Camp Cope

As a regular of the Australian singer/songwriter circuit and with a handful of solo singles under her belt, Melbourne native Georgia Maq decided to bring together Kelly Hellmrich on bass and Sarah Thompson on drums to flesh out her solo project. With Camp Cope's angst-ridden sound sitting between the confessional folk-punk of fellow Melbourner Wil Wagner and the lo-fi pop-punk of Alabama's P.S. Eliot, the band secured themselves support slots with the likes of the Hotelier, Andrew Jackson Jihad, and Waxahatchee, as well as playing their own headline shows. Wasting no time, the trio entered the studio and by the end of the year had recorded their debut album with Sam Johnson (the Smith Street Band, the Bennies). Released on Poison City in April 2016, their eight-track self-titled debut earned them critical acclaim for its confessional storytelling and entered the ARIA albums chart at number 36. After a successful 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. 2017 saw the group on tour once again, with two sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House, as well as select U.S. dates. At the end of the year, they returned to the studio to record their sophomore album. The resulting How to Socialise & Make Friends was issued in early 2018 on Poison City and Run for Cover.