Ran.For.Days

Being a fan of punk rock, I’ve never really taken to the new ‘emo’ scene. All I see is guys with trendy hair cuts with girls falling all over them, sobbing into a microphone.

Some of us may not like it, but you cant seem escape emo bands, with the likes of ‘Funeral For A Friend’ becoming one of the fastest growing bands in not only the welsh, but British alternative scene.

On Thursday the 4th of March I carried out my weekly trip to the Bridgend Tollhouse to check out some local bands, and what should I find? Emo kids… everywhere.

Feeling disappointed, I sat down and awaited an evening of crying boys in stripy scarves.
Whilst finishing my second pick-me-up pint, my ears pricked up and my eyebrows rose. There were a band on stage, an emo band, and they weren’t half bad.

I walked to the front of the stage and proceeded to take some pictures, listening in amazement to the voice of Tim Lawrence.

‘Ran For Days’ are from Kent, and after being together with their current line up for 6 months, they have recorded the exhilarating demo ‘How to Draw and Paint’ and supported the likes of our very own local sensation ‘Midasuno’, Merthyr Tydfil’s ‘Opium’ and ‘Days in December’ to name but a few.

I had the chance to talk to vocalist Tim Lawrence after the show and asked him a few questions about the band.

Who would you say are the bands influences?
We have all grown up listening to all sorts of music so it is quite hard to think of direct influences,
But I suppose we draw main influence from bands like At The Drive In, Glassjaw, The Mars Volta, Faith No More etc..

What is the best venue you have played?
The Hackney Ocean, in Hackney, London

Who are your favorite bands that you have played with?
Right time to name drop...
Basically we have made shit loads of friends, bands like, opium, through silence, one word answer, Days in December, Jairus. Oh and make her cry

Who would be your ideal band to play/tour with?
At The Drive In, but that will never happen now so I’d have to say The Mars Volta or Sparta

How are you finding the touring?
We love touring. Everything is so easy on tour, plus you get to hang out and meet loads of new friends so what more could you really ask for? Cut the easy bit, ‘because its not easy at all

Do you miss anyone back home whilst being away? Family, Friends, Girlfriends?
Yeah we miss our girlfriends, but most of our friends we see on the road anyway so it is always exciting to go to the next place.

What would you say is your biggest success to date?
I Dunno, ask us that in a year!

What are the bands plans for the future?
Basically we are touring again in May to promote our next CD and then as of August were gunna be heading to the mainland to hit Europe. We are talking to some people over in Holland and France about doing with Green Lizard (Sony). But yeah were gonna carry on recording and writing and touring. We have also just entered talks with visible Underground for management

And finally, what advice would you give to bands trying to break out of the local scene?
Don’t bother with it (the local scene). We started out by playing our first gig in Leicester then we moved straight on to Wales. And then didn’t play a local show till at least 6 months in.
We basically had loads of people giving us shit for doing what we wanted to do. So we decided that wed play around the country from the start. So many bands try and break the "local" area first, my advice is, get a van, and travel, play every venue you can get yr hands on and keep at it.


‘Ran For Days’ Are clearly a band who love what they do, making friends everywhere they go and converting even the most anti-emo of us in to fans.

I will be catching up with the band again on the 27thth of March in The Kings Head, Aberdare with Knee-high and ‘Forever and A Day.’ They will be returning to The Tollhouse on May the 13th where I will carry out a follow up interview with the whole band to see how they are getting on. If you get a chance, come down and witness this great band for yourself, they’re gunna make emo cool again.
- Soundscene Fanzine