Californian goth rockers New Years Day have plenty to be excited about lately. Not only have they just completed their first visit to Australia as part of Download Festival they are also about to release their fourth studio album Unbreakable. We were lucky enough to catch up with the bands vocalist Ash Costello to learn more about Unbreakable.

 

 

Firstly how was playing Download Festival in Australia for you?

 

Oh my gosh it was a dream come true, it was awesome.

 

It must of been surreal to see fans in Australia wearing New Years Day shirts and singing along?

 

I couldn’t believe it we sold out of our merch, it was crazy. We didn’t even think we would sell a few shirts let alone everything. What’s really surreal is the first day in Sydney we were just walking around the streets I was getting stopped by fans that weren’t even going to the festival to take photos with me. We had fans waiting at the airport too, it was very surreal.

 

Were there any bands you got to watch at Download that you really enjoyed?

 

Yes I got to watch two of my favourite bands for the first time Ghost and Code Orange.

 

I guess it would of been cool having Halestorm at the festival considering you’ve toured together a bit before?

 

Yeah we hadn’t seen them in a little while so seeing familiar faces was very sweet.

 

Did you get to do in any tourist things while in Australia?

 

We did get to see the Opera House while in Sydney but that was about it. We were just excited to be there.

 

Huge congrats on your new album Unbreakable it’s awesome. You must be proud of how it turned out?

 

Thank you so much. It’s crazy because we’ve been sitting on this album for a year so it’s really awesome to hear people outside of our scene giving us their take on it.

 

Were there many songs that didn’t make it onto the album?

 

There were songs that didn’t make the cut, not because they were bad. Our label actually said we gave them the difficult task of choosing which ones would make it on the album because they were all really good. This means we just have more for next time.

 

This time around compared to other albums is there anything you wanted to do differently?

 

I just wanted to make things more fun, joyful and catchier. So we experimented with that.

 

Speaking of catchy a great track from the album is “Skeletons”. How did that one come about?

 

That one took a long time and changed a lot over the year. We kept going back and forth trying other things and at the end of the year we just went back to the original way. So after all that work we went right back to what we had originally written. That’s when I learned sometimes you shouldn’t overthink things. Sometimes it’s perfect just the way it happens.

 

 

I also really like the track “Break My Body”. Lyrically is there much of a story behind that song?

 

Ash Costello 

Thank you. The lyrics were actually written by Lzzy Hale. She is probably the most talented songwriter and musician I know personally.

 

There’s some pretty gnarly screaming in the track “Come For Me”. Did that take you many takes in the studio?

 

No I did it in one take. That particular scream for “Come For Me” we did as an experiment but the producer Mitchell Marlow liked how it sounded so we rolled with that.

 

 

What was it like doing the photo shoot for the Unbreakable album cover?

 

I always get these wild and crazy ideas. I did that with one of my buddies Mark and we just kind of experimented.

 

 

You hair is quite mind blowing it’s so cool and striking. To maintain that over time does it take a lot of effort?

 

You know over time the effort gets less and less because I can do it in my sleep now. I can do it with my eyes closed it’s very easy. I get stopped by strangers on the street and they ask is that hard to do? I’m like nope it’s so easy.

 

I love the cover you guys did of “Gangsta”. Was the video as fun to make as it looks?

 

Oh my gosh I had the most fun on that video ever. Any chance for me to dress up as Harley Quinn I am about.

 

 

Looking back on your time playing Warped Tour what was that experience like for you?

 

It was the hardest job I ever had in my life. It’s so hard, little sleep, little cleanliness, little food. But the pay off is everything that’s why bands do it over and over. I personally have done it seven times and even though I knew how hard it was I looked forward to it because you can really cut your teeth there. You can become a better band in all shapes and forms.

 

Lastly is there any chance you might come back to the land down under for a headline tour?

 

Well we really want to badly but are solidly booked until 2020 so hopefully then.

 

(interview by Christian Ross)