PREMIERE: Get A Taste of The Top End with Draftday’s Latest Single ‘Mess I’ve Made’

When we debuted the Northern Territory’s newest rock band, DRAFTDAY way back last year, we were actually blown away. While they’re still quite a young band, the five-piece have given us a promising sound straight from the first chord. This year, they’re aiming to step it up even more with their latest track ‘Mess I’ve Made’, which we are exclusively premiering for you today. The new single shows even more potential for the band as they channel their exciting alternative/rock vibes with a soaring, catchy chorus similar to other Australian rock acts like Trophy Eyes and Slowly Slowly. To celebrate the new single, we caught up with the band about what they’ve been up over the last few months…

Hey guys! Congrats on the new single! Can you tell us the inspiration behind ‘Mess I’ve Made’?

Thank you! We’re excited to be able to put this new track out there, with ‘Mess I’ve Made’ we set out to write something that would describe an initial sense of fear or remorse. In this case it was standing back after a breakup and thinking ‘How could I have hurt someone that I loved?’ The song centres around stating your errors in order to then work through them, rather than trying to be stoic and avoiding any acceptance of mistakes. Setting groundwork for you to become better by saying ‘This Mess I’ve Made’. 

Your sound’s definitely matured since ‘Soap’! Have you found the band’s final musical direction now?

This was written shortly after the release of ‘Soap’ so it was a definite progression. We don’t think we have found a settled space in which we want to stay though, as consumers of music in 2020 we have an insane amount of access to any sound and artist which we inevitably will find inspiration in. Personally, we think constant experimentation is a necessity in art. As Bowie said: ‘You always want to be just slightly out of your comfort zone, that is where good art is made’.

In terms of musical styles and influences, what else can we expect to hear from your debut EP? Are we going to see a metal/BMTH-inspired track on there?

It’s a tight knit collection for sure, some curveballs, a tear jerker or two. Influence wise its probably closest to Trophy Eyes or even Gang Of Youths. But we feel as though we’ve got our own ‘sound’. In reference to anything metal or BMTH inspired, you might get a little surprise with one harder track, but it’s certainly not in the same vein as BMTH.

Naturally, being up in the Top End, bands kinda have to work much harder to get their music out there. Since Tapestry departed, what does the current musical landscape in Darwin look like now?

I think bands all across the continent work equally hard, with the current climate that we consume, music in everyone’s kind of pooled in together. We would be lying if we said we work any harder than a band from Melbourne, Perth or Regional South Australia. Especially with outlets like this (awww!), triple j or social media pushing new artists out there. 

It’s very exciting to see the Tapestry guys move forward! Although the musical landscape has stayed very much the same in the NT. Still as inclusive and down to earth as always. (*Edit: I can fully vouch for this; during my time in the Top End, the tightknit music scene was such an awesome community to get amongst!)

What should other bands from around Australia know about the local Darwin scene too?

That there are venues and artists doing their thing in order to bring acts up here. There’s a strong audience that will come out to shows and give artists a shot, which can be rare compared to larger cities (only due to the amount of venues and population).

You’ve been pretty quiet since the double release of Soap and En Soi, only coming out to play the odd show in your own hometown of Darwin. So when can we expect you guys to venture outside of the Territory for some shows?

We needed to lay low for a little while and put in the work to create a set of songs that we felt best showcased the ideas we had in our heads, even to work on building ourselves as a band personally. Laying low is a sort of necessary thing, people will get sick of hearing about you all the time and you would never leave anything to imagination. It’s better to have people asking questions about new music than blowing up their socials with constant updates. 

Hopefully this year! We’re certainly ready to take this interstate. 

And finally, when can we expect the EP drop?

It’ll be out very (very) soon, but that’s all we can say right now!

Thanks for the catchup guys! See you on the east coast soon, hopefully!

Interview by Tamara May (@citylightstam)

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