Club Drive is a four-member British band from Hertfordshire consisting of Aaron, Christian, Stephen and Tommy. They officially started their music career in 2016, and their first single “Dangerous” stand out in the hearts of their fans, and managed to attract the attention of Radio 1 BBC Introducing winning the title ‘Track Of The Week’.

The sound of their songs is extremely refreshing with a dose of pop / funk / rock elements, blending harmoniously and highlighting the band’s musical talent. In combination with their sold-out live performances – recently touring in UK with the Canadian rock band Marianas Trench – they have rightly won the title of one of the rising British bands that makes a difference.

Hence, Club Drive are here to introduce themselves to the Greek audience, revealing the beautiful and hidden story behind their song “Voyager”, the difficulties they have encountered on their career so far, but also their future plans.

Read what they answered in an exclusive interview with Soundarts.gr

Hello and thank you in advance for your time. I would like you first to describe in a few words who Club Drive are, so you can introduce yourself to the Greek audience.

Club Drive are a 4 piece Pop/Funk/Rock band from the UK. Think, Maroon 5 meets One Republic.

Recently you released the video clip for “Voyager”, a beautiful song with a strong meaning that now you have put into an image. What is the story behind this song?

Thank you, really glad you like it! The song idea came from a night out in our local town. We were playing around with a soft rugby ball that somebody had won (long story) – throwing it back and forth. There were two homeless guys watching from across the square, so we invited them to play too. It just sort of stuck in mind and made us realise how people take other people for granted and whether or not this is the case in Greece or not, but certainly in the UK most people will ignore or dismiss homeless people. We don’t imagine the song will make a huge impact on this by any means, but if at least one person stops and thinks, then it will have been worthwhile.

In a previous interview, you had mentioned that working on your songs is based on the collaboration of all of you. However, where do you get your inspiration from?

We draw inspiration from all sorts really – different things that have happened to the 4 of us – or things going on currently – things that annoy us usually. Musically we draw influence from a number of bands and genre’s, mostly from years ago, and musicians and artists that our parents introduced us to.

Which of the songs you have released so far is in the top of your playlist and you think is the one that represents you the most as a band?

Good Question! I think probably our next upcoming single, “International”. It has a little bit of everything that we’re about. Rocky riffy verses, funk driven pre-chοruses and a very poppy chorus! Keep an ear out!

You have just finished a full tour around UK supporting the Canadian rock band Marianas Trench. How was that experience?

In a word… Incredible! It was great to get around the UK and play to a new audience, we were so upset that we had to pass the opportunity to do the mainland European dates with the guys, but we will definitely be back soon and who knows, maybe we’ll get to come and play in Greece soon!

Since the beginning of your career and your fame that has grown a lot, what are the changes you have noticed in your everyday life?

The main thing, which sounds silly really, would be ‘time’. A lot of time goes into touring, song writing, promoting the band, interviews and all sorts (which we absolutely love), but it does mean we have a lot less time to see family & friends the busier we get.

You are a band that has been working together since 2012, but you made your official formation as Club Drive in 1/2/2016. Why 2016 and not earlier?

It just felt like the right time for change. Our music had progressed a lot from where we were, our image had taken a natural change to something different and we’d been locked away a long time writing new songs. So, we felt like it made sense to come back as something completely new and hit the ground running.

Did you face any major difficulties in your career until now? And did you have to take any hard decisions that could affect you?

Honestly, more than most bands should ever have to! It’s been a really difficult road to getting this far and a lot of things happened to us as a band and individuals during that time that meant it really could have been much easier to give up than carry on, on a number of occasions. We work with some fantastic people, which we’re very grateful for, but the majority of our time as a band has been ‘going it alone’ which can really take its toll at times. We were also very unfortunate and very saddened with the sudden passing of our last manager a couple of years ago. It was completely unexpected and it hit us all, understandably, very hard. But it also made us buck our ideas up and we learnt a lot in the months that followed.

Do you think -and according to your experience- is it difficult for new artists in the music industry to be distinguished and build up a career in the competitive environment of today?

Absolutely, like anything creative. It’s so hard to put your stamp on something and do something different to everybody else these days. We play music that the 4 of us enjoy and the fact that other people seem to enjoy it means a lot to us all. In terms of really making an impact on a global scale, that’s purely down to the listeners and whether people enjoy it enough to keep spreading the word around.

What would it be your advice to a new artist in this field? Do you think there is some kind of a secret for success or is there what we call ‘timing’ for that?

At the risk of sounding cliché, my best advice would be: “Don’t give up!” You will see 1,000’s of bands come and go for various reasons. But if you work really hard and you’re the last one still going, you’re going to achieve a certain level of success. Other than that: “Don’t be afraid to work hard.” It all rests on the songs and a little bit of luck. If your songs are good enough and they get into the right hands, you’ve got as much chance as anybody else. So, working relentlessly at all hours to promote the work you do will give you as good a chance as possible.

If you could choose any artist/band to sing with in your next live performance, who would you like to be with and why?

That’s a tough one as there are so many current artists out at the minute with amazing voices. It would be cool to have a female artist collaborate on a song or feature live, so maybe someone like Anne-Marie or Dua Lipa would be interesting.

Until today you have already won the hearts of many fans, you have released you debut EP “Dangerous” with songs that are extremely popular and you have toured all over the UK with great success. What are your next steps?

The next immediate steps will be to release more songs, take on the UK festival season and then tour as much as possible at the end of this year. From then on we would love to branch out and play some shows overseas, maybe record and release a full album and start showing people more of what we can do.

Is there anything else you would like to add or something to say to your fans?

A genuine: “Thank you!” As we said before, this all started just because we enjoy playing music – the fact that it’s even got us this far still feels insane – so to every person that’s bought a ticket to see us, streamed our song online or watched one of our videos, Thank you!

Interview/Translation: Eleni Kefallinou

Special Thanks to Anthony Giannaccini!