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.

December 2011 – Band Of The Month

What made you name your band Floodlights?

Well it’s quite a long and weird story but to shorten it, we spent ages trying to come up with a name during practices. I can’t remember what we’d settled for before as a temporary name but we didn’t like it much. Then a few practices in we were leaving practice pissing around when Alastair walked under a lamppost and just came out with “Floodlights” which we all liked the sound of and that’s pretty much how we came up with it.

What can people expect from your live show?

We like to share a lot of excitement on and off the stage and try to get the crowd involved as much as possible with alot of alcohol flying about, hopefully most of it staying down. Which at the end of it ends up looking more like a mixture of boobs and people punching each others lights out. The best thing is, once we get to 1000 likes on our facebook page Callum has agreed to play a full set in a mankini (shaving optional).

What song would you recommend from your Facebook?

Unfortunately we only have one demo currently up on our Facebook, but we will be back in the studio from January 2012 to record a couple more songs for you all so keep an eye out in a few months time.

http://www.facebook.com/floodlights

I Am Might Records signees The Ocean’s Eyes talk to Noise Addiction about their most recent EP, their tour life, how good it is being signed to a record label and also talk about their first ever video for their debut single.

Guitairst/Vocals Mitch Wright answers for the band.

Can you tell us a bit about the band?

We are a 5 piece Pop/Rock band from London/Essex, UK. We have been a band for nearly two years now, we released two E.P.’s during 2011 ‘Lions’ was self released then later this year we released ‘Lost Along The Way’ through I Am Mighty Records.

You released an EP ‘Lost Along The Way’ back in October, did it turn out as well as you had hoped it would? How did the fans react to it?

We spent a lot of time, effort and money on LATW to make sure it turned out exactly how we wanted it. We didn’t let small things slide. We went back to the studio to change things that weren’t how we wanted them so the tracks were perfect. The reaction was amazing and we received some really nice comments!

What is your favourite track to perform live?

On ‘The Last One Standing Tour’ my favourite song of ours to play was ‘Keep Me A Secret’. We finished our set with that song and it’s packed full of energy and to go out with that song every night was so much fun on stage!

You’ve just finished a 6 date UK tour with Taking Hayley, how did that go?

It was so much fun, we have gone away from that tour making some really close friends. We really didn’t want the tour to end. Some serious bromance going on between us and the T.H lads!

What is your favourite part of touring?

Playing a show every night, meeting new people, not knowing where on earth you’ll be sleeping that night, getting to sleep at 5am, waking up at 11am to get to the next venue and then repeating those steps day after day. Tour life is the life for us!

What could you not live without on tour?

Forks, Pot Noodles, sleeping bags, Joe Brady, a towel and a tooth brush!

You signed to I Am Mighty Records this year – How does it feel to be signed and how have they treated you since signing?

It’s cool, they do quite a bit for us and they treat us well. Having someone else pushing the T.O.E name out there really helps!

What made you choose to sign to a record label than sticking with DIY like a lot of bands seem to do now days?

We take our band really seriously and for us, having someone pushing our music while we push ourselves by touring and recording is something that really benefits us. We wanted to take LATW to the next level and releasing it through an independent label was the way to do that. We released ‘Lions’ for free and funded the whole thing ourselves which was great to get our name out there, but this time around we really wanted to produce something that was going to be put out there in the best way possible.

What has been a band highlight from 2011?

Ben punching me in the face whilst he was drunk and I was dressed up as his girlfriend.

You’ve just finished filming your first video for your debut single ‘Room Of Red’ (Taken from ‘Lost Along The Way’) – How’d you find the experience and when can fans look forward to seeing it?

It was awesome, it was actually a lot of hard work and loads of preparation went in to it! I think we’re looking for a late Jan release for the video!

What can we expect from you in 2012?

You can expect to see our first music video, T.O.E on tour with ROOM 94 in March and hopefully we will be back on the road with our boys Taking Hayley.

