DAYCARE FOR JEDI – interview with the band

Daycare For Jedi, a pop-punk quartet from Aarhus, is a band that kicks in the door to the danish rockscene, with their energetic and melodic songs. The band is ready with a new album, “This Is What You Get”, which has been recorded with Chris Kreutzfeldt (Ghost Iris, Scarred by Beaty), and is a modern pop-punk record that is based on the new wave of british and american bands, such as Neck Deep, Real Friends, Seaway and The Story So Far. The album was released in March, and follows a successful EP-release and DK-tour, which included playing at Distortion.

The EP “Worst Things First”, which was the band’s debut release, received praise by Danish and international reviewers. For example, GF Rock wrote, “… I have to admit that Daycare For Jedi easily could become somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine.” and gave 4 out of 6 stars, meanwhile Rockfreaks wrote: “…The production is top notch, the songs are mad catchy, and their vocalist has charisma”, and rewarded the band with 7.5 out of 10.

With song titles such as “Loser” and “This Is What You Get”, Daycare For Jedi are ready to shake up a new generation of kids, who love their music with fast guitars, catchy choruses and a feel of warm summer evenings. The guys in Daycare For Jedi are well aware of the limits their genre has in a country such as Denmark, but don’t expect Daycare For Jedi that holds back, or attempts to adjust to a specific music market. It’s the love for an era and particular sound that drives the four guys from Aarhus.

“The songs have been very exciting to write, and this time we have focused more on portraying Daycare For Jedi’s personality through our songs. The songs have lots of heavy passages rather than just being energetic and catchy. Take, for example “Brother”, which is more along the lines of melodic hardcore. We are kind of the only band in Denmark doing what we do, so we are very proud of the result, and the slightly heavier and groovy style we have incorporated into our music.

When we have a plan – we do everything in our power to reach our goals. At the end of the process, when we began with the vocals – we drove from Jutland to Copenhagen in the middle of the night, to meet up with Chris Kreutzfeldt in the studio, to start tracking vocals, to then be standing in 38 degrees with high sun and playing at Distortion.

We want to do everything at once, and this process has taught us to let go of some things, and just focus. Otherwise, one will never really get things done. But Distortion was something we simply wouldn’t miss – after all, it was there we lost our virginity as a band, back in 2014.” – Daycare For Jedi

The album “This Is What You Get”, will was released through Prime Collective in March 2017.

The below interview was prepared by Prime Collective…

Can you explain a little about your band name and music style?

There is only one right way to name your band, and that is by getting drunk and trying to beat the coolest band names out there. We talked about how cool “Jedi Mind Tricks” sounded and we tried to come up with something that sounded just as cool but ended up with the exact opposite.

How do you think your music stands out, and why should readers give you a chance?

There really aren’t other bands which sound like us in here in Denmark, so that would be the reason why people should give us a chance and listen to our music. And the rest of the world should do as well.

What can we expect in connection with your album release? Do you have any concert plans, music videos or collaborations that you can reveal?

We just finished a small promotion tour for our debut album here in Denmark, which led us to a support gig with “You Me at Six”. We have some cool stuff coming, but we can’t really talk about it yet.

What is your ambition with the band and what are your future goals and aspirations?

Our ambitions are definitely to keep writing songs and keep touring here in Denmark! And after that, we will do the same abroad!

If you were to recommend a song for a new listener, which song would you recommend?

If we had to recommend a song from our catalog it would probably be “A Better Way”. That song represents us really well music wise. It’s all the songs from our album stripped down to three and a half minutes.

How would you describe the Danish rock/metal scene to be, currently? Are there any Danish bands, besides yourselves, that you would recommend?

There is a lot going on, on the danish underground music scene right now. Many talented and promising bands are starting to pop up, and it’s not just the usual “whisky rock n’ roll” that has been drowning the country for years now.
Our label Prime Collective is really good at spotting bands like us who belong on scenes abroad, or is a fresh input in the current scene here. Denmark has never really been a country where “mainstream” music like our own genre has had the chance to grow.

Bands from Denmark that we recommend:

UNSEEN FAITH, COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS, LIFESICK, NORTHERN BLUES, CABAL, HALCYON HOPE

What are some of your rituals before a show?

Well we are all looking at Jacob right now. He is always asking if his outfit is good enough right before a show. None of us really do push-ups or any physical activities before a show. But Jacob is well known for showing his karate moves to the female audience after a show.

What is the absolutely worst thing that could happen with your upcoming release?

That people will get the wrong picture and compare us to “Green Day”. That has happened many times in the past. We just want to be recognized as the new “Busted”.

What is the craziest/stupidest you have been exposed to as a band, so far?

Oh well, do you have 15 minutes?

That would be our very first show as a band. It had everything, just like a good hotdog. We were to play our first show at Distortion Festival in Copenhagen and it was huge for us!

We started out in Aarhus which is the city where we live, and it is about 3hrs drive from Copenhagen.

We picked up our former bass player at a facility for people with mental problems of any kind. Don’t ask us why… After the pickup we set course for Copenhagen.

Around 11 am we arrived to Copenhagen just to find out that we had to build our own stage, and that the sound guy they had hired wasn’t coming after all. The stage was about the same size as a coffee table so that was not a big deal. But most of the parts for the stage were gone, so we had to be creative with wood boxes and gear cases. Right before our sound check a dude who had the same size as Dwayne Johnson came yelling towards us. If we dared to turn on the amps he would destroy the whole stage. Distortion Festival is a street festival that takes part in the middle of the city and there is around 300.000 people attending during the 3 days it is being held. Imagine a riot in the streets but in a fun way. There is music on every corner and everything is wonderfully chaotic!

Back to the story and time for a status:

One very drunk bass player who just broke his bass in an attempt to put a battery in it for the pick-ups. No sound at all.

It’s pouring down and we are sitting under a Tarpaulin trying to save our gear.

Still haven’t found a sound guy.

Power is coming and going because of the weather. Water and electricity have never really been the best of friends.

The time was now 7 pm and the sun had returned. With help from Jens Erik brother Peter, we managed to make a quick sound check and played our very first show.

As chaotic as it may sound, it was the coolest show we have ever played. It’s something we will never forget. What a start.

Which track on the album do you hate the most?

Enter Sandman. So glad we sold that song!