INTERVIEW: 'We're looking for 2020 to be our year' | Daydream Runaways

Formed in early 2019 and with two strong singles already in their back pockets, Wiltshire's Daydream Runaways personify the shock felt by a community with their illustrative and emotive track, Closing the Line, released 25th October. Continuing to build on their brand of retro modern rock, the band look closer to home with the song's lyrics and mood, making clear the feelings felt by those in their local community after the announcement of the Swindon Honda factory closure.

This track, these boys, are something special. I don't know what makes it so - it's typical, good old indie rock - but the band deserve much more recognition for this enthusiastic, yet emotional, single and their two previous. Even the name of the band is nice, you know? It's floaty, it's happy, it's representative of the quartet. Closing the Line showcases the responsive and aggressive song writing the band are capable of, whilst also exploring different production techniques not heard on their previous tracks. Daydream Runaways look to secure further radio play and Spotify playlist features with this moving track, continuing to grow their fanbase around the UK and beyond with gigs in different cities across England.

Keep on scrolling to read a little chat I had with the band!

First off, why aren't you guys famous yet?! Tell us a little bit about yourselves; why are you a band? How did you start?

We suppose it's because the right people haven't heard us yet - but there's still plenty of time for that! Daydream Runaways are made up of four loveable Wiltshire lads: Ben Heathcoate (vocals), Cam Bianchi (guitar), Nath Heathcoate (bass) and Brad Kinsey (drums). Ben and Nath are brothers so have had the fortune of knowing each other their whole lives, and the pair used to be in a band with Cam but that ended last year. The three got together again with Brad on drums and started to develop a fresh, retro-modern indie rock style sound in February of this year. It's all come together quite quickly, we've played a number of shows and festivals, and we've just released our third single - it's been a good year all round!

What's your local scene like?

Our local scene is relatively small but we have some real talent down in the south west and in Wiltshire. There's a good batch of indie, rock/pop, blues, heavy rock, singer/songwriter bands and artists about so it's probably only a matter of time before one of us gets some mainstream recognition!

The debut single is always the hardest to release, I think; what was the reaction to that?

'Light the Spark' seemed the most appropriate song for our debut and we were really excited to see what people thought of it and our sound. Luckily for us, it did as the name suggested and we received a very positive reaction from our listeners! Looking back on it now there are things we'd do differently recording wise on that track, but we've got big plans for that song next year...

Here we are now with Closing the Line; can you give me an insight into the track and its inspirations?

Inspiration came from a number of things the UK as a country is going through at the moment but, mainly, it was the sudden announcement of the Honda factory in our local town being closed down and the shockwaves it sent through the community. We wrote the song to have an air of hope for those that had been affected; kind of like those classic, heartfelt rock numbers that Bruce Springsteen is so good at crafting. Mix it all together with chiming guitars, powerful vocals and driving bass and drums, and we arrived at the song you hear now!

What band is each member's favourite - do you take inspiration from any of them in your writing?

All our influences in the band are pretty diverse which probably helps us craft a fresh sound. Ben's songwriting is heavily influenced by bands such as Imagine Dragons, Walk the Moon and Snow Patrol but his vocal style does have a slight country twang to it, which probably comes from his love of The Eagles. Cam's guitar playing and songwriting is influenced by the likes of Graham Coxon from Blur, Johnny Marr, Bloc Party and Nile Rogers from Chic. Brad's a massive fan of bands like The Darkness and Royal Blood but his drumming is inspired by a lot of people like John Bonham and Dave Grohl. Nath's driving bass tones are reminiscent of a mixture of classic rock like Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac, but there are also bits of the pop punk scene in there, like early Paramore and Tonight Alive.

All that probably makes for an interesting cocktail, right?

Are we to expect anything else from you in 2019 or is next year going to be your year, as the saying goes?

There probably won't be any more single releases this year as we're enjoying promoting Closing the Line but we'll be closing the year with a gig at our local pub, where we used to write and rehearse. Then early next year we're starting to work on the next few singles and an EP, along with some live shows and festivals so yes, we're looking for 2020 to be our year for sure!

If you could play alongside any artist - dead or alive - for one night only, who would it be and why?

That's a tough one... each of us would probably give a different answer. Brad would say Rush, Cam would say The Smithes, Ben would say The Eagles and Nath would say Tonight Alive. That's a pretty good night of music right there - we're game if the other bands are!