Days Like Stars

Once described as "a sprawling middle ground between discord and melody", Days Like Stars' music is basically a combination of emotional intensity and anthemic hooks. This spacious yet driving sound has been a spectacle to witness on the many stages they have graced over the last few years. Their influences include Death Cab For Cutie, Something For Kate, Motorace, and Bluebottle Kiss just to name a few. Billy, Toby, Andrew, and Adrian have been playing together for 5 years but are all still 21 years of age. They first gained attention by winning the school category of the MusicOz awards in Australia and also scored a top 5 placing in the APRA songwriters award category. Since then they’ve signed with Sydney indie label Risky Records, released their Debut EP “Sweet, Raging Battles” through MGM and have almost finished work on their second EP – produced by Luke Hannigan of Lo-Tel. This has all occurred between consistent gigging at most of Sydney’s premier music venues which, have included supports of Thirsty Merc, Bluebottle Kiss, Neon, The Mess Hall, and Sarah McLeod (Superjesus).
‘Sweet Raging Battles’ marks Days Like Stars debut release of climatic rock. Ask them to describe the music though and you’ll probably get told it’s velvet rock, a term the band made up when they got sick of people asking them what kind of music they play. And, as the band’s drummer Andrew Rose has found, most people just smile and nod! “We just treat it as a joke! We tell people we do velvet rock and they look at us like they know what that means, like they’ve heard it before!” The band’s name is itself another meaningless phrase, chosen because the words together somehow manage to sound like the music. That’s dynamic, bright and shimmering. Still all just twenty-one years old the foursome – Billy Coleman (vocals and guitars), Toby Shain (bass, keyboards and backing vocals), Adrian Sheather (lead guitar) and Andrew Rose (drummer and backing vocals) – all met through school. And it was music at first sight, as Andrew recalls: “We got together a few times and it just clicked. Once we all got in a room and played we just looked at each other and said, right I can play music with you guys better than anyone else I’ve ever played music with before. We are the only guys we’ve ever played in a band with.” Whilst most modern acts ritually recite the likes of The Beatles and The Stones as their influences, Days Like Stars call themselves musical trainspotters and are more inspired by what’s going on around them. “We idolise a lot of bands and as a group I think we focus more on bands that are doing stuff now,” Andrew explains. “We’ll hear a song tomorrow that’ll make us write a song the next day.” ‘Sweet Raging Battles’ was recorded at Sony Music Studios in Sydney and at Risky Studios, with Risky Records Stephen Rae on production duties and was mixed at Mangrove Studios. Its five tracks are a snapshot in time and reflect the questions and anxieties experienced by us all in a candid and examining manner. As Toby puts it: “The songs are all about defining yourself because that’s kind of what was happening at the time when we were writing them. It’s a very accessible record and I think a lot of different types of people will be able to get into it.” And the band’s approach should help with that. As Andrew explains: “We just want to be honest, to be ourselves and not have to put on an image to impress people.” With their music evolving with the band themselves this is a great introduction to their melodic songs and promises much, for, as Andrew points out: “We want to mature and we don’t want to stop changing. We want to change every record and we want to grow. We’re so young, we can’t help it!”