|
|
 |
28 Days
Alot of punk bands come, and almost as many go. 28 Days are a band that have made it to the decade mark. Only just, but they made it. They're being modest and calling it 10 years of cheap fame, but as any band in the alternative scene in Australia knows, making it past a year is some pretty hard work.
When I think of cheap fame I think of a pop star that has songs written for them, video clips made for them, extra stage people dancing for them and well, pretty much everything done for them. For 28 Days to make the claim of cheap fame they're obviously being very, very modest. Even if there are some people out there claiming that both their latest release and tour title of '10 years of cheap fame' is something anywhere close to applicable they're going to have to eat their words when they see their tour list.
Unfortunately for fans of the scratch, beats and samples their DJ will not be touring with them. After asking a difficult question regarding the decision of the DJ to stay home while the guys do their last tour there is a hint of disappointment, but overall it sounds like it's working out for the best. Bass player Damien Gardiner explains, "Stuff happens, but it doesn't really affect us. We've always considered ourselves a punk band and the DJ is a bit of icing on the cake. It's kind of fitting really because for the first five years 28 Days were basically a four piece, and what better way to finish than the same way we started. We're back to a four piece punk band playing a lot of the old songs, and a lot of the fast stuff. It's actually really cool, we're really enjoying it!"
The further sad news is that this will in fact be 28 Days last tour. Ever. Of course, it doesn't have to be sad news and the guys are approaching it in a very positive way. "We wanted to go out on a high... 10 years is a long time, we've had heaps of fun, heaps of fame, heaps of success, time to hand it over to some new bands!" Gardiner offers.
The band are on the road from their first gig in Paramatta and on their way to Bathurst. These aren't actually the most obscure places the band are playing on their 44 stop tour all over the nation. South Australia only gets one of those stops, obviously in Adelaide, but Gardiner diplomatically states "It's just the way it turned out, we're just doing so many shows. We'd love to get back to Whyalla and Port Lincoln, but it just didn't turn out. What better place to play than Enigma? They've been awesome to us over the years, so we wanted to do it at Enigma. It should be a huge show. If you haven't got tickets then you better get them now, as tickets are selling extremely well, which is kinda cool to say actually!"
The other thing the jaded might bring up is that a 'best of' album is a money making venture to give the guys a good nest egg for retirement. While this scepticism is understandable in some cases, as Gardiner talks about the album it's quite clear he is genuine. "Half our stuff you can't get anymore and it's hard to get 'upstyle down' so we thought we'd do something for dudes to sign the last time they see us," he laughs. "We're only doing about 2000 copies all up, it's just a reason to say goodbye basically."
The album is a re-release of the original songs, with some re-mastered. It's inner cover states that it is in memory of their past drummer who was tragically killed in a hit and run accident in 2001. There is also a j-pop track for a bit of fun, with the chorus sung in Japanese.
For those that still need their hit of 28 Days, Gardiner lets on that he's back in a band with 'Bomber' [28 Days original drummer] called 'Request Line' in a... dare I say it... emo band! Yes, I'm sure that got your attention! There won't be any black hair, make up, or tight jeans on these boys though, the order of emo is more along the lines of Get Up Kids, Saves the Day and Texas is the Reason. "It's gonna be fun, just starting from scratch, playing first, playing 20 minute sets again, opening. That's what I'll be doing, flat out!"
With this likely to be the last interview I get with 28 Days, I took a nostalgia trip with them and asked the best experiences of 28 Days. A lot of it centred around their first tour to Japan. "At a little club in Osaka called the Quattro Club there were only about 100 dudes there. That was our first gig overseas. That was the best gig we've ever done." That sounds almost quaint compared to their best band they ever played with, "The best band we've ever played with, on the Japanese theme again was a band called 'Uzumaki' who just tore the fucking arsehole out of every dude, every night we played with them in Japan. They were just the most brutal band ever!"
Mat Woods
28 Days play at Enigma Bar, Thursday April 5 and their new release '10 Years Of Cheap Fame' is available on Stomp.
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
