_{By Madeline Harris}

Calling Card is calling! Can you hear? According to their Spotify bio, the group is composed of “four music students and a singer that the pianist found in his kitchen.” Quite the fitting hook for a group so idiosyncratically charming and difficult to describe.

The five-piece is fresh, full of ideas, remarkably charming, contagiously energetic and creative, and spending time with them will likely result in you laughing your head off. The members don’t take themselves too seriously and let their musical expertise do the talking. The Orem-based group places fun, humor, and easy-goingness at the forefront of their creative process and identity as a band.

“Cracked” musicians

With origins in UVU’s music program, Calling Card is essentially the result of drummer and vocalist Ashton Van Der Veur’s goal to gather some of the finest, or in his words, “the most cracked” musicians he knows. Calling up and collaborating with bassist Max Hansen, the recruitment process began. “We wanted Provo to hear a really, really tight band” recalls Van Der Veur.

Hansen shares that several musicians, ranging from Geddy Lee of Rush to the legendary John Williams, influence his bass playing. Lee’s playing is “full of pace and energy,” and Williams “leaves no bass part behind.” There is so much to explore and bring to the table, and with his playing, Hansen does just that. His clever, funky undertones majorly contribute to the vigor of the group’s sound.

Tag Bradbury, the band’s guitarist, is well versed in the Provo music scene and has worked with several bands in previous years, including Dog Years and Mt. Everett. Originally a drummer, Bradbury is in high demand as a substitute and on-call addition for many other local musicians. His reputation as both an excellent guitarist and percussionist made him the ideal candidate to embellish the group’s sound with impeccable timing, calculated intricacy, and tasty, fine-tuned pop guitar licks. As all members note, his thorough experience makes him “the dad of the band.”

Rounding out their sound, Zach Warnick was called on to play keys. One of Provo’s best up-and-coming keyboardists with a classical and jazz background, his dynamic approach and understanding of music theory is evident. His sharp and sparkly disco melodies are what I personally believe to be a huge part of Calling Card’s trademark sound.

From microwave to microphone

With four pieces of the puzzle established and more than equipped to lay down one heck of a groove, there was still the missing, show-stopping cherry on top – Trent Mac Bain.

But where did they find such a dazzling powerhouse of a frontman? Warnick’s kitchen. The two are roommates and, though Mac Bain isn’t a music student like the rest of the band, he was who first came to mind when Calling Card began the search for a vocalist.

“Trent was pretty much always singing in the kitchen,” Warnick notes, “and so he ended up joining the band and it kind of just unfolded from there.”Mac Bain’s clear, free-spirited, and even theatrical voice was the perfect addition to the solid backing track generated so seamlessly by the band.

A stacked deck

And thus the four-music-students-and-the-singer-they-found-in-their-kitchen group was born. Calling Card’s members are all natural performers and it’s hard to believe they haven’t been playing together for years. The group regularly attended UVU’s Jazz Jams, which is where they began to establish their solid foundation. Watching their creative process unfold during rehearsal, it is obvious how naturally their ideas build off of and complement each other. Mac Bain and Van Der Veur will present the seed of a song, and within minutes the whole band has jazzified it and launched its potential through the roof.

Drawing on the idea of expanding upon and adding to the indie pop Utahns know and love, Calling Card infuses their music with complicated and unconventional rhythms, disco-reminiscent flare, and guitar phrasing that is complex while remaining catchy and deceptively straight-forward. They are jazz musicians influenced and sponsored by rock, and many have compared their sound to that of The 1975. The expansive repertoire of experiences and tastes is what makes their sound so substantial and one-of-a-kind. It’s a collage of all the elements that constitute the band. 

Calling Card showcased their exceptional musicianship in this May’s Battle of the Bands at The Boardwalk and received well-deserved praise for their nearly flawless performances. Their sound was punchy, ornate, and buoyant, with impeccable cohesion and rhythm to spare. All members let their voicing shine through without impeding on the overall sound, and Mac Bain overflowed with charisma and brandished magnetic stage-presence. Their indie-disco-jazz-funk-pop set offered a perfect opportunity to dance, which was graciously taken up by the utterly captivated crowd. Winning the competition, Calling Card successfully debuted their irresistible and fresh sound.

A winning hand

Things have panned out marvelously for Calling Card since their formation last year, and I can’t wait to see where the new group is going to go. Having already accumulated such positive feedback is such a short time, they are off to a splendid start. They just released their debut EP, and I keep coming back to it– it’s just that catchy.

Their eclectic music is an honest reflection of their personalities, and they fully embody the patchwork of genres and styles that form their sound. They’re transparent, authentic, and embrace eccentricity by playing on the quirks that make them distinct. To me, they demonstrate how far authenticity will take you. They aim to keep expanding on their sound and affirm that more music can be expected in the near future.

Make sure to follow Calling Card on Instagram to stay tuned for updates (and to see some of the band’s awesome memes) and check out “Distraction” below!