Callen Batson & Noah Murphy - Days Like These 'Pushing Musical Boundaries Without Limitations'

Since the release of their hit single 'The Absolute', Brisbane post hardcore outfit Days Like These have been garnering attention in their hometown by playing some huge shows with Windwaker and SLAVES (USA). Off the back of all those shows, the boys have unleashed a brand new single 'Antidote' which is darker and heavier than what they've done before, but shows huge promise for the future of the band.

Days Like These are stepping it up this weekend and playing the final show of The Brave's AURA tour with Pridelands (our Perth coverage here), so we grabbed a quick chat with frontman Callen Batson and drummer Noah Murphy to get an insight into the life of Days Like These...

Hey guys! ‘The Absolute’ was one of my fave songs earlier this year. How stoked are you with the reception that it has received since its release?

That song was definitely a massive step up for us because we’d never really had that much attention before. We’ve learnt a lot from our debut EP, and that shows from when we released The Absolute, but it was definitely a big step up for us. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFjdy9K6G6k&w=640&h=360]

I feel like, in terms of what we were listening to at the time, that always changes the next type of music that we release. We were listening to a lot of metalcore and even some poppier stuff so that’s why we’ve got that really polished sorta style, I guess. 

I've listened to you guys for a while now and you initially had a bit of a pop/punk sound previously, but now you’re leaning more towards the heavier end of the spectrum these days. What bands or artists influence the overall sound of Days Like These?

A lot of different bands, it’s pretty diverse I’d say. We’re inspired lately by Windwaker, Thornhill and Architects, and the new Bring Me the Horizon album definitely has a huge influence on the band. Even a lot of pop artists have been influencing us, like Jaden Smith, and artists like that inspire us a lot in that you don't have fall into a certain category to be huge. You can express yourself in a way that you can do what you want. 

So basically, Days Like These have no musical boundaries?

We like to think so, yeah. We're not going to release like, a pop song or go death metal but, we don't want to limit ourselves either. We have boundaries in a sense but we like to see how far we can push those boundaries musically. We're definitely not releasing a country song anytime soon though! 

You’ve played some pretty big shows around Brisbane this year! Do you guys have any plans to venture interstate?

There might be a few shows in the works, but it’s definitely on the cards...

What’s been the band’s most memorable show to date?

Our last two shows, Windwaker because literally every band on the lineup, we made some great friendships because of that one show, it was alot of fun. Watching Windwaker and all the other bands, that show had some good vibes all round! Also our most recent show, The Big Bris Four, it was the first all ages shows we’d done in awhile, we played that show with The Brave, Deadlights, She Cries Wolf and Stepson. It was basically Brisbane’s Big Four, as the name of the event suggests. It was pretty cool to play with bands we genuinely admire and look up to, but also a really good experience.

Can we expect an EP from you guys anytime soon?

It’s definitely in the future at some point. We’re still working on new songs to complete that.

What’s the writing process like in the band?

From hindsight, it’s all collaborative. Usually when we get an idea, we’ll write it together. It’s quite a collaborative process. We kind of all just bounce ideas off each other. 

And if you could work with anyone to produce a future Days Like These release, who would it be?

We’d like to work with Jeremy McKinnon (A Day To Remember) - he’s very diverse and just knows how to write really good songs.

Thanks for chatting boys!

Interview by Tamara May (@citylightsTAM)

Days Like These play the final AURA show with The Brave and Pridelands this Saturday in Brisbane!

Tickets here

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwzJFfC4yuc?controls=0&w=853&h=480]