INTERVIEW WITH SICK-DAYS!
What made you start music?
A feeling of inadequacy, kunrequited love, sickness, instability, a feeling of wearing out - something deep within that can no longer stay there and wants to come out
How and when did you guys get together¿
At the beginning, Sick-Days was a four-piece. We had a second guitarist and a different drummer — though before that, there was an even earlier version of the band that included a keyboard player. That lineup only lasted a few rehearsals before we realised it didn’t quite fit the sound we were going for.
We started performing as a four-piece around November 2022 and kept that lineup until March 2023, when two members left to focus on other projects and life commitments. After that, Josh (bass) and I kept writing and recording new material, performing with session drummers from March 2024 onwards.
Toward the end of 2024, we released three singles. One of them, On Me, actually reached James (our current drummer) through a reel on Instagram. He followed us, we got in touch, asked if he’d like to have a jam — and the rest is history. Love at first sight. Josh and I have stuck together since the very beginning... old days!
What are your main musical and non musical influences through making music?
- Sick-Days is a band soaked in an alternative-rock blend, steeped in grunge noise, and diffused with the dizzy haze of shoegaze. Their vocals, gritty and raw, cut through acid guitar distortion, punchy-driven drum beats, and haunting bass lines. Drawing inspiration from bands like Verdena, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Foo Fighters, Deftones and Alice In Chains. Sick-Days blends the angst of the '90s with a modern edge.
I’d love to know a story of one of one of your songs you’d like to share!
One song that has an interesting story is Come Il Mare (which means Like the Sea). I had the idea for the intro, the verse, and some Italian lyrics, but I wasn’t sure about writing a song in Italian — I thought it wouldn’t make much sense if the people we play to couldn’t understand it.
I mentioned this to James, and he just said, “You should write it in Italian, why not, man?” So I did. I let go of that doubt and finished the song the next day — and it was really fun. I’d been holding myself back for all the wrong reasons. If I hadn’t listened to him, it probably would’ve stayed as another unfinished file sitting on my desktop.
I grew up listening to English and American music without really understanding the lyrics, yet that’s where my passion for music was born. There’s something beautiful about the mystery of 'not understanding'. We're often so afraid of it. But sometimes, artistically speaking, intuition is already there so, thinking, is secondary… just like questioning yourself wether you should write an italian song or not.