The year 2001 was a memorable one for The Calling - they released their debut album Camino Palmero on RCA Records, watched their single "Wherever You Will Go" become a radio staple, toured with Lifehouse and broke through the teen pop craze on MTV's Total Request Live (TRL) three times.
Although they've been around for awhile, the sudden rush of fame is a bit frightening for the group.
"We've been trying to learn how to adapt to new life," guitarist and songwriter Aaron Kamin told State Press Magazine. "It's hard. The biggest lesson I've learned is that nobody can prepare you. People have told me, 'this and this is going to happen. It's going to be so hard. It's going to be so tiring.' But you just don't get it until you're a part of it. And once you are, you're swept up in the big storm that is you and you can't control the weather. You can just hang on tight."
The Calling proved they hit the big time when they graced MTV's TRL.
"It's scary and surreal and bizarre to take a creation from our heads and hearts, put it on paper and put music to it," Kamin says. "The next thing you know it's on TV and little kids are schooled to come and see you. It's very strange.
"We're younger than the Nickelbacks and the Creeds of the world. We're not like full grown adults yet so I think we have the youth appeal, which is in our favor."
With their youth appeal intact, the band is gearing up for their first headlining tour, which Kamin says they're looking forward to. "Everything is different now," he says. "We're going to be playing for our fans at our shows.
"We don't have to be on and off in 20 minutes. We're taking our time playing the songs how we want to. We're condensing things and putting together our own show. If you're familiar with the record, it's in a big way bringing it to life. If you're unfamiliar, you can come and you can see what I think is one of the best live shows around."
Their show at the Bash on Ash tonight will be the second date of the band's tour. "It will be nice having our own fans there and having people appreciate our show," Kamin says. "It's nice to get back to what I think is 10 times more than we're putting out. It's like a radiation of energy that's really incredible."
For those who think The Calling is an overnight success, think again.
"Alex and I had been sitting around in my parents' garage writing songs for the past five and a half years," Kamin explains. "We made the record almost two years ago. It took them a year to finally put it out aside from the four years that it took to let our record company make a record. So it finally came out and here we are in the midst of craziness."
The group signed to RCA Records in '97, due to Kamin and lead singer Alex Band's persistence. "Alex's neighbor was the vice-president of RCA and Alex and I made a demo and we put it in his mailbox every week for about six months and bugged his wife and everybody," he says. "Finally, he listened and saw something in what he heard and had a vision and swept us up off our feet and then let us hang for way too long."
Since signing with the label, the band has been afforded many opportunities. "I think for us, the main opportunity was to make our own record and the opportunity to hear it on the radio and tour," Kamin says. "They [the record label] were like a security blanket and once we grabbed it, we felt more comfortable."
Kamin says that Camino Palmero holds a special meaning to him. "It definitely represents all I've done and seen throughout life," he says.
"It's a piece of personal history like a mark of where I've been and what I've been up to - thoughts and hopes and dreams and fantasies, etc."
The group's single, "Wherever You Will Go," has held significant meaning to people in light of the Sept. 11 tragedies, giving them a song to grasp on to.
"It means more than I could probably tell you," Kamin says. "I had a real hard time dealing with life after Sept. 11 with not wanting to be on airplanes and be on a tour, but to know that everyone is really on the same page whether you're in New York or you're in Arizona or Los Angeles, everybody has this commonality of fear and hope and helplessness. It radiates throughout the country and unifies us. To have a song symbolic of unity and tragedy and hope is pretty special."
Watch the band perform this song live when they cruise into Arizona for a special Valentine's Day performance.
"My girlfriend was going to come, but then she ditched me because she has to work," Kamin says of the show. "There's going to be a lot of missed girlfriends. I think we're going to leave for Arizona in the morning so it will be an early morning Valentine's."
Kelly Wilson can be reached at musicdiva@asu.edu.
