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Danny Interview
DANNY, WHAT COLOUR SHOULD TOUR BUSES BE?
Oh, I'm not bothered about the colour.
WHAT IF IT WAS PINK?
Yeah! It'd be great! I'd love to roll up backstage in a pink bus. One thing that's vital for a tour bus
is a games console. We're playing a lot of FIFA at the moment, it's a great X-Box game. If you get four player mode going,
it becomes quite epic. So an X-Box socket is vital. A nice, cool, comfortable tourbus is unbeatable. I absolutely love sitting
on the tour bus - but the absolute best thing about touring is being able to lie in until 4pm. That's the beauty of it - you
get up, do a gig, then go back to sleep. I love sleeping, so it fits in with my life quite well.
WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON WITH THE NEW ALBUM SLEEVE?
Do you not like it? (Sounds offended) It is a bit bonkers! I think it's really cool though. We sat down,
the four of us, and worked backwards from the name of 'Wonderland'. We'd just done a photoshoot for the album sleeve and they
were just pictures of us in a warehouse and were quite boring. They certainly didn't fit in with the title 'Wonderland'. We
looked like a ridiculous boyband! So we created our own wonderland for the sleeve. I think it works very well amd won't have
a word said against it!
DO YOU EVER PEEK OUT INTO THE AUDIENCE AND WATCH THEM AS THEY COME INTO THE ARENA?
Yes, we do that a lot - mainly to pick out the fit ones! And a lot of our fans are really very fit indeed.
WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD FAN BANNER?
Something quite sweet and nice is preferable - we've had quite enough of the filthy banners, thank you very
much!
WHAT'S THE BEST WAY OF GETTING BACKSTAGE IF YOU'RE A FAN?
It's difficult to give advice - we've got very good security! Maybe form a band and get on the support slot.
WHO GETS THE SWEATIEST ON STAGE?
It's definately either me or Tom. Thinking about it, Tom always sweats more than me and he goes red too.
I just get a minor flush to my cheeks.
IS THE MCFLY ON-THE-ROAD ROUTINE A BLIZZARD OF HILARIOUS JOKES AND PRANKS?
I did fart in Harry's face the other day, and Dougie lit all my bum hair on fire, which was a bit of a surprise,
I can tell you! I would not advise anybody reading this to try that at home!
HOW MANY TIMES DO YOUR PARENTS COME TO SEE YOU ON TOUR?
My mum's actually coming to every show. She might as well get her own tourbus! Or - even better - I'll give
her a bunk on the McFly tourbus and she can keep it tidy. The good thing about that is that she wouldn't hog the X-Box either,
because she's not very technically minded and can't even work her mobile phone! She'd be the perfect touring buddy.
WHICH FOODSTUFFS DO YOU ALWAYS DEMAND ON YOUR TOUR RIDER?
We ALWAYS ask for those little Hovis biscuits with cheese. Those are the best ones - whenever we get a box
of cheese biscuits they always go first. We're not fussy about the cheese though - just a nice lump of cheddar is fine. I'm
a simple man, with simple tastes, haha!
HOW DO AUDIENCES DIFFER AROUND THE COUNTRY?
They can differ quite a lot but they're all great. In places like Manchester and Liverpool they go quite
mental and in London there are sometimes the odd few groups of guys there going, 'Come on, impress us'.
WILL TOM'S PERFORMANCE OF SHE 'FALLS ASLEEP' BE THE POINT IN THE SHOW WHEN THE REST OF THE BAND
GO FOR A WEE?
Yes - and the great thing is that it's quite a long song, so you've actually got time to do loads of stuff
before you need to come back on again. The thing is that Tom will know what we're doing. He'll be on stage singing his sensitive
song, but in the back of his mind he'll be thinking, 'Danny's backstage in the toilet'. Ha!
COULD YOU, FROM 9AM UNTIL 3AM THE FOLLOWING MORNING, TALK US THROUGH THE TYPICAL DAY ON THE ROAD
WITH MCFLY?
