The strength of their latest hard-hitting EP Animal and the force with which they have exploded onto the live scene leads me to believe they've made the right choice.

Brothers Haydn and James Ing started their journey with music from a young age.

"I listened to a lot of The Living End when I was growing up, then got into all the old punk stuff like The Clash, The Jam. Haydn took up the guitar when I was about 9, and I started playing drums. We knew Matt from school but we didn't actually know he played bass until much later. We had a big property we could jam on without getting disturbed."

In 2005, deciding that small-town New South Wales wasn't getting them far, the band packed up and moved south to try their hand in Melbourne.

"Haydn was the real driving force, [saying] 'We've got to relocate because we're not really going anywhere in a small country town.' We had a lot of family down here in Melbourne, it was the safer card to play at the time. And it's known as the music place, I guess it was about coming down here and trying to broadcast ourselves as much as possible."

They built a reputation as a powerful live act, and performing relentlessly worked – they were noticed by those with the power at Universal and given the chance to record.

"It started off as a development deal, they said 'We'll send you guys away, see what you can come up with.' It was originally going to be demoes of what we already had, what we were playing at the time. Tom [Larkin, of Shihad] stepped in and said 'Here, I'll do some demoes for you', we ended up just doing tracks in his rehearsal room. [Larkin is] a very very wise man, our Mr Miyagi. He knows exactly how everything works. We went back to Universal and they said 'Cool, we'll keep that, you don't need to record anything else', and that became the first EP."

Calling All Cars released their self-titled EP in 2007, and with the help of Universal, the single "Hey You" was submitted to Triple J.

"We gave "Hey You" to them just to spot play, but it got heaps of requests – I was really excited but I was really dumbfounded at the same time, it's like, no one knows who we are and we just exploded. They have really helped to push us, they picked up Animal on the success of it."

The next 12 months were a busy period for Calling All Cars. They performed in support slots for bands like The Hot Lies, Gyroscope and Kisschasy, and at their own headlining shows right around the country. When it came time to record the second EP, the just-released Animal, Calling All Cars went back into Larkin's Brunswick studio and set about rehearsing and perfecting a few songs they'd been playing for a while.

"We'd been playing the songs for six months, I think a lot of bands would experience it, where you've got the songs for so long and you just wait to record them. Tim [Morrison] from Trial Kennedy came in to do some guest vocals, it was great to work with him."

The band hit the road with Perth rock giants Birds of Tokyo last month, supporting them on their national Universes tour throughout August and September.

"I think it's our biggest tour yet, a lot of dates. [Birds of Tokyo] were looking for support around the time of Come Together, we did Come Together festival and just had a really good time playing with all these bands we'd been on the road with at the time, Trial Kennedy, The Hot Lies, all these bands that we really really loved to play with. I think we just moreso had fun with it than concentrating and trying to get technical. I think the Birds of Tokyo dudes, I think one of them might have seen us there and that's where it started."

Calling All Cars puts on an energetic show – at the Hi-Fi Bar in Melbourne last week frontman Haydn stood still only long enough to belt out the lyrics before he was jumping around again. His adventure deep into the crowd and attempt to get others singing with him was very well received, with many punters crowding around to take advantage of an open mic.

Future plans for the band? Grazzhopper (Victoria) and Sounds of Spring (Queensland) festivals in October, November sees them supporting The Getaway Plan and on the horizon, an album, hopefully in early 2009.

"We've gotta get to a place where we're happy with all of the material that we've got, we've got enough to choose from, it's just finding the time in between touring, to get some writing done."

With an ever-increasing fanbase, national radio exposure and two successful EPs under their collective belt, Calling All Cars have carved their mark in Australian music and look set for success over the coming years.

The Animal EP is out now Australia-wide through Universal Music. Catch Calling All Cars with Birds of Tokyo through the rest of September and The Getaway Plan in November, or check out their MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/callingallcars.