Better Days talk touring, upcoming EP and influences (EXCLUSIVE)

Pop-punk and punk rock music is usually known to be a western type of music. When you think of this genre, some usually generalize bands from the United States and suburban towns. For Better Days, however, they come from a town in Newcastle, England, where they’re taking the pop-punk scene by storm.

Better Days is a unique pop-punk band hitting the airwaves,  and who are enjoying the music they’re performing in front of their hundreds of fans every night during their tour in the United Kingdom.

Luckily, I was able to interview the band and get a closer look at who they are, what they’re working on and what we can look forward to.

Q: So tell me, how did you all come together and start Better Days?

A: Myself (Graeme), Sam and Josh were in a band prior to this for a few years called Second Place Hero but we all decided we wanted a change and to start again. We started Better Days in February 2016 after about a year of planning and Joe joined in October!

Q: Was your type of music in that band similar to this one?

A: A little bit, it was more pop rock kind of thing and we were just all sick of it haha. It started to become a chore rather than something enjoyable and we just wanted this fresh start to write songs we actually would listen to ourselves

Q: I listened to your songs on your YouTube channel, they were very well put together. Were those the stepping stones into what you guys are working on with your next EP?

A: Cheers man! And essentially yeah, we’re still yet to release our debut EP ‘Overcast’ but we’re aiming to have it at this year. We wanted to make sure we knew what our sound was before taking the final steps into recording and releasing or EP. We finished writing it about a year ago now and already have EP 2 ready to go too!

Q:What are your goals with this EP? You seem to have a great network presence already, but is there a certain message you’re trying to give out to your fans?

A: We just want to get it out there to as big an audience as possible and hopefully play a lot of shows in new places off the back of it. The general theme of the EP is mostly centered around self improvement and basically accepting that it’s okay to not be okay. We’re all very proud of it as it’s a subject that is close to our hearts

Q: I see that you guys are on tour now? Anything special about that?

A: Heading out on the 11th of May for a little weekender, we’re playing our biggest headline show to date in our hometown of Newcastle and we’re looking like we can hopefully sell it out which would be insane! We’re announcing a huge 2 week tour very soon for September too so it’s an exciting time!

Q: That’s awesome to hear! How has the support been?

A: Every time we head out on tour it gets better and better. It’s always pretty surreal to go to a new city and see people turn up to the shows already wearing your merch and singing every word back to you. The crowds have grown every time we hit the road and because of that we’re now looking at the possibility of going on our very first headline run at the end of the year which would truly be insane.

Q: Do you think you’ll make a run to the states in the future?

A: It’s definitely on the bucket list haha. We’ve been talking about it for a little while now as we have a lot of American fans on our social medias and it’s something we all dream of doing but it’s just a matter of making a lot of plans and seeing if it’s a plausible option as an unsigned band.

Q: Speaking of being unsigned, are there any talks with record companies? Obviously, getting a lot of attention must spark something, right?

A: Yeah there’s been some interest off a few labels recently and we’re hoping that when our new single drops next month it can build a little bit more value to our brand and get talks in motion. That’s another reason why we’ve been holding off on the debut EP, we want to be able to give it a big a release as possible.

Q: So there’s big expectations with this release? Do you believe it holds the best music you’ve written?

A: Definitely to both! We’re stoked with how these songs have turned out and they’re definitely the best they could be but we’re getting better and better with each song we write so I definitely believe we’ll be able to top it with the next EP. But we genuinely love this debut EP and we honestly think it has the potential to light a match for us and help us make an impact.

Q: That’s awesome to hear! Any song that’s your favorite so far?

A: My favourite is definitely a song called “12.07.15.” It’s the last song on the EP and we always end our live shows with it, it’s got a huge ending and it always goes down well. We’re filming a live video of it on Tuesday so hopefully it should be making an appearance on our YouTube in the very near future!

Q: That’s great. You guys did an awesome job with the message on your video for “Worthless!” Fans will be excited to see that coming soon!

A: Thanks man! Gonna be a good couple of months from us with this live video of “12.07.15” and our new single “Thick Skin!”

Q: Last question before I let you go, did you guys have a band that influenced you to create music? Or was it all just a sound that you wanted to bring out into the world?

A: We’ve tried our best to try create a style of pop punk that draws influence from the band we grew up with but also the newer era of bands. Best way to describe it would be if Put Up Or Shut Up era All Time Low had a baby with Under Soil And Dirt era The Story So Far, we want to be the result! Haha.

Better Days are working hard on their new upcoming EP Overcast, which is in high desire amongst their fans. With this next EP, their chances of becoming a better influence among the pop-punk world will sky-rocket out of control. After all, it is well deserved.

Follow me on Twitter: @Johnaubert97