EMQ’s With Day Of The Jackal
EMQ’s With Day Of The Jackal
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with UK Rockers, Day Of The Jackal. Huge thanks to their drummer, Rich, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My name is Rich, I play drums in Day of the Jackal. We formed in 2015 – but I had played in a band with Steve and Rich Maclachlan ten years previously called Snakeshooter. I’d answered an advert in a music shop to join a hard rock band in Leeds and played with them for a while- gigging but no recording. I moved to London for a decade, came back and we reformed with Andy Overfield joining as vocalist/guitarist.
After forming as Day of the Jackal, we started writing and gigging and we are now on album number two!
How did you come up with your band name?
We were looking for something memorable and classic-sounding. Our sound is pretty retro – we are not reinventing the wheel and as we are all cinema fans, we looked at film titles from the classic rock era; latest 60s to early 80s. Day of the Jackal stood out, and it was a film I had watched decades earlier. And no, none of us have ever read the book!
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from Leeds, West Yorkshire in England, UK.
I have no real idea what the metal scene is like here, so if there is one, we are not really a part of it. There are some good doom metal bands (Iron Void, Arkham Witch, Godthrymm) in Yorkshire, and some great metal bands of all types and sizes (Trivax, Sellsword, Malevolence, Asomvel etc) BUT in Leeds the live music scene is cliquey and tough to get into. Leeds City Council seem determined to close down all venues and stop all car/van traffic in the centre of the city, so finding venues to play is difficult. It’s a crazy situation, as Leeds is the 4th biggest city in the UK.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Our second album is: “One More Shot”. Our latest single is called ‘Maria’ and is available to stream everywhere.
Who have been your greatest influences?
As a band, Guns N Roses, early Aerosmith, AC/DC, Motorhead, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, Queen.
Speaking as a drummer, Tommy Aldridge, Cozy Powell, John Bonham, Les Binks, Scott Travis, Brian Downey, Vinnie Paul, Vinny Appice, Bill Ward, Nicko McBrain, Igor Cavalera, Dave Lombardo, Gene Hoglan, Billy Cobham and, yes, Lars Ulrich.
What first got you into music?
I first realised I liked music with heavy guitars when I heard Queen and Status Quo. I remember hearing Nuno Bettencourt playing guitar for Extreme and being impressed… but when I heard the Black Album by Metallica in 1991, everything changed. From there, I got into metal and things got heavier and heavier. I became obsessed with it and have been ever since.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Having some guest lead guitar from Slash would be incredible.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Wacken in Germany. The biggest and most popular metal festival in the world. It covers all genres, so we could fit in and hopefully gain a lot more fans.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
The fact that any fans want to listen to our music at all is a weird gift in itself.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
We thank them for listening and we’d ask them to tell anyone into rock and metal to check us out.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Jimi Hendrix. Who knows what music he would have gone on to make?
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The best is creating something and having that outlet for creativity. The worst? Carrying all the gear for load in/load out.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
It’s impossible, but I would change streaming rates for artists. I’d rather artists were paid for their art than the money going into unethical investments, such as… something like military drone tech or big pharma or what have you.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums
“Killers” – Iron Maiden
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs or Downloads?
Vinyl for home and the whole listening experience. Downloads for portability. CDs are fantastic for clarity of sound and collecting. Cassettes were generally awful, but they were all we had for trading back in the day.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Any time that we have played Nighttrain in Bradford. Great venue. Good crowds.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Well, we are all part-time musicians- like almost everybody who isn’t in Iron Maiden or Metallica-sized bands. We all work day jobs/have careers.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
I could name pivotal figures in history, great thinkers, musicians, writers etc… but the reality is that I’m a loner, and I would prefer to be by myself.
What’s next for the band?
We want to push the album, One More Shot, play more and better gigs around the UK and hopefully go to Europe to play.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
https://dayofthejackal.bandcamp.com/releases
Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/DayoftheJackalBand/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dayofthejackalmusic/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DayoftheJackal
Streaming:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/day-of-the-jackal/1470921032
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4N4e8nzkh8gmhmW0MhWZkX
There’s a long-standing food-based debate here in the UK. And we’d like your help. So… A Jaffa cake – is it a cake or a biscuit? Discuss!
I would say the clue is in the name.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
We’d like to thank you for your interest in the band – and we would urge all rock fans to get out to gigs, support local bands and please stream or buy our new album, One More Shot.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
