For Aaron Kamin, co-founder of The Calling with vocalist Alex Band, the past year has been one for which he could not have been prepared. People warned him, Kamin said, but he didn't think it would be that bad.
"(Fame is) exhausting. It's a big responsibility that just consumes you and is thrown right at you," he said. "As exciting and wonderful as it is, it's also scary, new and challenging."
A half hour before The Calling's show in Minneapolis Wednesday night, Band and guitarist/songwriter Kamin, both of Los Angeles, were calm and collected.
Tonight Kamin will play an unusual show in front of his girlfriend's family in Indianapolis.
The band made an appearance in "Coyote Ugly" and its debut album "Camino Palmero" and has shot to the top of charts. Its first single, "Wherever You Will Go" is currently the No. 5 single and video in America.
When Kamin and Band met, Kamin was dating Band's older sister. After Kamin called the relationship quits, they formed a band called "Generation Gap" with a 58-year -old drummer and a 40-year-old bassist. After the men departed, Kamin and Band began to write songs.
The Calling signed a recording contract after its first performance, but Kamin said it didn't make a record until four years later.
"It was the answer to the question, how did we keep this together - how did we even get here?" Kamin said about the band's name. "I was going to college. I wanted to be a doctor. I was at UCLA when we got signed, and it's just like sticking through it all, and how it all came to be. We just thought it was sort of our calling or our destiny to be where we are."
As they continue to thrive, Kamin said there are many distasteful parts of the music industry that can, at times, be scary. According to Kamin, the record industry is a huge business that no longer answers to music itself, but rather Wall Street. Artists are complete victims of that, he said.
"It's sad, and I think if you focus on it too much, like I do sometimes, you get really upset and you feel like you're being totally used and abused," he said. "If you can't focus on something else, then I don't think you're going to be able to progress."
According to Kamin, if you can't focus on the music and what you love to do, you'll never make it. He also said that having inner direction and a focus is the only way for a band to be successful.
"When you are writing, writing, writing, you want to give up because people aren't paying attention to you - you're not feeling loved," he said. "But I think the reality today is the second you throw your arms up and say 'you know what? I can't deal with this,' people will say 'OK, thanks for the try, who's next?' Nobody's going to stop and pick you up if you can't do it yourself."
Despite the media's constant comparison of The Calling with other bands such as Creed, Lifehouse and Matchbox 20, Kamin said the band has put that behind and focused on what lies in the message its trying to convey to listeners. Despite rumors of The Calling being categorized as Christian Rock, Kamin laughed and said he and Band are actually Jewish.
Kamin said associating bands with each other is an efficient way to communicate. The bands come from different places, and they're all trying to send different messages.
"It's like putting a maroon piece of paper and a bright red piece of paper together," Kamin said. "They're different. How can you not see that? They're both colors, but that doesn't mean they are the same."
When the work day is over, however, Kamin said it is not hard to separate reality from being a rock star.
"I don't forget where I came from. The reality is that I live, I breathe, I eat," he said. "I have bills and problems and family - those are the things you can't escape, nor would I want to. My friends from grade school still think I'm a jerk when I'm a jerk, but you know, you're great when you're great."
Kamin said he doesn't feel the pressure of a sophomore album because writing is the best part. The band's next single, "Adrienne," is due to hit radios soon and next month the band will take its tour to Japan, Australia , Singapore, Hong Kong and all of Europe.
"I'm so excited for the day we get to start making another record. That's my favorite, favorite part of this whole big mess that's our life," he said. "That's where it all starts, and if you don't do that right, nothing else is going to work."
The band's friend, Laura Dawn, will open for The Calling when it brings its "Wherever You Will Go Tour 2002" to the Emerson Theatre in Indianapolis tonight at 8.
"It's strange enough to come to Indianapolis knowing people know all the words to all the songs," Kamin said. "It's like 'Oh, I guess that's what you've been doing this whole time."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