It would be a pleasure. In the morning you get up, eat breakfast and clean your teeth. You have to do it
in that order or it gets messy. For breakfast, you eat a fry up, which must involve sausages. Then you get changed, do one
(?!?! - Ed), and grab some extra clothes if you're going to be out for a while. Then we get rushed onto the tourbus and straight
to the venue. Once we're there we soundcheck, just to make sure everything's working properly with the sound and then we eat
some more food. Eating food is a vital part of being on the road with McFly. Hopefully there's also time in between to meet
some competition winners backstage and have a chat with them about what they're all up to and then it's time for the show.
After the show it's straight back onto the bus, back to the hotel and time for a bit of a knees-up. Then the whole thing starts
all over again the next day!
LASTLY, HARRY WAS EXPLAINING THAT HIS NEW DRUM MANOEUVRES ARE GOING TO BE QUITE IMPRESSIVE THIS
TIME AROUND...
Oh, yeah, he's got some stupid thing that spins him around or something.
YOU'RE SOUNDING JEALOUS.
Jealous!?! No! I always upstage Harry anyway! Although that usually involves showing myself up in public,
haha!
Tom Interview
TOM, DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOUR FANS AS
THEY MAKE THEIR WAY HOME AFTER YOUR POP CONCERT?
Yes, I do: I hope you liked the show. If you did,
we'll see you on the next tour. If you didn't then we tried our best and if you don't like us any more then farewell you losers.
ONE OF YOUR BANDMATES HAS EXPLAINED THAT HE
PLANS TO GO BACKSTAGE DURING YOUR PERFORMNACE OF 'SHE FALLS ASLEEP' IN ORDER TO GO TO THE LOO AND DO SOME OTHER THINGS. IS
THIS FAIR?
That's exactly what they'll be doing, too. And I will
be thinking about them in the toilet when I'm singing the song. I mean the song's a pretty sad one - it's about a girl taking
her own life - but the thought of someone on the toilet is even sadder. It brings a tear to the eye.
IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU'VE BEEN EATING, USUALLY.
Well yes, exactly.
BLAGGING YOUR WAY BACKSTAGE IS VERY DIFFICULT.
IS THERE A SECURITY LOOPHOLE YOU CAN SHARE WITH READERS OF THE PROGRAMME?
They should just say that they're part of Danny's
family. Danny always has loads of family backstage - he's got a massive family anyway and then they bring along their friends
too and it's just impossible to keep track! So that's my advice - say you're in Danny's family. Of course the bouncer's next
question will be 'Where's your Access All Areas pass?', but by that point you're on your own, I'm afraid!
IS THERE A SECRET TO LOOKING LIKE ONE OF DANNY'S
FRIENDS?
Oh, you just have to look completely weird, that seems
to be the criteria, haha!
DO YOU STILL GET NERVOUS BEFORE YOU GO ON
STAGE?
I actually do - and I'm getting extra nervous about
this tour. It's because this is our first headlining arena tour amd I always get nervous before the big shows. It's strange
because a lot of singers say that they prefer big shows because you can't see the white's of people's eyes, but for me
it's the reverse. The good thing is that I get a huge buzz from doing big shows! I think, actually, after we played at
Live 8, the bigger shows with all seem a bit easier though!
YOU PLAYED AT LIVE 8 BUT POVERTY WAS NOT MADE
HISTORY. WOULD YOU LIKE TO APOLOGISE TO BOB GELDOF?
I'm sorry, Bob. I did my best and I believe it not
to be my fault. In all seriousness, it was such an honour to have been asked to play at that show. What really flattered me
afterwards was that what I said on stage - ''This is the most important show you'll ever see, and the most important show
we'll ever play' - was quoted in some of the newspapers back here in England. One paper said that I showed 'maturity
beyond my years' - haha! It was just something I made up on the spot. But thinking back to that day still sends shivers down
my spine, it was so great to be involved.
NOW YOU'VE GOT TWO ALBUMS OUT, WILL YOUR SET
BE PRECISELY TWICE AS LONG AS THE SET YOU PLAYED ON THE TOUR TO PROMOTE YOUR FIRST ALBUM?
No - not exactly twice as long. But it's great to
have more tracks to choose from this time around. It'll be funny when we're all eighty years old and we have 500 songs to
choose from, haha!
WHICH OF THE NEW ALBUM'S SONGS ARE YOU LOOKING
FORWARD TO PLAYING THE MOST?
