Editor’s Note: Interview has been edited for clarity and length.
After supporting notable indie bands Fatherson and Larkins, as well as Spotify listeners all over England, Leicestershire-based boy band Day of The Moon is set to become the next big thing in indie. Earlier this month I met Tom (their frontman), Dan (guitar), Ben (guitar), Harry (keyboard), Mark (drummer) and Charles (bassist) to talk about their impressively unique host of songs, their hopes for the future and their experiences in a band at such a young age. Beginning as an instrumental/cover band a couple years ago, Day of the Moon has come a long way from their humble roots and will probably go even further into the vast industry of indie music.
Photo credits via James Riding
How did you guys start off, as a band?
Tom: Well, originally, half of the band were part of an instrumental group and the rest of us [laughs] were filtered in over the course of three or four years.
Ben: I think it was like, in high school, when we would just be in the music room and just jam out at lunchtime, especially in winter when it was cold, and I guess it was just somewhere warm [to hang out]. We’d just play around at lunchtime and developed from there.
How about your individual music beginnings, what were they like?
Tom: I did a load of classical stuff.
Harry: Yeah, I was a classical pianist.
Ben: Me and Dan would have lessons in guitar since year three in primary school.
Mark: My parents just got me a drum kit for Christmas when I was seven. Yeah, it was too loud but I passed all my grades and then, that was it really.
Charles: I just found a bass in my grandparents’ attic and never put it down.
Photo credits via James Riding
So what’s it like being a band for, I guess, three years, now?
Dan: It’s fun, innit, just something to do.
Tom: I mean, except for when we can’t write songs – that’s not fun!
Dan: When we write good songs though, it’s good to like, finish them and then see fans enjoy them.
Harry: I’m not sure, but you’ve got like a certain amount of creative chemistry, it feels like it’s own relationship.
Where, or who, do you get your inspiration from?
Dan: It’s all different, we’ve all got different influences. Say, Charlie, he’s into more heavier stuff.
Tom: I think a lot of the time our lyrics and music depend on what sort of time frame we’re doing it in. Because at the start, it was a lot of Arctic Monkeys while the second EP felt more sort of, like current indie rock bands, I’d say like Catfish and the Bottlemen, you know that sort of thing. Now it’s a little more varied, I think.
Harry: We’ve always tried to bring in different things. We had this song called “Take a Stand,” which kind of started off with inspiration from things like Duran Duran. It’s nothing like anything we’ve ever written before, but us writing the song kind of made it our own with our own personalities in it.
Photo credits via James Riding
What has been your favourite memory thus far as a band?
Dan: Our headline show, definitely. It sold out!
Harry: We didn’t think it was going to happen and then it sold out, like in the last hour.
Charles: Everyone was jumping around – Tom’s dad was jumping around!
Ben: Recently, I really enjoyed the show where we supported Larkins. There were crowds for other people joining in with some of our crowd. Everyone was sort of like, getting into it, and you get a lot of new people saying, “oh wow, that was really good!” It was great just seeing other people perform as well – like you get tips from people you see playing alongside you. You pick up things from other bands and see how they perform.
You guys are probably leaving for university soon, where do you plan to take your music there?
Ben: Skype, probably [laughs].
Dan: Half the band’s doing music at uni, and half is not, all at various places in the UK, though.
Photo credits via James Riding
Charles: Hopefully, we’ll continue the band and come back every now and then to do rehearsals and things like that.
What advice would you give to give to other young people hoping to pursue music?
Charles: Write as much as you can, the more you write the better you get.
Harry: You have to write badly to write well, that’s just my experience!
What are you planning to do next? Are there any gigs you guys have got planned?
Harry: Our next show is on February 24th, and it’s at The Shed in Leicester. We’re supporting two of the biggest bands we’ve ever played with like Fatherson and Vistas. We’re also playing our first ever show in Nottingham on March 2nd with a band called Black Cats and Magpies.
Featured Image via James Riding.