Do you have one last message you wish to leave for your fans and our readers?

Thank you to everyone that supports us, you are the fuel for our engine. You keep T.O.E running!

You can catch The Ocean’s Eyes on tour with ROOM 94 in March 2012. Tickets can be purchased through the band at £10 each with a free T.O.E wristband – http://toetickets.bigcartel.com/

Chasing Cadence are a 5-piece rock band hailing from Hertfordshire. Having only formed in September 2011 they’re already building a great raport with their fans by playing live shows around the South of England and have already released an EP after one month of forming the band. They take some time out to answer some questions for Noise Addiction.

You’re quite a new band, how did you all meet?

Rob and Matt started the band from the wreckage of their previous. They found Jack and Mike through Joinmyband.com and Paul became the guitarist through being Matts housemate.

Have any of you been in a band previously?

Yeah, some of our previous bands are ‘Friends and Family’; ‘My Mate Kate’; ‘The Few That Remain’ and ‘One for Paul’.

What was your inspiration behind forming the band?

Our mutual passion for music. As cliché as it sounds, the love of music is the driving force behind the group motivation of the band. Plus, we’re all great mates!

You released your first EP ‘Let’s Pretend Nothing’s Wrong’ last month, did it turn out as well as you had expected?

There were some minor production issues, as you’re always going to expect. Mainly preferences than anything technical. We are all really grateful to Christian Murphy for his hard work though! So far we have had some great feedback from the E.P. and are taking all constructive critisism on board for self improvement!

The band only formed in September this year so what made you bring an EP out so quickly?

Rob had the majority of the songs already written. Everyone else just had to add their personal touches and some lyrics! We recorded the E.P. within 2 weeks of learning all the material (a bold move!) We just had a lot of faith in the material written and wanted to get it out to peoples ears ASAP.

Can you give us a brief low down on each song on the EP?

Let’s Pretend Nothing’s Wrong (Intro and E.P. title) – This song is just to give a calm before the storm type of feel to the E.P. The title is variable. It could be to do with a relationship. Government. Or as Mike says… His playing style!

Take Your Shot is about a relationship that’s ended badly. It’s basically the protagonist telling their other half to get out after they have been unfaithful!

Bricks and Water is a bit more personal to Rob. It’s about him going to his hometown for Christmas and it not feeling like home anymore!

Alive is simply about living life to the full and seizing the day! A fingers up to the ‘routine’ life.

If Thoughts Could Kill is about experiencing life through the eyes of a psychopath… no reason for this. We’re not psychopaths just thought it was a cool theme… honest. The chorus for this one is the most personal to Jack.

We like to let people make their own interpretations and relations to each of our songs.

What can we expect from a live show?

From a live show, we hope to give the crowd an unforgetable experience. We try to be as energetic as possible and we love to get amongst it! Blood, sweat and tears is mandatory!

What has been your most memorable gig so far?

Our most memorable gig was Watford Flag when we were supporting a drum and bass DJ. Let’s just say Drum and Bass fans don’t seem to appreciate rock music and definitely don’t know how to mosh to Chasing Cadence!

Who would you like to perform with in the future?

We really want to play with Mallory Knox, Deaf Havana, Funeral for a Friend, Fei Comodo… There’s so many! As long as everyone is cool and having a laugh we don’t care who we play with!

Where can you see the band in a couple of years time?

We’d like to be signed to EMI, drinking champagne in limos accompanied by super models! But just making a modest living would be fantastic. We love what we do and if we can make a modest living from it too, then that’s great.

What have you got planned for 2012?

We are planning on releasing a video and single early next year. We’ve also got some great gigs coming up too! We’ll just see where the wind takes us I guess.

Is there anything you would like to say before we let you go?

Just want to say thanks alot to Noise Addiction and also thanks to anyone taking the time to read this. Please check us out on Facebook and YouTube and hopefully we will see you at one of our shows!

Find more from CHASING CADENCE and LIKE them via Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/ChasingCadence