wave, but Hood says he was also influenced by the likes of Phoenix, M83, and Teddybears. “I feel like I really wanted to do something really specific, and something a little more ethereal, a little cooler. I was listening to a lot of Radiohead and I was like, ‘Oh, that would be so cool if I did this, and no one would expect it.’”
Hood turns and gestures to the room behind him: “I wanted this album to feel like you’re in my bedroom, as we currently are. And it’s midnight, and I just start playing the 10 songs and you’re just a fly on the wall.
“It’s just this insight into me and how I perceived my last 29 years of life. Some of it will make sense, some of it will not. Some of it’s really specific, and then some of it’s more up in the air, open to interpretation.”
Hood isn’t sure where ORDER chaos ORDER will take him. As much as he’s enjoyed the process, his heart will always be with 5SOS. He believes his first solo album, however, has made him a better contributor to his main band.
“I know what my strengths are, I know what my weaknesses are… I feel really good that we’re even able to be in this position.”
Now that all four members of 5SOS have undertaken solo projects, would the band still be together if they hadn’t stepped away to explore their individual artistry?
Hood pauses.
“I don’t know. I could probably stay in that world for a little bit if I was thinking about it too much. I think I have good guidelines in terms of Ash and Luke and Michael and how they’ve held themselves accountable throughout their album processes. Ash has played shows, Luke’s toured and we still feel incredibly strong as a unit. So I have a good blueprint of the absolute basics of showing respect to the band, showing respect to the music and the fans especially, you know? I would say that we’re 100 per cent a better band, a stronger unit, because we’ve released solo music. No doubt.”
Despite being one of Australia’s biggest bands of all time (over 18 million albums sold and over 7 billion streams), and finding global fame and success at just 15 years old, Hood is void of any ego. He talks about his career — both solo and with 5SOS — with great consideration and passion. When asked how finding fame at such a young age shaped him leading to this album, he offers a thoughtful response.
“There’s things on [the album] from when I was a kid. There’s songs on there about losing my dog in my early 20s. Losing the first love of my life, the second love of my life. There’s all these topics that range throughout my whole life and I’ve had 27 years to think about how I would want to say it. Creating five albums with the band… you pick up a lot of skills in terms of how you want to present an album or a body of work, I guess.”
Looking ahead, Hood isn’t even sure if he’ll tour his new solo record. He wants to have a couple of albums under his belt so he can properly showcase his music, but a “one-off show is probably more feasible.”
And as for 5SOS?
Hood grins: “We’re always planning. The 5SOS cog in the music world never stops. There’s always conversations, there’s always people dreaming up things — ‘What if we do this? What if we do that?’ So fear not. Because there’s always something going on.”
Calum Hood’s ORDER chaos ORDER is out now via EMI Music Australia.
This Calum Hood interview features in the March-May 2025 issue of Rolling Stone AU/NZ. If you’re eager to get your hands on it, then now is the time to sign up for a subscription.
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