Exclusive: Don Broco launch album at Esquires

The Bedford alt-rockers, who headlined the Kerrang! tour in February and played on the main stage at the Reading and Leeds festival in 2013, release their second album, Automatic, on August 7 through record label Epic. And on the evening of the 6th, the band will be playing a special album launch show at Bedford Esquires.

Then, at exactly midnight, the foursome will be opening up the venue to sign copies of the album for anyone who would like to meet them and be the very first to get their hands on the album. The signing is for fans aged 16 and over, from midnight-2am on August 7 at Esquires. An album purchase is necessary for the signing, but the event won’t be ticketed and will be free for all.

The band said in a statement: “We wanted to do something special to mark the release of Automatic. Rather than just doing a show on release day, we loved the idea of playing a gig the night before so after the show we could open up the doors to people who couldn’t get a ticket. Then we can all count down to the very moment the album is officially released together.

“Bedford was the only place we wanted to do it, and Esquires in particular. We grew up in Bedford, all our first fans were from Bedford and it’s down to the support our hometown has given us over the years that we’ve been able to achieve what we have so far. As we played our first ever show at Esquires it had to be the venue we returned to to kick off Automatic with a bang.”

While some of the tracks were laid down in studios around the country, a number of the sounds on the album were made in Bedford.

The band said: “We wrote and worked on most of the songs at home and some of the stuff sounded so good we took the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach so a lot of parts ended up on the finished record.

“When we set out to write the record we were writing about anything and everything. It was only after we had the full body of songs that we realised there was a theme emerging and the word ‘Automatic’ really jumped off the page.

“A lot of the songs are about the pros and cons of doing exactly what you want to, taking those big risks in life.”

And while the band’s success has taken them around the world, their minds often return to incidents Bedford.

The band said: “We’ll never forget the time Rob first muscled his way into the band.

“Since we started out we’ve always practiced at the Music Centre on Tavistock Street and one day our old singer invited Rob along to hang out and bang the bongos while we got on with the rehearsal.

“Our old singer left pretty soon after that, but Rob was still there hanging out which is when we realised he was in the band.”

Don Broco formed in 2008 and comprise of Rob Damiani (lead vocals and electronics), Simon Delaney (guitar), Tom Doyle (bass) and Matt Donnelly (drums and vocals). A year after getting together, they appeared at the Download festival and soon won support slots with bands including Enter Shikari and We Are The Ocean. The band’s debut album, Priorities, was released in 2012, and they supported You Me At Six last year before headlining the Kerrang! tour in February this year.

But not much beats performing in their home town. The band said: “Whenever we’ve played back in Bedford in recent years it’s been crazy and we’ll be fresh off stage so no doubt will be buzzing.

“Come midnight it’ll be the the first place anywhere in the country you can get a physical copy of the album in your hands! It’ll be a fantastic moment for us and one we’ve been looking forward to since we finished recording in January. It will be a huge party atmosphere so we’re looking forward to hanging out with everyone.”

And they have a clear message for their Bedford fans.

“We’d like to thank everyone for being such legends. We’ve always felt that hometown support and we know from experience that not every band has that. It’s an amazing feeling when we shout out Bedford at Reading Festival or a London show and the crowd erupts. Please pick up a copy of Automatic and we’ll see you at Esquires!”