Feeling blue because it’s september? So we kept a very special present for you, an interview from one of your favorite feelgood band… Say hi to DON BROCO!
We met Matt Donnelly and Simon Delaney in Paris earlier this year to speak about cool stuff like funny music videos and Technology but also more serious subjects such as the abuse of power in music industry and social media. Don’t stay ignorant:
HAVE YOU MET DON BROCO?
Hi guys. What a pleasure to see you again in Paris. For those who missed your last show there and didn’t know you yet, tell us: Who’s Don Broco?
Matt: Difficult question… We’re four fun time guys from the UK who like to make big riffs and big tunes (laugh).
To truely understand your art and vision of music, we’d like to know how did you work on this last album Technology?
Simon: This album was written to be played live, that’s how the whole thing has been written. We were thinking about how we could play it on stage. I think in comparison to our previous album, this one feels a lot more heavy, a lot more energy. It’s a little more « in your face ». That’s quite what we were going for this record.
TECHNOLOGY AND MUSIC
You seem to have a lot of things to say about social media and new technologies. What made you decide to work on a kind of protest album?
Matt: I think that’s how we felt at this time…
Simon: We were angry!
Matt: So angry…(laugh). Rob is the main lyricist but I think I can say it was because of what happened to us, to our closest friends. Social media and you know, just technology in general, it’s so integrated everyday in everybody’s lives. When you write an album you have to talk about the thing you have in minds and don’t see how it couldn’t come up ’cause we can’t live without it. Everyday you pick up your phone and it’s the first thing you see when you wake up and the last thing you see when you’re going to bed. Maybe it’s a good thing or maybe not. I don’t know…
But don’t you think this obsession for technology and social media can kinda kill music and relationships between people during gigs?
Simon: Yeah! It’s kinda difficult when you see both sides. When you are in the crowd you see people in it just filming the show and you want to shake them like « whao what are you doing? Enjoy what you’re watching. » But on the other hand, social media is essential for bands who’d like to grow because thanks to one person filming in the crowd, it’s maybe thousands of people seeing them online and saying « Check this out. They are amazing. I’m missing something I’m not at but next show I’ll go and see. » So yeah, there’re two sides to it.
Matt: I think it’s a case we need everyone to agree : No phone at gigs.
Simon: Or you are allowed to film 30secs of the show.
Matt: That’s it. Everyone gets 30 secs. Whenever you want it. Yeah that could be great if every artist, every musician, every gig in the world would have to say: no phones or we just have to be clear on it.
MONEY, POWER, FAME & BULLSHIT
This album deals with power in the music industry. We can see that with « Come Out to LA« . Did you experience this kind of issues in your career with maybe labels or managements?
Matt: Hmmm yeah, this song is about it. We’ve got these kinds of experience. And I think most bands on our scene had the same experience.
Simon: As a young band, every band has been told these kinds of stories by their labels like: « You’re gonna go to LA. You’re gonna write a song in one session. We’re gonna make you massive… ». It’s all…bullshit!
Matt: (laugh)It’s definitelly something we’ve experienced like lot of our peers and that’s really interesting because no one really talks about it. No one comes out and says it like it is. When you’re in a band it’s not all roses, make some songs and have a lot of money.
So, you feel more free with this album?
Matt: Definitely.
Simon: We’ve never dreamed to write that song a lot… (laugh)
Matt: But yeah in a couple of ways. We are in a different label now that gives us more creative freedom, we can take our decisions which is what we always wanted. And I think it’s the sense you’ve got freedom from yourself because you’re a little more experienced. You can be more confident with two albums out now and realize: yeah, we can do it.
Concerning your sound, the rhythm section really seems to be important elements of your own style. That’s always so heavy…
Matt: Yeah it is. It comes just naturally. We don’t have to think too much about this. If it feels good to us it’s okay. We don’t force it. If we don’t like it we just move on. If we really like the instrumental like you can move your head, feel the groove, we know people are gonna enjoy themselves and make them feel good. That helps and we love it.
WHY SO SERIOUS?
You always had feelgood music videos. Is it important to you to keep this positive vibes in every music video?
Matt: Definitely. One of the biggest thing about being in a band is that we see so many people who take themselves way too seriously. Music is about doing something that you enjoy. It’s fun and we take our music very seriously but it’s really important to us and our fans to have a sense of humour as a band and unaffraid to make attentional cheap videos to be funny. Look at a band like Foo Fighters: they are like one of the biggest rockbands ever and still not afraid of making videos that make people laugh even if the song itself is serious. So that’s always also something that we’d like to do ourselves.
I do have the feeling that Rob is always rather the killer or the victim… What the fuck is going wrong with him?
Simon: Rob is a complicated guy! (laugh) No one knows what he’s thinking. We definitely developed his character and you’ll see more in an upcoming video (Greatness).
You had the opportunity to play your new songs during a tour in America. How did your fans welcome Technology?
Simon: Really well.
Matt: (laugh) We didn’t really play old songs so they didn’t really have the chance to make a comparison but it worked pretty well. We really start in the USA. We’ve already been there like twice now. It’s a brand new country for us. It’s a lot of fun. We have a lot of fun times there. The crowd was really receptive, seemed to really like what we were doing.
And do you already have a new favorite song to play onstage?
Matt: Maybe The Blues. From the drums perspective it’s a fun song to play. We were only able to play that two weeks and that’s a really good one.
If you want more cool contents about Don Broco, click here to see our pics from Warted Tour.
ABOVE THE NOISE 