I'm really looking forward to playing 'I Wanna Hold
You'. mainly because we've just shot the video for it and I think everyone will have seen it by the time we go out on tour.
It's a great video - there's a metal girl in it, and she melts. It's a bit like Terminator 2, and the bit with us in
it is just us performimng, so we don't have to do any of our rubbish acting again!
YOUR ACTING IN VIDEOS HASN'T EXACTLY BEEN
OSCAR-WINNING STUFF YET...
Wait until our film comes out! (Guffaws hysterically)
Then you'll see how bad our acting is, haha! And all we needed to do was play a band called McFly - we probably didn't even
make that convincing, haha!
OH DEAR, DANNY'S ALREADY DONE THIS - BUT WOULD
YOU FILL US IN ON THE AVERAGE ON-TOUR DAY FOR TOM FLETCHER?
Absolutely. Well I don't like getting up before midday
- so I'll get up after twelve and find out that, obviously, the hotel has finished serving breakfast for the day. So my first
task is to talk the hotel room service people into bringing me up something breakfasty. I'm not very picky because I only
tend to eat cereals for breakfast and maybe a blueberry muffin if they can stretch to it. After this I'll go on the internet
for a while, mess around doing some drawing and by that point it's time to go to the venue - which is where we eat again.
Then we do the show, get off stage and feel a bit ropey and sick on the tourbus on the way back to the hotel. Actually, last
tour I felt so bad on the bus that I was sick everywhere - not great in a confined space!
YOU'VE SAID IN THE PAST THAT TOURING IS A
GREAT TIME TO WRITE NEW SONGS - IS THAT YOUR PLAN THIS TIME AROUND?
Absolutely. I've actually written quite a few songs
already for the next album - I've got five songs! There are lots of unfinished songs and ideas, though, which I'll get working
on while I'm on tour.
CAN WE HAVE A SNEAK PREVIEW OF ONE OF THE
NEW SONGS, PLEASE?
You'll have to wait and see.
WE KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO SAY THAT.
Aha! I don't want to ruin the surprise now, do I?
LASTLY, A LEGAL QUERY. DO YOU STEAL SHAMPOO
FROM THE HOTEL ROOMS?
No! I hate hotel shampoo. I have very sensitive skin,
so I have to use my Johnson's Baby shampoo. I am a big baby.
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Dougie Interview
DOUGIE, SOME OF YOUR FANS WILL BE READING
THIS ON THE WAY HOME. WHAT'S YOUR MESSAGE FOR THEIR TRAIN JOURNEY?
Hello the fans! Er... I don't know what to say, I
don't have very much to say!
YOU NEVER DO DOUGIE! SOMETIMES YOU'RE LIKE
THE QUIETEST PERSON IN THE WORLD.
Yes, I am. I will just say whatever Harry says.
AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF ANYONE READING THIS
BEFORE THE SHOW AS THEY WAIT FOR YOU TO COME ON, WILL THERE BE A LULL ANYWHERE IN THE SET WHERE IT'S SAFE TO GO TO THE
LOO?
Yes - everyone can go and get a drink and freshen
up during my song! This is my official permission. The song will be performed with the rest of the band but it's actually
one I wrote when I was about 14 - it's never been released and it's a special performance just for the tour. I won't ruin
the surprise by revealing the name - but I will tell you that it used to be called 'Funny Feeling'. I will say no more!
YOU GO TO A LOT OF GIGS YOURSELF - WHAT DO
YOU LIKE TO SEE A BAND DOING ON STAGE?
A little bit of humour always helps - but
energy is a really important important thing, too.
WHAT ABOUT SOME SONGS?
Yes, songs are good when you see a band, of course!
But it's funny because sometimes even more important than the music is the atmosphere of everyone there - I mean I've been
to see one or two quite rubbish bands but I havn't wanted to leave because I've been having such fun just being in the audience.
All gigs are different, though, it's difficult to come up with rules for a good concert. Ooh - another thing I like is when
a band adds a little bit of another song into one of their own songs as an interlude.
WILL YOU ACTUALLY BE SAYING ANYTHING ON STAGE
DURING THIS TOUR?
I think I will actually be saying some stuff. Watch
out - and I apologise in advance if I offend anyone!
