Jamie Campbell Bower talks band life and upcoming EP release
Actor and musician Jamie Campbell Bower (young Gellert Grindelwald) and his band, the Darling Buds, did an interview with Hunger TV and talked about their humble band beginnings and where they want to take the band. Band members Jamie, Tristan, Dan, and Roland just got off tour with Scottish band Xcerts, and they are looking forward to releasing their EP as soon as possible. Roland says,
If you think about it, we still haven’t released anything, and we’re at a stage where we have fans messaging us every day asking for new material, and we want it to be the best that it can be.
Jamie and Tristan met when they were kids and lived near each other, and when Jamie moved away from his childhood home in 2008, he met Dan. Several years later, Tristan met Roland at a party, and with that fateful introduction, the band was born. The Darling Buds have four different members with four different opinions on music – something they say “adds a new layer, a little bit of spiciness” to their sound.
Their latest EP, still unnamed, has been recorded and is in the process of being mixed in Copenhagen. After just coming off tour, one of the things the band tries to balance well is partying and work. Roland says,
You have to find the balance. Of course it’s fun, and you try [to] be in bands because it is fun to do, but at the end of the day it’s a job.
But the music is where the focus really is at for these hardworking guys. They all got into music in different ways: Roland can play guitar, drums, and piano and has even worked as a songwriter; Dan used to work in the music industry as a manager; and Tristan first learned to play drums and then guitar as a child. Jamie’s parents were in the industry, which was how he was introduced to music. From there he learned to play the violin and guitar. He says,
[…] for me music was a way of letting go and saying all the things that I wanted to say that I couldn’t speak verbally. If I wanted to go and hit a drum I would, or thrash out on the guitar, and that was really important for me growing up. I don’t think I’d really be alive without it, in all honesty. It had to happen, and if it hadn’t I wouldn’t be here.
The boys proudly say that they think British rock is coming back, and they’re willing to wait until the fame comes to them instead of seeking it in the wrong ways, like they claim other bands are doing. They’re taking the slow rise to fame, one that keeps their values and their musical integrity intact. As Dan says, “There'[re] glimpses of rock coming back,” and the boys believe their fans will bring the Darling Buds to where it needs to be. Jamie adds on, “I honestly would say that we’re at the frontier of that pioneering, do[-]it[-]yourself movement.”
The Darling Buds plan to drop their EP before the end of the year, and depending on sales from the EP, the album should be released soon after.
The album is really up to the fans. If you want it, come and get it. Now we need to make sure that when we do do it, it’s done properly.
Read the full interview at Hunger TV.
Have you heard any of the Darling Bud’s music? What do you think? Tell us now below.
