Words - Kelly Jones
When Noise Addiction last spoke to Glasgow pop-punk band A Day Overdue a year and a half ago they were just about to play their support slot at a sold out Camden Barfly. Now they’re preparing to release their new single, Storylines. Guitarist Dan Morrison talks to us about how the band dynamic has changed, why their single will see a release on April Fools Day and what the future holds for them.
Hello, it’s been a while since NA talked to you. Things have definitely changed, how is everything now? Has the dynamic in ADO changed?
It sure has! About 18 months now I believe. Everything is great at the moment, after a difficult 2011 we have gone away and re-grouped, got a new bass player (Lee), moved Kenny from bass to guitar, written a whole bunch of new songs and now we’re ready to hit 2012 hard.
What have you learnt from the past year or so?
I think the biggest thing we learned is not to let our hard work go to waste. We were quite close to just giving up last autumn, it seemed like we were being hit by one piece of bad news after another, but thankfully we stuck it out. We’re definitely a much stronger and tighter unit now. Lee has really brought in a sense of togetherness to the band and gelled the other four of us together. His enthusiasm is amazing and it drives us all on to do better every day.
You’ve been recording recently, how did that go?
The session was great and we were really happy with how the track turned out! It’s definitely a bit of a progression from our older material but hopefully more long-term fans will still enjoy it. We love writing and recording, we haven’t got to do too much of it over the last year or so but that is about to change…
Your new single is released 1st April, what can we expect from it? And why April Fools Day?
The 1st of the month just seemed like as good a day as any! Also a few of us are fairly into WWE and releasing the video on the day of Wrestlemania seemed like a decent excuse to all get together and watch it. We are aware it’s not real! We’re all very proud of the song, we changed it quite a lot in the studio from the demo we had done and it turned out brilliantly. It’s definitely our favourite song out of everything we’ve released so far, although I suppose if we didn’t feel that way it’d be a bit silly to release it.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? More singles? Tours? Any chance of an album?
More everything! Plans to record an album are in the works. Whether that comes out this year or early next year remains to be seen. We’re hoping to make it to Ireland and mainland Europe later in the year also!
You’re headlining your own city, Glasgow, in a rotating headline tour with Show It Off, That Sunday Feeling and Alone Tonight. Do you feel there’s a certain understated benefit to rotating headline tours that other bands should look into?
Absolutely. It’s a great way to guarantee a busy show every night as there’s always a hometown band headlining. Also you get to meet more bands, normally you’d only have maybe two touring bands together but this way you get to know four or five different bands in a short space of time. In a contacts driven industry that’s valuable.
You will also coming to London on your summer headline tour, how does playing the capital differ from playing other, smaller cities?
The main difference really is the amount of stuff to see and do before and after the show! We always try and get down a day early or stay the following day, but it’s not always possible. The last time we spoke to you in Camden in 2010 we played the Barfly and to be honest that’s still my favourite ever show we’ve done. There’s so much buzz about music in London and it’s infectious. We definitely play better.
How do you feel about your music scene in your area? Do you feel ‘with’ the scene?
It’s quite difficult to say really. As we’re all from different towns and cities we’ve never really had a proper hometown as a band. Glasgow pretty much adopted us and we’re thankful for that! A lot of the bands we came through the ranks with have broken up recently so it kind of feels like we’re one of the last ones standing. We believe the band that succeeds is the band that doesn’t go away, and hopefully that will prove to be the case. There are a lot of new bands coming through in Glasgow at the moment so the scene seems to be fairly healthy, and long may that continue.
You’ve been signed to Only Sky Records, how has that changed how you operate as a band, or does it feel relatively the same?
To be honest it hasn’t really changed too much so far. The first 12 months of our deal was management only, so other than helping us out with problems (of which there have been more than a few) we’re pretty much left to our own devices. We’ve always been a very self-sufficient band and I’d expect that to continue being the case. With that said, we have signed our extension with the label recently and are now looking into studio time and lots of other secret stuff. They’re a great label, very understanding and they’re keen for us to just continue doing what we’ve done to get to the point where they saw us as a good investment.
Finally, what are you most looking forward to checking off your list of ‘things to do’ in 2012?
The big ones this year are to get on TV (which could possibly have happened by the time this is published) get to Ireland, get to Europe, and put together the tracks for our first proper full-length release and get it recorded. It’s going to be a busy and exciting year. Also we’re trying to make it through a calendar year without losing a member, which we’ve never done before! Fingers crossed. Thanks for the interview!
Storylines is released 1st April through iTunes.
A Day Overdue will be on a rotating headline tour in May with Alone Tonight, That Sunday Feeling and Show It Off, for dates check http://www.facebook.com/
