A Day To Remember
It isn't often that Australian's wholeheartedly embrace an overseas band to the point that they're more popular here than in their home country, particularly in the punk/metal scene, where we can be pretty difficult to impress. It's what makes A Day To Remembers massive success here even more special. "As far as population density goes, we're the most popular in Australia, it's insane. The gigs there are super passionate, we love the country, and the shows are crazy. The kids love it and everyone who works to makes the shows happen are so nice. It's just a place we wanna be," says bassist Josh Woodard. Their sudden popularity hasn't really changed their attitude toward the band, Woodard continues. "The band started getting popular, and we weren't these kids who were into partying a lot, or known for using drugs or drinking or anything. People don't get star struck or anything, just because we're low-key - we're like them. We're just nerds who end up hanging out with each other. Not that we're not outgoing or anti-social, we just always find ourselves hanging out with one another. So the fame stuff isn't that big of a problem. Yeah, more kids wanna see us and get photographed with us but that's why we do it; we write music for people to enjoy. It's not something we have to handle or suffer through for people because we're more popular." For those that don't know the music, it's a combination of pop, punk and metal elements - an unusual mix that is tough to pull off. It's taken the band a lot of patience and practice to find success. "It's completely changed. When we first started playing shows no one got it. People were like, 'this doesn't make any sense, you don't write pop songs and have hardcore breakdowns in the middle.' We basically said, 'fuck it, we don't care,' kept doing what we were doing, and now people are starting to get it. It's not like we're trendsetters though, we're just a bunch of kids who wanted to play what we wanted." It's impossible to please everyone though. Some of the sparse criticism of the new album 'What Separates Me From You' have focused upon the heavier pop influence in many songs. "I kind of understand it, but at the same time, the album opens up with one of the heaviest songs we've ever done. But there's always gonna be haters - for every one person who says we've sold out and they're not interested in us anymore, there's a hundred people who get it." Their most recent Australian tour has sold out most venues, and may sell out completely. However, expectation doesn't seem to weigh too much on the band. "It's not intimidating at all. We're really more excited; we're starting to make a few real friends, and can show people new songs. Really the only difference between playing the big tours and headlining our own show is the set list. There's more time to do whatever we want." This will be the third time A Day To Remember have been to Australia in just over a year. However, life on the road is apparently pretty sweet for the boys. "The best thing is getting to play music that you really love and helped create. Plus this is what I get to call my job, because of this I've never worked a day in my life. The negative is I'm never home for more than six weeks; I never have much time at all to see my mum and dad, loved ones, people I care about, friends. You definitely start to miss those kinds of people. We understand this is our choice, this is what I wanna do with my life, but it doesn't make it any easier. I've gotten to see the world, I get to play music and meet different types of people." A Day To Remember will perform at the Thebarton Theatre (venue change from HQ) on Tue 10 May.  |
Issue 519
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