Dananananaykroyd

Dananananaykroyd

18 September, 2009
by: Domzig

Unbelievable as it might sound, before Myspace, Last FM and the internet in the general, the only way a band could get any fans was to tour like crazy. Next time you're listening to the Minute Men on Spotify try to bear in mind that when those guys began making music, the only way you could sell records was to load up your clapped-out transit van and drive 10,000 miles in four weeks - It took real dedication to be in a band back then!  

Better still, go and see Dananananaykroyd. They may look like young kids, fresh from the cafeteria of some Scottish sixth form college, but these guys have a work ethic to rival the Meat Puppets and a sound sort of like At The Drive In, Cap N Jazz and Fugazi all rolled into one party package. They also have one of the most fearsome live shows seen anywhere in the post Iggy and the Stooges world. If you don't believe me then just read Joe's review of them playing the Macbeth and Lauren's review of them ripping up White Heat  last October.

We caught up with drummer John Baillie Jr and the band on a typically mammoth drive from Glasgow to Reading:

You guys have been pretty busy in 2009. What's been the best bit so far?
 
John: It's been really, really cool but we've been doing so much I've not had much chance to see anything.

Didn't you meet Bill Murray?

Ha! That was last year. We were on a flight from Chicago to New York and he was there - he owns a restaurant in Chicago or something. Anyway we just chatted for a bit.

What did he say?

I don't know. It was Bill Murray, that's enough for me.

OK, moving on. How do you guys cope with so many people in the band? Doesn't it get a bit cramped in the van?

Well, there are only six of us, which is one less than Los Campesinos!, so it's not so bad. It's good having loads of people around, it means that there's always somebody to talk to. It's like we're a big gang or something.

As for the van, it's a pretty big 10-seater with a TV and X-Box, so it's usually alright.

So you're a close-knit unit. Has that made the line-up changes harder?

No not really. I don't think they've affected us at all. I mean the last person who left was Laura, and she was in the band from the start, so that was kind of a big deal, but you get used to it. We play shows pretty much every 2 weeks, so we hardly had time to think about it.

How would you define your touring ethos?

We want to be a band that organically gains fans. So we wanted to be one of the bands you hear about when they play your town, rather than being a band you hear on the radio that turn out being a bit under-developed when you finally see them live.

We're definitely a live band. We're most comfortable when we're on stage.

Do you think playing live has kind of replaced being played on the radio?

Yes and no. I mean we're doing pretty well in Australia, and we've never played a single show there. So the radio has to be good for something right?

Are you guys the hardest working band in the world?

I don't know. I think we're lazy. Callum, are we the hardest working band in the world?

Callum: I thought it was Los Camp?

Yeah. I dunno, it's a job and we're really lucky to be doing it. It's not like work at all.

Dananananaykroyd have an album 'Hey Everyone' on Best Before and are playing the Scala on the 27th October.

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Domzig