Interview with Count the Days

Hundreds of bands fought for the chance, and after winning one of only 26 places, Count the Days have just gigged with one of the most famous British boy bands of the last decade. They've been working hard since forming in 2010, and now the three piece pop punk band from London are doing better than ever. They've just released their first ever music video, 'Feel', and are writing new songs as we speak.  I chatted to James Kinsey, lead singer and guitarist of the band, about fans, lyrics and the ‘Dougie image.’

                                                                                                                                                                                

Can you tell me a bit about the band’s past?

We formed a couple of years ago, just as friends from school. I’m a bit older than the other two and I just wanted to form another band because my old band split up. Then I met those two and we’ve been friends ever since and we gelled together pretty well.

How would you describe your musical style to people who've not listened to you before?

We started off playing pop punk, being influenced by like Blink182, Green Day, and also bands like Mcfly. Then we thought we’d do something a bit different and put some synth and piano and stuff like that in it. So sort of like rock and pop rock with a bit of an electronic edge.

So how was it supporting Mcfly?

Yeah, it was amazing! We were lucky enough to support Mcfly up in Lincoln and it was a really good night actually. The crowd were awesome. Mcfly were really nice guys, they came up to us backstage and we had a laugh and they asked us how we got on. I had a cigarette with Dougie and Harry and we wished them luck as well before they went on stage. They were really nice to us, yeah, it was good.

I saw some people when I was queuing up comparing Robert to Dougie.

 Yeah (laughs)

Is that similarity intentional?

Yeah, well he’s been a fan of Mcfly longer than I’ve known him for, and Dougie’s his hero really, he loves him. He’s not here to defend himself, but it’s very much intentional I think (laughs) He likes the whole “Dougie image” thing!

Do you think supporting Mcfly was good for the band? Has there been a lot of positive reception after it?

Definitely! It was like a huge explosion for us. I think as well, our music appeals to Mcfly’s audience, so they’re a good band to support. I think it was a good fit musically. Obviously we played for 1800 people so yeah it was good. The hype of the gig dies down pretty rapidly, so you’ve gotta keep busy and keep people interested, but it was definitely worth doing!

Which band or singer do you dream of collaborating with?

Ooh, probably Angels and Airwaves or Blink. I’ve been a Tom Delonge fan since I was like 12 years old. Like at least 12 years I’ve loved that band. Probably Coldplay as well, I’d like do it with Coldplay (laughs) or Mcfly. I’d love to collaborate with Mcfly!

Some bands and singers have names for their fans, like Gaga’s Monsters. What would you call your fans if you could give them a name?

That’s a very good question. I might have to get back to you on that one! (laughs)…Count the Daylings? (laughs) I dunno...

You said you write your own lyrics. How do you find that?

I write the lyrics myself, and I mostly base it on past experiences, what I’ve been through. I can’t make anything up. The latest EP is all about one girl specifically, my ex-girlfriend. It all came really easy to me, because it was exactly how I was feeling and I just wrote it down. If I doesn’t mean anything to me then I don’t really enjoy writing it.

Do you think it’s better if the lyrics are more personal to the singer?

Yeah, definitely. If you make it too personal, obviously people can’t really relate to it. But if you make it a bit personal, I think everyone goes through the same things in life. I try and make it relatable as well, so people can enjoy it.

Are you working on any new music at the moment?

Literally just yesterday, me and Rob sat down and wrote a new song and it was really cool actually. We haven’t written anything new in a while, so we just sort of sat down yesterday and just started working on new stuff. Hopefully we can get it out for the summer.

Have got any gigs planned in the future?

Yeah, we’re playing at the O2 Academy on 26^th April with two other bands.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Well, in regards to the Mcfly gig, I’d like to say thanks to everyone that took an interest afterwards.

It was much better than I could’ve hoped for to be honest, cos I know everyone was there to see Mcfly essentially, but we gained quite a few fans afterwards and everyone made us welcome so we’d really like to come back and play for Lincoln again.

For more info and updates on the band, like their Facebook, or follow them on Twitter. Below you can listen to their single 'Cave In', which can be downloaded for free from their Band page. Their other music, as well as covers, can be found on their YouTube.