We caught up with Carousel Kings in London on their U.K. Spring headliner with Home Wrecked to talk all things tour, music, and England!
How’s the UK?
Collective: Amazing!
Will: Love it, everyone’s nice, we haven’t met a mean person yet I don’t think.
Danny: We’ve toured a lot of places and this is definitely one of the most beautiful places we’ve been, especially Scotland.
Are the shows different in the U.K. VS. the U.S.? Has there been a decent following over here?
Cody: I see similarities but I also see differences.
Danny: I see the differences as we’re new here. All the kids that are coming to the shows, they’re taking it all in for the first time. They’re just kinda standing back in the crowd and just watching. Except for one or 2 of the shows in Scotland, but we experienced both. The kids are cool and very nice.
Cody: We got a bunch of messages before we got over here, so people at least know us over here.
Will: I think I’ve seen people at every show singing along that know the words.
Dave: There’s always that handful of kids that know us but I think for the most part we’re pretty brand new over here.
What songs have gotten the best reaction over here?
Dave: Probably “Bad Habit”, I see people singing along.
Cody: “Bad Habit” and “Grey Goose”. A lot of people have been messaging us to play songs off of our previous album “Unity”, it’s kind of a cool little mix. They come out to the shows and they’re die hard fans who have been listening since the beginning so it’s like a throw down.
Will: All of our newer stuff is getting a little more rocky, the older songs have a pop-punk feel. We’re not 18 anymore, but it’s still cool to throw down for a couple of songs.
Are you playing a decent amount of older/newer stuff?
Danny: I feel like it’s a pretty good split in the setlist.
Favorite song to play live?
Clint/Cody: It used to be “Sweet Child Of Mine” but now it’s Avenged Sevenfold.
Danny: Some nights I’m pumped to play “Grey Goose”, other nights, “Punch Drunk”. I like playing “Here, Now, Forever”, it’s a different vibe.
Will: Every song is a different vibe; you have your favorite part, and a different reason for playing it.
Dave: We start the set off with Headphones, which is a pretty cool pop-punk banger and people seem to know it here so that’s pretty cool. End with the “Grey Goose” Banger.
Will: And then a bunch of bangers in between
Dave: My favorite thing to do on stage is just be random as hell, throw in Jessie’s Girl, sometimes Sweet Child O’ Mine. Or if somebody just yells something random and we can play it, I think that’s really fun.
Seeing as you guys have played half of Warped tour 2016 and 2017, how do you feel playing Warped Tour changed/ helped your career moving forward?
Dave: I think Warped Tour helped us as much as Victory has. We all worked our asses off and dressed up as Kings, and I feel like we rounded up a lot of new fans that didn’t even know who we were so Warped Tour was really cool.
Danny: I feel like it changed how we perform on stage. You get a really short amount of time, you can’t take up anybody elses time, so you’ve gotta get your stuff on there, play a great show, get off. It just taught us a lot more about professionalism and respecting other bands that were on the tour too.
Will: I think Warped makes every other tour seem pretty easy. It’s very long, hectic; it’s a stressful tour.
Cody: You’re in band mode 24/7, even if you don’t sleep the night before, which barely ever happens.
Will: You’re there 7am until 9-10pm every day in the sun and you’re sweaty.
Dave: You don’t have AC and it’s over 100 degrees on 10 hour drives; that’s fun too. We did that our first Warped Tour.
Danny: 2017, that was a good time. We had a good time, Warped Tour’s awesome.
Favorite tour memory?
Will: We left Dieter, our photographer, at a Sheetz once.
Cody: He (Dieter) left his phone in the van too. We had a sprinter and all the bunks were in the back so if you were driving you couldn’t see anyone. I didn’t think anyone get out and I just took off.
Will: Now that’s an inside joke whenever we get in the van, even if Dieter’s not on tour, it’s like ‘where’s Dieter?’
Danny: Warped Tour has a lot of cool tour memories, hanging out with all the bands. The Ice Nine Kills Tour was also a lot of fun.
Dave: It’s cool playing with different genres of music and picking out songs that will be a part of that.
Carousel Kings is taking time off at home to re-group and begin working on their Sophomore album. Be sure to keep an eye on their socials and catch them playing the Scranton, PA date of the last ever Vans Warped Tour!