More about: Don Broco

It's a great time to be Don Broco. I caught up with the genre-straddling four piece backstage at Download, to try and find out what the guys are really like, and how they’re coping with their never-ending ascendancy.

An incredibly interesting mix of pop and boy band looks, which provokes a loyal teen following, but then also so much power that can keep them in the realms of heavy rock. Despite the synths and catchy pop hooks, they can still have more than enough grit and bite for a slot at Download Festival. It's that hard rock spine that keeps them standing.

It’s been quite a year for the band, as I meet them fresh from their huge tour with 5 Seconds Of Summer, and they feel like a group completely ready for household name stardom.

"It’s the first big festival since Reading last year," they beam, still buzzing for their looming slot. They’ve lined up the perfect year, a huge European trek as the support act, before the home festivals before they begin their own headline tour. It’s a great chance to catch them, they tell us that they will be playing both of their albums in full, so you can choose your night, or hopefully get to both.

"It’ll be so good to go to a city, play the debut and still be there for the next night to play the last album," smiles frontman Rob Damiani. "There are songs that we’ve never played live, or even since we’ve recorded them, and we’re excited to get to grips with them again."

Guitarist Simon Delaney chips in: "We might get better as we go along, so come to the later dates of the tour!"

After seeing their set though, it’s clear this band is tight, and you can tell how much time they’ve spent on the road lately. I’d expect a slick, powerful set from the opening night if their Download performance is anything to go by. We sat down with the band to talk about their year so far, what comes next and how they're definitely not the 'lads' you think they are...

You’re straddling quite a few genres, which is great, because you can do Download and then something completely different like the 5 Seconds of Summer tour, but when you cross so many boundaries, do you feel that people might get the wrong idea about you ever?

Tom: "Ah…that’s a good question actually!"

Rob: "There are probably a lot…"

Simon: "That we all know loads about football?"

Tom: "None of us actually like Nandos?"

Rob: "That’s a joke, we actually love Nando’s!"

That’s your black card gone…

Rob: "I could live in there man!"

Rob: "Probably the thing that people think we’re the ultimate lads. And we’re kind of, we’re not."

Tom: "Anyone who actually knows us…"

Rob: "Anyone who actually knows us, knows that we’re not, we just find it funny. And kinda take the piss out of it. That’s probably surprising to some people, like wo, I thought you guys were mental."

Tom: "Just give me a tea."

So what’s coming next for you guys?

Rob: "We’re getting off this and we’ve got a couple of weeks to learn some of our album tracks, because then we’ve got our UK tour where we’re playing both of our albums in full. Consecutive nights, we go to a city and play the full album, then stay the night and do it again the next night with the second album. There’s a lot of songs we’ve never played before so we’ll be getting to grips with them, and there’s a lot of songs we have never played since recording them, so we’re super excited to get to grips with them. That’ll be really fun."

Simon: "They’ll likely get better as we go along, so if you’re going to come, come for the back end of the tour."

Rob: "There’s a lot of places we’ve never played before, because we want to keep it fairly intimate, and as we’re doing two nights in each as well. It’ll be great to play venues we’ve either missed when we were supporting bands or didn’t play when we had our own big headline shows. It’ll be going back to basics, and especially the Priorities album, going back to the level we were at when we first toured it."

Matt: "I’m absolutely melting, this tent is like a greenhouse..."

Rob: "This is the mistake of the roll neck…"

Matt: "Yeah the roll neck man!"

Simon: "Have you got a t-shirt under there?"

Matt: "Yeah, t-Shirt underneath"

Simon: "Oh you’re alright, least you can switch it up"

We both packed roll necks and thought better for this weekend

Matt: "It’s the worst combo of being brutally hot but also being wet as fuck!"

Anything else that you guys want to talk about while we’re here?

Rob: "Oh, I don’t know…"

Matt: "We’ve started work on some new music, so watch this space."

Rob: "We’ve actually started recording whilst we’re on tour, which we’ve never really done before, but we’ve got some new ideas that we really wanted to get down, and get them out as soon as possible. We’re finishing a track at the moment that we’re hoping to get out sooner rather than later, also it’s something new to play on the tour as well."

Tom: "Another one to learn…"

Do you feel that your sound is starting to change again?

Rob: "I think our sound is always changing from album to album, each one is a little bit different. I think the next album will rewrite what Don Broco means to us again."

I mean every band says that, but for me, the new album is a big departure from the early work, you can definitely hear the changes...

Matt: "I don’t think we’ll ever make the same album, we get bored far too easily!"

This is a band with a lot of misconceptions of what they’re about, and I suggest you see them live to really know what’s going on with Don Broco, and I’m sure you will not regret it.

Don Broco's upcoming UK tour dates are below. For tickets and more information, visit here. 

Sun July 24 2016 - MANCHESTER Gorilla
Mon July 25 2016 - MANCHESTER Gorilla
Tue July 26 2016 - GLASGOW Oran Mor
Wed July 27 2016 - GLASGOW Oran Mor
Thu July 28 2016 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Riverside
Fri July 29 2016 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Riverside
Sun July 31 2016 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute 2
Mon August 01 2016 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute 2
Wed August 03 2016 - LEEDS Key Club
Thu August 04 2016 - LEEDS Key Club
Fri August 05 2016 - BEDFORD Esquires
Sat August 06 2016 - BEDFORD Esquires
Mon August 08 2016 - LONDON O2 Academy Islington
Tue August 09 2016 - LONDON O2 Academy Islington
Wed August 10 2016 - SOUTHAMPTON Engine Rooms
Thu August 11 2016 - SOUTHAMPTON Engine Rooms
Fri August 12 2016 - NORWICH Open
Sat August 13 2016 - NORWICH Open
Mon August 15 2016 - BRISTOL Marble Factory
Tue August 16 2016 - BRISTOL Marble Factory

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More about: Don Broco