Music

Rebecca Clark / 12 June 2018

Interview

Interview: Why Don’t We ahead of their 2018 dates

The band talk touring, secret handshakes and new album ahead of their October tour.

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Hot off their biggest European tour to date, Why Don’t We have announced brand new dates in the UK and Ireland for later this year.

The band will return to play huge dates in Dublin, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Newport and London in October.

The newest shows follow on from the American boyband’s recent sold-out UK dates which included London’s Shepherds Bush Empire.

The full list of Why Don’t We October dates are listed below:

12 October 2018 – Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin
13 October 2018 – Waterfront Hall, Belfast
21 October 2018 – O2 Institute, Birmingham
22 October 2018 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
24 October 2018 – Newport Centre, Wales
25 October 2018 – Eventim Apollo, London

We caught up with Jonah Marais, Corbyn Besson, Daniel Seavey, Jack Avery and Zach Herron to chat all things touring, their fans (the Limelights), secret handshakes and who their dream support act would be… it’s not who you’d think.

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You’ve just finished the European leg of the Invitation tour – how was it?

Daniel: Yeah, we just had the last show of the tour…
Corbyn: Well of the European tour… it will continue in Asia in August, but we’ve just finished the European leg of it, which is amazing. It was pretty insane to see all the fans coming out in places we’ve never even travelled to before.

Are you excited to return to the UK again in October?

Jack: Oh boy, oh boy, Yes!
Zach: Over the moon excited!
Daniel: Oh yeah. We’re playing some bigger venues next time we come. I’m excited.
Jack: It’ll be good.

What can we expect from the shows?

Corbyn: Well… we’re definitely going to sing for almost the whole show, and we’re going to sing our songs. Possibly some new songs.
Jack: Possibly A LOT of new songs. But we can’t give away too much.
Corbyn: Production will be even crazier, that’ll be fun – bigger venues mean bigger production and loud fans, that’s what we learnt from this tour. The fans are so loud here, and we love it.

What’s next for the band? Are you working on new music?

Daniel: Yeah! What’s next? I mean there’s always something next for us – we have been working on music. Our debut album is supposed to come out…
Others: Wait, wait…
Daniel: …Sometime this year. It’ll come out at the right time. It’ll come out one day, but we’ve gotten some of the songs finished y’know and we’re really, really excited. We’re putting our heart and soul into this album and y’know sure trying to make it perfect.

Do you have any preshow rituals?

Jack: We have this band kinda handshake that we came up with literally the first show we ever did and we’ve kept it as a ritual where we all have to do the exact handshake with each other right before we go on stage for good luck.
Zach: And we all do 10,000 push-ups together right before, so we just get extra like, really really buff right before we go on. [Laughs]

10,000?

Jonah: [Laughs] 10,000 believe it or not. Jack does 11,000
Zach: Just 10.
Jonah: Zach just does 10, without the thousand.

What’s your favourite song to play live, or song that gets the crowd going?

Daniel: Up until now it’s been Trust Fund Baby. The crowd just goes crazy.
Corbyn: We came out with a new song too, just a few days ago, and we didn’t perform it on the last two shows of the European tour because it just came out and we didn’t want other fans to feel it’d been missed out on other shows. We didn’t perform it but we ended up just playing it through the aux chord right before we went on and they sang that song so loud, even though we’d only announced a day or two. They sang it so loud. Every word. I don’t even know how they learnt the words that fast.
Daniel: Louder than a jack hammer.
Zach: Louder than a nuclear explosion.

Who would be your ideal support act?

Corbyn: Our favourite support act would probably be…
Jack: Whoever sang Cotton Eyed Joe… Can we open-up our show with Cotton Eyed Joe? [sings Cotton Eyed Joe chorus]
Daniel: Or we could do it together like a collab?
Jack: Or DJ Fish.

Who would you love to open for?

Daniel: Dead or alive? Is there a requirement…
Corbyn: I would love to open up for The Beatles. Also, maybe like Tom Cruise.
Jonah: Or Michael Jackson.

What do you look forward to most about going on tour?

All: The fans!
Zach: The fans for sure.
Jonah: I think there are like three big ones;  there’s travelling the world and seeing the different cultures and cities, performing on stage is another one, and then just meeting the fans. Yeah meeting the fans is the best.
Daniel: I like the presents the fans give us. They give us really nice presents
Corbyn: One girl brought us an acre of the moon and Mars – that was pretty crazy. A lot of fans are really, really good artists, so they’ll draw us and paint us and stuff.
Jonah: A girl wrote me a 100-page book the other day. Like hand wrote it.
Daniel: Oh my best gift ever? This girl got me like twenty pairs of underwear, and I’m telling you it’s the most amazing thing you can receive.
Corbyn: That is currency right there. I also like how you can teleport from one city to another just by falling asleep. It feels like you teleport, futuristic.

Is there anything you want to add?

Daniel: One; a big thank you to all the Limelights out there for letting us live our dream. Two; remember to take your vitamins and stay hydrated. Number three; get up and get outside for at least sixty minutes a day. Also… play Manhunt with your friends – it’s fun – oh and don’t drink hose water. That’s it I swear.

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The full list of Why Don’t We October dates are listed below:

12 October 2018 – Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin
13 October 2018 – Waterfront Hall, Belfast
21 October 2018 – O2 Institute, Birmingham
22 October 2018 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
24 October 2018 – Newport Centre, Wales
25 October 2018 – Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, London

Tickets will be available on presale from 09:00 on Wednesday 13 June 2018 and through general on sale from 09:00 on Friday 15 June 2018 via Ticketmaster.co.uk