We love it when bands have fun with our Band of the Day feature which Two Year Break have clearly done whilst giving us some thoughtful answers. Enjoy!
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
The majority of the band in Brad, Charlie & George are from Hornchurch in Greater London so we usually class that as our home. Dan isn’t too far away and comes from Tilbury, whereas Tony comes from all the way across London from Wembley!
How did you meet?
Charlie, George & Brad went to the same school so met there. Dan was met through friends! Charlie & Tony met online…
How long have you been playing as a band?
Charlie, George, Tony & Dan had been playing as Two Year Break for about 3 years on a more casual front. When they decided to take it more seriously and to the next level Brad was brought in as their new front man at the start of 2018. I think it’s safe to say with our change in style and approach to songwriting, plus the increased success online with streams on Spotify for example, this change was justified!
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Who says we aren’t sick of being asked already?! Just kidding. There’s literally nothing spectacular to how we came up with the name… Charlie, George and Dan played in bands together for years, took a two year break and came back, the name stuck!
What are your influences?
There are plenty of influences and varying sounds in which you will hopefully hear in our EP we are due to release next year. We would probably say our core influence is 00s pop punk/alternative artists such as Fall Out Boy, All Time Low & You Me At Six!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is heavily influenced by 00s pop punk as described before. We are hoping you’ll notice some elements that explore sounds like Muse & Don Brocco in our upcoming EP! We believe there is a uniqueness mixing these styles together, a rich blend of catchy sing along chorus’s and the musical integrity that sometimes artists in our genre are not given full credit for!
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We always write about what we know, that’s always incredibly important! Our upcoming EP talks about the highs and lows during the year prior to a relationship ending and we have really tried to dig deep and magnify the significant feelings that have occurred this past year. We also talk about having the drive to follow your dreams a lot. This is really relevant to us as a group and individually, however relatable for anyone listening. I think we love the idea of someone listening and capturing the passion we are putting across and in turn have an effect on their pursuit of what they want to achieve in their lives!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Since Brad has joined the band this year, we have played 5 shows with each getting bigger every time! We have been known amongst our fans as having shows filled with high energy and high audience engagement. Notably at our most recent headline show where we sold out The Roadtrip & Workshop in London, we created a real party atmosphere with inflatable guitars, mics, saxophones and used confetti cannons during the show as well (don’t worry, we got permission from the venue before hand!).
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Well, I would say in terms of most wild thing at a live show would be using things live confetti cannons, inflatable instruments, diving into the crowd with our instruments etc. Although these don’t sound too wild, we definitely think they have an impact as not many shows I’ve been to personally of bands at a similar level do anything other than stand on stage and play but that’s cool, that’s what they feel comfortable doing, however we don’t!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
We are a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to our equipment:
Brad – Whatever mic he can get his hands on to add that familiar voice and take the listener on an emotional journey!
Charlie – Gibson Les Paul & Blackstar amp to give that solid punchy distorted rhythm!
Tony – Reverend Charger & a Fender amp to create the high end, atmospheric crafty sounds that really take our songs to the next level!
George – A Premier Artist Maple drumkit to provide that hard hitting rhythm and enhance the energy of all of our songs!
Dan – Fender bass, Orange bass head & Ashdown Superfly cab to … well fart away in the corner…
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We have a single out called “Change My Mind” which was released back in September and has been getting a lot of attention online, particularly on Spotify as it has accrued around 20k streams already! Keeping that promotion going would be great whilst we work on other things in the background..
What are your plans for 2018?
2018?! I’m assuming you mean 2019 which contains full plans of an EP release, music videos, single releases, plenty of fun social media content and some big shows!
But just in case you did mean 2018, we are recording two tracks for our EP at Modern World Studios with Clint Murphy, before having a well earned break and tucking into Christmas dinner.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
There are literally a tonne of bands we would love to support and any one of the Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, You Me At Six, Blink 182, Green Day…the list goes on!
A band that have caught our eye recently are a local band to us in Hornchurch called Rolled Up Sleeves. Although a slightly different genre in which their sound covers a more rock/indie vibe, we were on the judging panel for Fairkytes Live and chose these guys as winners of the Last Band Standing back in October. They have a great live sound and are very energetic as well as being all round nice guys.
Header image by Sam Kay
