Having  just finished touring with Four Year Strong and A Loss For Words on a UK tour  Don Broco’s drummer Matt Donnelly kindly talks to Noise Addiction about the recent tour, as well as what to expect from the band this year. Matt also comes up with a tremendous story of how they named their band Don Broco! Read on..

Who’s your biggest inspiration?

Wow that’s a tough opener! haha. Well the majority of the subject matter for our songs comes from experiences that we’ve had directly or things that have happened to our close friends and family. So I guess the people around us are our biggest inspiration.

Is that too cheesy?

Tours just finished with Four Year Strong and A Loss For Words this week – What was the reaction like from the crowds each night?

Amazing. The crowds were all up for it from the word go! Undoubtedly we won over some people who were strangers to the band when they walked in the room but there was a stronghold of Broco fans in attendance each night who really helped us whip up a storm. We managed circle pits, walls of death and shoulder surfing at all the shows so I’m sure everyone went home having enjoyed themselves.

What was your most stand out night from the tour and why?

It’d have to be the final night at Koko in London. It was amazing to perform in front of a sold out crowd at such an iconic venue where we’ve seen so many great shows ourselves in the past.

What’s the best festival you’ve ever played?

They’re honestly all amazing. It’s probably fair to say that festival season is the part of the year we most look forward to as a band. If we had to pick though I’d say Reading festival last year was very special to us, it’s the festival we always saved up our money to go to when we were kids and to come full circle and perform on a Reading festival stage was mind blowing.

What’s your ideal festival line up?

Headliners – Biffy Clyro, Maroon 5 and Rage Against The Machine. We’d make sure that some awesome young British bands were there flying the flag too like our friends in Deaf Havana, Lower Than Atlantis and We Are The Ocean, and obviously we wouldn’t want to miss out on all the fun.

In the comedy tent I’d get Micky Flanagan. I got his DVD for Christmas and it’s hilarious.

Who has the worst tour bus habits?

To be fair we’re pretty good in that respect though Bobby has been guilty of a few pairs of smelly trainers. We’ve spent so much time in a small van together though that these days very little fazes us about each other.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

I’d like to say something cool and creative like tattoo artist or film director but in reality I’d probably have a pretty mundane office job. I’d have to suppress all my awesomeness mon-fri and then come the weekend no one would be safe.

You released an EP ‘Big Fat Smile’ last year, what can we expect from you in 2012?

Yeah BFS was a huge success for us. It’s a really great feeling to look back at what we achieved last year on the back of a record we wrote, funded, released and promoted entirely independently. Looking forward we couldn’t be more excited about the release of our debut full length album in the summer. We think its special, and we hope everyone else does too. Around the album expect us to be on the road as much as possible and we’ll undoubtedly crop up at a few festivals.

What’s the best thing about being in a band?

Getting to travel doing what we do and meet new people everyday. I’ve made some amazing friends through music and I’m very grateful for that.

Where did you get your name from?

Bobby is from quite a large Italian family and word has it his great great grandfather was a mafia don. At a family barbecue one summer one of Bobby’s uncles was telling us about his alleged exploits and mentioned that ‘broco’ was a term used to describe betrayal of ‘the family’ and trust in that individual being irreparably broken. An act of ‘don broco’ didn’t go down well.

Best city, town or country to play?

We have a few ‘homes from home’ if you like, that always treat us well. Nothing beats a big London show though, there’s always a little extra electricity in the air and everybody feeds off it.

Do you guys have any tips for people who want to play music professionally?

It’s a bit of a cliché but practice really does make perfect, and that doesn’t just mean in your bedroom when no one is looking, there’s no substitute for getting some gigs under your belt. Obviously hard work is essential offstage too & be polite and respectful to people that really makes a huge difference.

All in all if you make sure your songs are the best they can be and have faith other people will too.

And finally, your stuck on a desert island, what would be the one thing you couldn’t live without?

I’m a little ashamed to admit how reliant I’ve become on my iPhone haha. Not that it’d be much use without wifi and a charger, still I could listen to my favourite albums before the battery ran flat.

Read how Don Broco went down in Norwich on their recent tour from a live review we done HERE.

PLUS: Orange and The JB Conspiracy
The Waterfront, Norwich
25th January 2012

Words and Photos: Charlie Wallis

Reel Big Fish are not newcomers to the Waterfront in Norwich. In fact with their relentless touring schedule they’ve been here many many times highlighting the fact that this is one of the hardest working bands in ska!

First band on tonight are The J B Conspiracy who set the energy levels high for the evening with lead singer Lank gelling well with the enthusiastic crowd.

