5 Seconds of Summer’s Calum Hood on the reality of being a boy band member

Calum Hood is a musician best known for being a member of boy band 5 Seconds of Summer. Here, the 29-year-old talks about learning to sing and harmonise with his sister, his first celebrity crush and why he is intentional about who he dates.

My maternal grandmother, Maggie, is someone I still talk to even though she isn’t alive. If I am going through a tough time, I call upon her to guide me. She was the Maori family matriarch and would visit us in Australia. As she got older, she couldn’t stand up in our bath to shower, so my sister Mali and I would shower her outside with a hose.

She died in her early 80s, when I was seven. I didn’t understand the concept of death until I got older. I grieved her a lot because I understood what that loss meant for my mum.

I didn’t know my Scottish paternal grandmother, Janet, that well. I have photos of visiting her when I was five. She was there when I saw snow for the first time, a gentle and warm person.

My mum, Joy, is Maori, and one of 10 children. The matriarchal presence is heavy in the family dynamics of their culture and women are generally the leaders. She met Dad in a Sydney pub; they’ve been together ever since.

Mum taught me how to be powerful in terms of how I lead myself. I find a lot of currency in kindness and gentleness because of her. She is a hard worker, and I saw early on that I needed to replicate that if I wanted to fulfil my insane idea of being a musician. She worked in superannuation and is now an aqua-aerobics instructor.

Mum was always headstrong and stubborn. She loves to laugh and talk. She has more friends than I do! She hosts parties every New Year’s Eve, and makes her own candles and lampshades. My sister and I get our creative side from her.

I was always shy and didn’t hang around girls often. I’ve come to understand girls more now through my music.

Mali lives in London. She’s a singer-songwriter who’s always been involved in music and taught me how to sing and harmonise. She is five years older, was the popular girl in school and inspired me to chase my music career.