HOW MANY HAIRSTYLES DO YOU EXPECT TO BE 'ROCKING'
OVER THE COURSE OF THIS TOUR? EVERY TIME YOU APPEAR ON STAGE THESE DAYS YOUR BARNET SEEMS TO BE DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT...
Well, what can I say? I like change! I'd expect to
find two or three different styles during the tour.
AND WHO IS THE ARCHITECT OF THESE AMAZING
FOLLICLE ARRANGEMENTS?
Well, me mainly - I come up with the ideas, but obviously
I have no idea how to cut my hair so someone else always has to do the difficult bit. I really wouldn't trust myself with
my hair, haha! It's purple at the moment.
WASN'T
IT TULIP AT ONE STAGE?
That was AGES ago! And lots of people thought it was
purple, but it was tulip. This one is proper purple.
WHEN
YOU'RE ON STAGE, DO YOU EVER WISH THAT YOU WERE HARRY AND THAT YOU COULD JUST HAVE A BIT OF A SIT DOWN?
No, not at all - I'd find that really boring. I'd
hate it. I prefer standing up.
DO
YOU METICULOUSLY PREPARE YOUR STAGE OUTFITS, OR DO YOU JUST GO AROUND PICKING STUFF OFF THE FLOOR AND SNIFFING IT TO SEE WHICH
IS THE LEAST DIRTY?
It's not quite that bad, but I just wear whatever
I want to wear on the day. I don't really believe in stage outfits very much. You don't find sequinned silver jumpsuits on
the McFly tourbus, haha! Although it would be funny to come out dressed as the Bee Gees! Ha!
WHAT
ARE YOUR VIEWS ON HAVING LOADS OF PYROTECHNICS AND EXPLOSIONS ON STAGE?
I don't like going over the top - mainly because they
scare me! I wouldn't want to be soiling myself every night, that would just be embarrassing.
WHICH
SONGS FROM THE NEW ALBUM ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO PERFORMING ON TOUR?
'Too Close For Comfort', 'Ultraviolet', and 'The Ballad
Of Paul K'.
WHAT'S
THE BEST GIG YOU'VE EVER BEEN TO?
Green Day at the Milton Keynes Bowl was completely
epic - it was the first time I realised just how huge Green Day were. And I totally loved Blink-182 at Wembley the last time
they were there. It's just great to watch amazing, really accomplished performers on stage, you can take do much inspiration
from the way they do it.
FROM
A FAN'S POINT OF VIEW, IS THERE MORE TO CATCHING YOUR ATTENTION FROM THE STAGE THAN SIMPLY SPORTING A PAIR OF RABBIT EARS?
I prefer it when I look out into the crowd and the
people aren't just screaming 'DANNYYYYY!!!'. Haha! It's always nice when people sing along and really get into the music -
that's certainly what I do when I go to gigs, anyway.
HARRY
MENTIONED THAT YOU COVER YOUR EARS DURING HORROR FILMS. WHY NOT COVER YOUR EYES?
Well, it's the music that makes you jump, isn't it?
COULDN'T
YOU WATCH IT THROUGH A WINDOW?
Hang on, this is all taking place in a cinema. What
am I supposed to do? Take a portable window to the cinema with me? What a ridiculous idea!
IT'S
NOT RIDICULOUS - IT'S THE SORT OF IDEA THAT COULD MAKE YOU MILLIONS.
Perhaps. Maybe after McFly I could go into the portable
cinema windows industry...
Harry Interview
HARRY!
IT'S A WEEK BEFORE YOU GO ON TOUR - HOW ARE YOU?
It's going very well indeed. I'm on the tour bus right
now as it happens. It's very big and really quite luxurious compared with some of the buses we've been on in the past.
WHAT
ARE THE PROPERTIES OF A GOOD TOUR BUS?
Well, I look for good films - that's a must. The beds
need to be very comfortable too.
WHAT
SORT OF FILMS DO YOU DEMAND?
We bring some of our DVDs just in case of emergencies,
but you can usually rely on the bus driver to have an interesting collection. I'm not that fussy when it comes to films so
I can usually put up with whatever's on - scary films, particularly, go down well though. Lights off, DVD on... Tom gets really
scared but Dougie's the worst with scary films. When he gets scared he puts his fingers in his ears! I went to the cinema
with him the other day to see Skeleton Key and there he was, sat next to me, with his fingers in his ears. Unbelievable!
