The Days chat about life as popstars

06-08-2008 12:13

With a new album out next year and a debut single poised to smash the top 40 chart in October, The Days are one of those bands who you can’t help tapping your feet to, even if you don’t know the words.I caught up with the band after their gig in rainy Blackpool to find out what it’s like being on tour with Elliot Minor, if it sucks leaving their girlfriends at home and what they’ll do if it all goes pear-shaped.

How did you guys meet?

Dan Simpkins (Bass Guitar): Luke and I are brothers and one day we bumped into Harry who we knew from school and we just started hanging out and playing together, then we decided to try and make a go of the band and moved to London together to play some gigs and try and get noticed.

When we visited our hometown of Devon again the following summer we met up with another old school friend Tim Ayers and asked him to join us in our quest of world domination.

Where is the band name from?

It came from the song of the same name and we just wanted something simple for the name. Where we come there is nothing to do at night time, so most of the most exciting things happen during the days rather than the nights, so that’s why we thought The Days was appropriate.

For anyone who hasn’t heard of you how would you describe your music?

Luke Simpkins (Lead singer, Keys, Guitar): I think it’s hard to put us into a category, but if we had to choose it would probably be pop-rock, we get compared to loads of different bands such as Queens of the Stone Age, The Kooks and Incubus, so I don’t know if we fit into a certain genre, we all just have different influences.

There are so many new bands trying to make it onto the music scene at the moment, what makes you stand out from the rest?

Tim Ayers (Guitar): Well I think we’re quite easy going and laid back, but at the same time we’re really driven and want to do well so we make sure all the songs are really catchy and our song writing is really key to that and we have some cracking songs on the album as each song is really good.

Luke: We’re also not really part of a scene either; our music is at the forefront of what we’re doing rather than the image. It’s so easy to pull on a pair of skinny jeans and fit in with the London scene, or music speaks for itself so we’ll just stay the way we are and a lot of bands jump on the bandwagon like the Indie scene but quite a lot bands emerge and they‘re too late for that scene because it’s moved on, our music is timeless.

Do you get compared to a lot of Indie bands?

Dan: Not really, I think tonight people might have seen a different side of us because the venue was very small and it was very loud in there.

Harry Meads (Drums): We get compared to all sorts of different bands though, not just Indie.

Such as?

All: Scouting for girls, Keane, The Kooks, Incubus, The Verve, it really does vary.

Tim: I think we have elements of loads of different people. I wouldn’t like to say we were an Indie band at all, I think we’re a pop rock band, we like what we are and people are always going to pigeon hole us.