We caught up with Don Broco axeman Simon Delaney to chat about the band’s biggest-ever headline tour, their debut album and the perils of living with a snoring frontman…
Your tour has pretty much sold out now – are you excited?
Yeah man, we’re all stoked. Plymouth just sold out earlier this morning – I think it’s just Sheffield that’s yet to sell out, so hopefully we’ll shift the last few tickets for that so we’ll be able to say we’ve got a completely sold out tour, which would just be mind-blowing.
What’s your favourite song to play live?
Usually my favourite is probably Priorities, just because it’s got such a big riff and so much energy, which means that it’s just so much fun to play – I love jumping about on stage, so I really enjoy just going mental during all the high-energy ones live. On the tour in February we’re playing a few tracks from the album that we’ve never played live before, so I think these are probably my favourites just because they’re so fresh and new!
How do you guys normally pass the time on tour?
Well, our van is REALLY basic so we can’t have a TV or a games console or anything like that in there, so the drives tend to be fairly lively. Having said that, on the last tour we did we had a videographer with us and he had Monopoly on his iPad – we’d never played it before and I was a bit sceptical because I hate Monopoly, but I’ve gotta say that the Monopoly game for iPad is brilliant! It was a life-saver when it came to long journeys, let’s just say that.
You’ve got Hey Vanity and Mallory Knox supporting you on your tour in February – got any pranks lined up for them?
Haha! Well, we all know the Hey Vanity guys really well from touring with them in the past, so I’m sure we’ll have some fun with them We haven’t really got any pranks pre-planned, but I imagine there’ll be something fairly brutal Probably involving drink spiking Some vodka in the stage water Hmmm
Your album reached number twenty-five in the charts – how did that feel?
We literally never thought that we were going to have an album in the charts, so it was just crazy. It’s an achievement my Mum and Dad can understand, because a lot of the stuff we do (like playing with Billy Talent) just goes over completely over their heads – it’s nice to be able to say to them ‘Oh, look at the website, there we are!’.
If you had to pick one song from your album to sum up your sound as a band, which would it be?
I would probably choose Priorities, just because it’s got a big riff, catchy hooks and a great chorus. It’s probably the song I’m most proud of too – it was just one of the songs that when we finally nailed it in the studio everyone was just like ‘Oh, wow, that’s a good one’ and just buzzing about it.
Who were your main influences as a guitarist?
In my early teens I was obsessed with Incubus, so they’re a big influence on me – I was also really into British Rock bands, so bands like Reuben and Biffy Clyro have all influenced me heavily. It’s great to see Biffy selling out arenas and things nowadays – I’m sure that everyone’s seen them in a tiny venue at some point, so to see them getting so huge in such a short space of time really gives us something to aim for! They’ve really worked for it.
Have you guys written any new material since the release of the album?
Yeah – we’ve been doing some demos and they’re sounding good, so we’re hoping to get those out maybe towards the end of the year.
You guys spend a lot of time together, but which member of the band has the most annoying habit?
I’ve got a particular gripe with snorers, and Bobby (Damiani, vocals) is a serious snorer so when we’re on the road that’s the one thing that really annoys me! As soon as I lock on to it I just can’t get to sleep, it’s a nightmare. I’m sure if you ask the rest of the band they’ll have a lot of other gripes!
Describe yourself in three words?
Excitable, energetic and conversational.