HOW
MUCH HAVE YOU BEEN REHEARSING?
We've done quite a bit - so you can imagine that we've
been pretty busy with both the single and album coming out and we seen to be doing a lot of promotion for those in between
the tour rehearsals. But the hard work has really been worth it and the good thing is that we've been gigging a bit at some
of the roadshows - that's been a great opportunity to get some of our new songs aired in public.
WERE
YOU NERVOUS ABOUT THE SECOND ALBUM COMING OUT?
I was more excited than nervous, but gradually as
more and more people I knew heard it before it was released I began to get feedback, and it was almost all positive. One of
the best ones was my brother, who's into quite heavy alternative music and wasn't a huge fan of the first album, who announced
that he really liked 'Wonderland'. That was a really good sign.
ON
THE LAST MCFLY TOUR YOU ROSE INTO THE AIR ON YOUR DRUMKIT. IT DIDN'T GO VERY HIGH, THOUGH. ARE YOU A GIRL?
Well I was on it and let me tell you it was pretty
high! On this tour my drum manoeuvres are a little bit more extreme. The plan is for my drumkit to do slightly more bizarre
things with every tour we do - so that by the time we're as old as the Rolling Stones I'm actually strapped to the back of
a rocket and fired into space during 'Five Colours In Her Hair'. That will be awesome.
IS
THERE ANYTHING IN THE STAGING OF THE TOUR THAT YOU WERN'T ALLOWED TO DO?
Nothing that's suitable for a family publication such
as this - but we did want to have lasers at one point, but were told we weren't allowed them. Apparently, it's illegal!
COLDPLAY
ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE LASERS!
Yes, they are. But they're Coldplay. They've probably
had their own special lasers built. I should look into the law and see if I can get some reforms in this lasers rule in time
for the next tour. Everyone likes a laser at a gig, don't they?
WILL
THERE AT LEAST BE EXPLOSIONS?
Yes. No. I'm not going to tell you because that would
ruin the surprise. But we have been talking about letting some huge bangers off behind Tom when he's doing 'She Falls Asleep'
just to scare him.
WHAT
DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING ON THE ROAD?
Seeing the different stage set-ups in all the different
venues is something I really love - that sounds a bit muso but I love the live aspect of it all. Relaxing and having a laugh
after the gigs is something I really enjoy.
ARE
YOU EVER CONCERNED, BEFORE YOU GO OUT ON STAGE THAT YOUR AUDIENCE MIGHT HAVE BEEN DISTRACTED ON THE WAY TO THE ARENA BY A
HUGE RUNAWAY ELEPHANT OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES AND MIGHT NOT HAVE TURNED UP AT ALL?
No, and if they did that I'd say that they were fools,
fools to themselves.
IS
IT DIFFICULT NOT TO CRY DURING THE SENSITIVE 'N' EMOTIONAL BALLAD BITS OF THE SET?
Well, you just try to keep it together, don't you?
But we've all really enjoyed rehearsing the acoustic part of the show. We're planning chandeliers overhead. You can't go wrong
with a chandelier, can you?
IMAGINE
YOU'RE ABOUT TO GO ON STAGE IN GLASGOW AND YOU REALISE THAT YOU'VE LEFT YOUR IRON ON BACK AT HOME. WHAT DO YOU DO?
Fortunately I never iron any of my clothes so I know
that I could never leave the iron on!
WHO
WATERS THE PLANTS WHILE YOU'RE AWAY?
Nobody, really - we just have a few weeds knocking
around outside the house and nobody looks after them. There's some nice grass in the garden though, but that doesn't need
cutting very often.
AND
WHAT IS THERE TO KEEP YOUR FANS' PARENTS AMUSED DURING THE SHOW?
We've got our version of 'My Generation' which I think
a lot of mums and dads will like - although we've always been quite lucky with parents in the past, they come up and say hello
afterwards.
FINALLY,
HOW DO YOU MAKE SURE YOU GIVE FANS THEIR MONEY'S WORTH?
We just put on a great show man!
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