Luke Simpkins lead singer of The Days

eGigs had ten minutes to speak to Luke Simpkins lead singer of new up and coming band The Days just a few days before their first headlining tour.

What are you up to at the moment?
We've just been in London, finishing off the album., and it's been going really well. We've just done one last song called 'Who Said Anything' and we've been recording a string section on it, which is the first string section we've put on any of the tracks. It's been a really exciting process just to get a little bit of something different onto the album.

Did you play a live gig yesterday. How did that go?
No, we didn't, we had to cancel that. It's really awful, our guitar player got salmonella and he's actually in hospital, so that's the first gig that we've ever had to cancel, which was a disaster, but we've moved it to the Barfly in Camden on the 28th. So we're really looking forward to getting back on the road.



How did you all get together?
Well we all knew each other from school, and my brother is Dan who is the bass player. So we've always been playing music together, and Harry and Tim had a band together at school. So, there was a bit of rivalry going on between the two bands, but when we actually left school we all joined together and joined forces, when the bands split up.

Which school was that?
It was down in Devon, it's called Ivybridge Community College.

One of your track is called 'Evil Girls' are there a lot of them in Ivybridge then?
(laughs) I think there is, you know. That's kind of where the song came about. When we were at school we found that a lot of the girls would be going for the older guys with their cars and stuff. And you didn't get a look in at that age. That was the age when you really, really wanted a girlfriend, and there were lots of hot girls around and you just couldn't have them. That's what it's about.

So do you get a chance to get back to Devon very often?
We kind of made the decision to stay in Devon because obviously we're on the road a lot anyway when we're in cities. So as to be able to go back to Devon and just chill out on our days off.

Last time I saw you you were playing at Exeter University with Paolo Nutini, have you supported any other big names?
With Newton Faulkner, that was our first big Devon show, so that was really exciting. I think supporting Supergrass, was for us an exciting one because we were fans of them when we were young. We've also supported The Fray, and Scouting For Girls, on their last tour which was great for us because they had a sold out tour that was brilliant.

It says on your MySpace that you've been off pursuing acting careers in Hollywood, so how has that gone?
(laughs) That's a bit of a joke really. We did some acting on this Beebo tv series called 'Tate Modern'. So we were just trying out a bit of acting for that, which we weren't really very good at, so we were making a bit of a joke that we were in Hollywood, and a lot of people have taken it literally.

You appear to have a large female following, what's it like to be a sex symbol then?
Ha! Sex symbol! It's not a bad thing having lots of screaming girls chasing after you, I guess. Our audience has widened a bit, initially we were playing with certain bands and certain people that would get us that initial teen fanbase, which was cool to do. But we want to appeal to everyone. For instance on the Scouting For Girls tour they have a massive, really wide appeal, and we want to do that too, appeal to everyone. We feel that everyone can get something out of our music.



You are a piano playing frontman, that's not a traditional band set up, what made you decide to go down that route?
I just wanted to play the piano, I felt that piano opened more doors. I felt like I had more on my palette and could do more with a piano. I was playing guitar before that, but when I started playing piano, it opened up a whole new world to me. I got really into a guy called Ben Folds and when we first started the band we were just a three piece – piano, bass, and drums. Ben Folds Five was a really big influence on us, just to be able to hit the piano rather than playing it gracefully is pretty cool live, to do something a bit different.

What the best act you've been to see live?
Kings Of Leon, which I saw at Reading last year. I really enjoyed them, and I'm desperate to see them again. I missed out on tickets the last time they came over. I'll definitely be looking to going back to Reading this year.

Are you playing any festivals this summer?
It is a bit too early to say, but we are hoping to play festivals. It's a big, really important thing for us. We want to be playing big festivals in the summer, and playing as bigger gigs as we can in the summer. Obviously mixed with nice intimate show to keep it interesting. But definitely, the festivals are a big thing for us.

Do you go to festivals often then?
Yes, Glastonbury and Reading are really cool. We're really looking forward to playing them. We're just going to work really hard and try and get there really, try and get our music out to as many people as possible.

So what will be your next single?
Our next single after 'No Ties'? We're not sure just yet because we've just recorded two new ones, but it might be a song called 'Never Give Up' which really pleased with. We've just produced it with Mark Taylor, who is more of a pop producer than we've worked with before. But we feel we've really built up a really strong band sound through working with people like John Cornfield, who worked with Muse, and Razorlight, and Mute who recorded The Verve. After working with them to go with a pop producer we felt would really keep our band sound which we've learnt off those guys, but get more of a polished pop edge.

There aren't all that many bands who have made it from Devon, there's Muse who you've just mentioned obviously, but what gave you your big break to end up on a headlining tour?
Well we did move away, we moved up to London to go to university there. We were just playing lots of gigs around the 'toilet circuit' but we didn't play too many. We built up this student fanbase, and made sure e could get our friends along to gigs. Then from there it really grew, and we had a big student fanbase in London. Then all the record labels started getting interested, and that culminated in a big showcase at The Dublin Castle where we had sixty six A&R men down there. So, it was a bit of an odd one, lots of guys with pieces of paper and their arms folded. Then we got signed pretty much it after that.

That's my interview time up, thanks for chatting.
No problem thanks bye, bye.



The Days tour dates are as follows. Subject to the recovery of their guitarist Tim.
Sun 01 February The Little Civic, Wolverhampton
Mon 02 February Night & Day Cafe, Manchester
Tue 03 February O2 Academy, Birmingham
Thu 05 February King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
Fri 06 February The Cockpit, Leeds
Sat 07 February Chinnerys, Southend-on-Sea
Mon 09 February The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham
Tue 10 February Fibbers, York
Sat 14 February O2 Academy, Bristol

Tickets for these shows are available now. To buy tickets, click here.

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