Camp Cope are an Australian alternative rock trio from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 2015, the group consists of singer, songwriter and guitarist Georgia "Georgia Maq" McDonald, lead bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich, and drummer Sarah "Thomo" Thompson. Camp Cope are signed with independent Melbourne label Poison City Records - where Thompson also works, and independent Boston label Run For Cover Records distributes their releases in North America and Europe. Their eponymous debut album, released in April 2016, reached the top 40 in the ARIA Albums Chart, and was nominated for a J Award for Australian Album of the Year. They were also nominated in six categories at the inaugural National Live Music Awards and won the 'Heatseeker Award'. Website Faster Louder choose Camp Cope's self-titled debut album as their Album of the Year for 2016. The group also won Best Emerging Act at the 2016 The Age Music Victoria Awards. In 2019, placed them at no.3 on their list of "The 15 Australian female artistschanging the game right now". Camp Cope has been described as "part Courtney Barnett, part Juliana Hatfield", and "melodic, uplifting and aching". The band describes themselves as "power emo".
History
As a regular of the Australian singer/songwriter circuit and with a handful of solo releases under her belt, McDonald decided to bring together Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich on bass and Sarah Thompson on drums to flesh out her solo project. Hellmrich had previously played in Sydney band Palmar Grasp, while Thompson had previously played in Brisbane band Razel. The band was named Camp Cope as a reference to Sydney beach Camp Cove, as Sydney native Hellmrich was feeling homesick. The band played support slots with the likes of The Hotelier, Andrew Jackson Jihad, and Waxahatchee, as well as playing their own headline shows. The trio entered the studio, and by the end of the year had recorded their debut album with producer Sam Johnson. Released on Poison City in April 2016, their eight-track self-titled debut earned them critical acclaim and entered the ARIA albums chart at number 36. "Lost: Season One", a single from the album referencing the television show Lost, was performed by Camp Cope for Like a Versionin September 2016, along with a cover of "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. After a joint tour of Australia at the end of 2016 with Philadelphia's Cayetana, Poison City issued a limited split single that featured new material by both bands. In 2017 Camp Cope supported Against Me! and Modern Baseball on their Australian tours, toured the United States with Worriers, performed at the St Jerome's Laneway Festival and sold out two shows in the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House. At the end of the year, they returned to the studio to record their second album. The band's second studio album, How to Socialise & Make Friends, was released on 2 March 2018 by Poison City Records and Run for Cover Records. In June and July 2018, they took part in their second United States tour, co-headlining with Run For Cover label mate Petal. In late August and early September 2018 they undertook a partial UK and European tour with English band Caves. In early February 2019, Camp Cope announced their first North American headlining tour starting in April, supported by Thin Lips, Oceanator and An Horse. On this tour, Maq has started playing a new unreleased song. In September 2019, they embarked on a UK tour with post-punk band Witching Waves.
Other ventures
Side projects
All members of Camp Cope have been involved in other bands. Hellmrich currently plays in indie-pop band Kelso, with Gab Strum of Japanese Wallpaper and Xavier Rubetzki Noonan of Self Talk. Self-described as 'cute weird songs for cute weird people', Kelso has released several singles from 2017-2019. McDonald was the vocalist for nurse punk band Würst Nürse, and appeared on debut EP Hot Hot Hot. However, she left the band in November 2018 after several vocal surgeries. On 5 December 2019, McDonald released her first solo album, Pleaser, a pop record which she has described as "Paul Westerberg meets Robyn". Thompson plays drums in Melbourne indie rock band TV Haze, which has released three albums since 2016.
Activism
In 2016, Camp Cope led a campaign dedicated to preventing and reporting incidents at concerts and festivals called It Takes One. Through this, they put out t-shirts saying 'The Person Wearing This T-shirt Stands Against Sexual Assault And Demands A Change.' Many other artists such as Courtney Barnett, Chris Farren, DZ Deathrays, Ecca Vandal, Dune Rats and Alex Lahey have worn the shirt in support. While playing the Falls Festival in 2017, Camp Cope changed the lyrics of their song "The Opener" to reflect the lack of female artists playing the festival.
Musical style
Camp Cope is known for McDonald's powerful voice, Hellmrich's distinctive basslines, and Thompson's 'steady, stoic drumming'. They have been described as 'rough, minimal rock a punk edge', and the lyrics 'articulate human entanglements with a lack of sentimentality that belies how much cares'. Songs are initially written by McDonald, who then sends a 'crappy phone recording' to Hellmrich and Thompson, before they all come together and create the finished song.
Influences
Camp Cope has been influenced by many bands, such as Philadelphia indie rock bandsHop Along, and Cayetana, whose records they gave their engineer before recording How to Socialise & Make Friends. Bassist Hellmrich is also influenced by Peter Hook - bass player for Joy Division - and Mark Hoppus - bass player for Blink-182.