The JB Conspiracy

Next up are arguably one of the reasons the Norwich Waterfront is sold out today; up and coming pop punk heroes Orange. Fresh off a successful UK tour with Bowling or Soup this band are really putting the rounds in to solidify themselves up with the big boys. Their performance is as flamboyant as it is impressive. Frontman and bassist Joe Dexter seems to love the attention of being on stage and feeds off it. Somewhere in between Billie Joe Armstrong and Gerrard Way it strikes me that you can’t fake stage presence on this level. You can’t help but this these guy deserve to be playing much bigger venues where their theatricality can be fully indulged. Tonight they go down a storm from the screaming girls in the front row, to the crowd surfing guy wearing a rubber horses head. Which ever way you look at it, these guys are ones to watch.

Orange

When Reel Big Fish take to the stage they are welcomed like returning heroes. Their mix of ska and pop punk is always entertaining to listen to but live its something else. The band really perform in the sense that their whole show is aimed at entertaining the audience both in terms of the music and they comedy element. The horn section in particular are an entertaining three piece acting out most of what frontman Aaron Barrett says.

Reel Big Fish

The hits go down particularly well with the show culminating in firm favorites “Sell out” and “Take on me”. Reel Big Fish manage to maintain the fun and energy throughout the length of their lengthy set, which is no mean feat. The audience reciprocate in turn and the skanking and bouncing doesn’t let up from start to finish. An entertaining experience all round which left the audience grinning from ear to ear.

[Show as slideshow]

A Wolf At Your Door’s POLAR have just finished recording their debut album ‘Iron Lungs’ with Tom Mitchener and Steve Sears from Spy Catcher for a release in May. Before that they’re hitting the road again with Young Guns throughout February and have kindly taken the time out of their busy schedule to answer some questions for Noise Addiction. Find out which member of the band would be best in a one on one with a polar bear!

So you’ve recorded a new album, what can we expect from this latest offering?

Well the band has come a long way since writing This Polar Noise, that was written nearly 2 years ago and in that time we have become individually better musicians and in turn a better band. This has enabled us to write better songs for a start. We’ve explored different tempos and keys to give the album some variety. We really didn’t want to write a longer version of the ep, this album has peaks and more atmospheric aspects. We wanted an album that will have longevity and felt the only way to do that was variety. It’s just as heavy if not heavier and in the most part as upbeat to so rest assured we are very confident with this release.

You’re signed to A Wolf At Your Door records with likes of other sprightly up and comers such as Deaf Havana and Mallory Knox. How well do you get on with your label mates?

Both bands mentioned are good friends of ours. We meet so many bands on the road which makes us naturally spend a lot of time together. What is great is that regardless the styles of music we as people get on and have genuine interests in how eachother are getting on. This is highlighted most of all at festivals, a weekend where there are so many bands in the same place having a laugh together. A wolf at your door have great bands on the roster and great as people.

What promoted the title “Iron Lungs”?

Technically the band is to us what an iron lung is to someone’s whos lungs have collapsed. As an overview an iron lung is metaphorically what’s keeping us going, this album has within it our future as Polar. We’ve put everything into it and pushed our boundaries. This album needed to happen as it has to keep us going forward as Polar.

You guys seem to gig fairly relentlessly, what can someone expect from you if they’ve never been to one of your shows?

Yeah last year we toured a hell of a lot so gave us a chance to really perfect our live show. Our shows are lively and ultra aggressive, we don’t want a moment for anyone to turn their back it’s totally relentless. I think people are too scared to take their eyes off the stage or within the crowd for that matter as certain members like to spend the show in with the kids. It’s a visual show as much as the music in our eyes.

What band or bands will you mostly be looking out for this coming year?

There’s loads to mention and will probably forget some but Heights are definitely one, Feed The Rhino always impress us live also with a new record this year. Mallory Knox and Hildamay will have a big year ahead too. Spycatcher (new album) and Real Adventures who are from our hometown, they’re a great band.

What are you guys most looking forward to in 2012?

Festivals! Had an amazing reception when we played the summer festivals last year and like we said earlier it gives a chance to see all our friends we’ve met on the road on the same weekend. Some of our best shows have been in a festival environment.

What is the hardest part of being on the road for you guys?

There’s nothing bad about being on the road. Being on the road is everything and it should be for every band.

Anything you can’t live without?

Big beats, strong booze, loose morales and bitches.

Who would you most like to tell to “Cowboy the Fuck Up”?

Steve Sears Jnr our producer for Iron Lungs, a solid gentleman and amazing at what he does but quite frankly he’s taken the piss out of me whilst doing this so this is my payback. He needs to Cowboy the fuck up stat!!!

Which one of you would stand the best chance in a one on one with a polar bear?

It’s gotta be Rick (bassist) he’s the biggest of all of us. He’s got hands like a bunch of bananas and judging by his road rage he might last slightly longer than the rest of us. We’d have his back tho, we’ll throw stones and snow and stuff to distract the anger fuelled bear. Polar dominate yo.

“Family” is the first taster from The Cast of Cheers debut album proper, produced by Luke Smith (ex-Clor) and set for release in 2012.

Here is the video for “Family”, made up of 5,000 separate photographs and directed by Russell Weekes: