Falling into Days Difference

Just one listen to their singles Are You Happy and Falling Into You, there is little doubt that Days Difference is going to be huge!  They’ve already made an impact on Myspace, are signed to Universal/Motown Records, and have appeared in the Hannah Montana movie as her backup band.  Their self-titled full length is now available on Itunes, featuring ten infectious tracks that are destined to make them famous.   We recently spoke to lead vocalist Jeremy Smith to find out more about this amazing act.  Check them out now and catch a rising star in the making…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Days Difference, and how long the band has been together.
My name is Jeremy William Smith – I play piano and I sing for the band – and we’ve been together since May of 2004.

Where is your band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
We’re based in Virginia Beach, VA and the local music scene here is pretty non-existent. Back on high school we had somewhat of a scene but it’s a military town so stuff just changes a lot. As far as a band kind of scene, it really just isn’t happening here. There is a lot of music and artists but as far as like having great places to go and see local bands, it just doesn’t really happen.

Prior to Days Difference, were you involved with any other bands?
My brother and I have played in a couple of bands together, but nothing like this where it was as organized as Days Difference. But I know that the other guys in the band, Jeremiah and Micah – they played in a band called Disarranged – it was before we got together. That was basically 7 or 8 guitarists all in one room, playing together – ridiculous!

Are You Happy is a pretty terrific radio ready song. What inspired you to write the lyrics for that song?
I wrote that song with Jimmy Harry and that song – it was one of those songs where we just sat down. I met him – and it’s always kind of awkward when you meet a songwriter for the first time. You sit down – talk awkwardly and then be like, “Okay, let’s write a song!” But we just sat down and just started writing, and that’s exactly what became of it. The Are You Happy idea – is basically the idea of you’re with somebody but you still want to be with the person that you were with – and that’s the inspiration behind that.

What was it like doing the Are You Happy video? And did you like being hoisted up in the air like that?
It was so much fun. I loved that! I had a blast! We did that for about an hour having me in the harness and then they were like, “We gotta take you down” cuz certain parts of me were starting to get numb. But I could of done that for another hour or two. I loved that – it was so much fun. We had a great director who really had a good vision for the project. It was nice to work with somebody like that who actually knew what they were doing where you could just perform and try to give the best take possible – and they took care of everything else.

Has that video seen any airplay, like on MTV?
We haven’t gotten any play on MTV. We get random play like in malls and food courts and stuff. People tell us all the time – “I saw your video at this food court” or in a store like Hollister. We were on Video On Demand as well, but it hasn’t gotten anything on MTV.

Pick two other songs on your self-titled CD and tell me what inspired you to write the lyrics…
Falling Into You is one of my favorite songs we wrote for the album – and that was a song about falling in love – and when we sat down to write the lyrics we were like, “the lyrics have to be something that will make your girlfriend or whatever say Awww!” So that was kind of like the mentality with that one – it’s a sweet love song, yet at the same time it’s really creative and not contrived. And then Radio Song is another one that I just love lyrically. It’s a song about kind of being in a band and how that can really consume your life and can affect your relationships – sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way.

What is it like working with your brother in a band and have you two always gotten along?
I love working with my brother. He and I are like best friends. Of course, as all brothers do, we have really petty arguments and disagreements sometimes. He can get under my skin like no one else. But he’s incredible and I just love having him in the band with me. I feel like I’m not as close to anybody as I am to him.

How do you feel about the prospect of appearing in a bunch of teen magazines?
I really don’t mind it. I think our record doesn’t exactly have a teen sound, but we really do appeal to younger girls. And I feel like rather than shooing that away, we should embrace it. I really don’t mind it – I think that any press is good press in a magazine like that. We had a short scene in the Hannah Montana movie, so a lot of teen press came from that, and it was all good. We got some incredible fans from that and it’s extended our fan base.

What was the experience like working on the Hannah Montana movie and what was Miley Cyrus like?
That was a blast. We got this random casting call for it a couple of weeks before the movie was supposed to be shot. We sent in a video of us and they loved it. We flew out to LA the next week and shot the film and it was just incredible! Miley Cyrus was really sweet and down to earth. She’s totally normal and not what you’d expect from someone that’s experienced a lot of success. She was just really, really sweet and really kind. Everyone in the cast was great. It was a really, really cool experience!

Do you ever get recognized as one of the guys that played in that Hannah Montana movie?
Occasionally, but our part isn’t so huge that it’s a featured thing. We’re in a backup band in one of the scenes. People that know us will all the time tell us that they’ve seen us – that they didn’t know that we were in the movie but know who we are as a band. They go, “Oh man God, they’re in a Hannah Montana movie!” They freak out and it’s funny.

What was it like opening for Third Eye Blind and did you get to meet them?
That was an awesome concert! We didn’t get to meet them, but they were one of my favorite bands growing up when listening to the radio. So opening up for them was incredible! There were about 2000 people there at the show and it was so exciting to be able to share the stage with a band like that. And then getting to hear them play all their hits was just incredible.

Do you get nervous when you wind up playing for that amount of people?
I love it! I live for it! The bigger the crowd, the better. Sometimes I get a little nervous when there’s two people there and you think, “Oh my gosh, where did we go wrong?” We played for a bartender once, so you never know. But I love big crowds, because the energy you can really feed off of. Every crowd we’ve played so far that has been big has loved us.

And then the Jack’s Mannequin show – what was it like opening for them?
That was incredible! We actually got to meet the singer from Jack’s Mannequin. He was just so down to earth and so awesome – just a really, really cool guy. Again for someone who has experienced the success that he has, it was just awesome to see how down to earth he was and how open he was to talk to us. He treated us like we were on his level and it was awesome!

What was the experience like working with Tom Higgenson on Plain White T’s? I understand you wrote a song with him?
He and I have actually written 5-6 songs together now. That was awesome! I worked together with him back in April and it was originally supposed to be for our album. We wrote two songs and the song actually didn’t end up on our record – but his band loved it so much that they’re going to put it on their album – which is very exciting! It’s really cool! And we’ve gotten back together and written twice more after that and we went on tour with them. And that was a great experience – writing a song with the guy that had a number one hit in like ten countries (Hey There Delilah)! That was just crazy to me! I never would have thought two years ago that I’d be sitting there in a room with him writing a song. He is definitely an awesome person that is very, very nice and really cares about other people and helping them.

You’ve been out on the road and on a couple of tours. Was touring all you thought it would be?
So far it’s been great! We’re roughing it out. We’re in a van. It’s just the four of us driving around in a van and doing everything ourselves. So the part that we live for is being able to play a show and then meet the fans afterwards. But everything else in between is kind of a drag. I’m not really complaining – I love it but after a while after driving every day and playing band and roadie at the same time is a little bit tough. But I absolutely love it. It’s everything I’ve ever hoped for. And I just can’t wait till we get to the point where we have a couple more people helping us and being able to take care of that stuff so we could just be artists and that’s it.

Being in a van is pretty terrible I hear. I’ve interviewed a few bands who do the entire Warped Tour in a van and it just sounds like a nightmare.
Oh yeah, it totally is! On the tour we did with Plain White T’s – and then we switched up and did it with All Time Low – we had like this RV we used. We had a couple of people that actually helped us on crew at that time – but the RV was from like 1985 and it broke down almost every day. You just never knew when it was going to start or when it wasn’t going to start. It was nice to have that to sleep in, but still totally like a nightmare!

Now that you are signed to Universal-Motown, and do you feel any pressure about being signed to a major label?
A little bit. Motown believes in us – they love us and they’ve been extremely supportive. And it’s a little scary to see how much investment they’ve put into us and we’re just hoping, “Man, I hope this pans out! I really hope!” I really care about if we do well for the label. A lot of bands hate big labels, but they put huge investments into bands. I hope that we’re successful so that they can make back the investment they put into us.

Which member of Days Difference is most likely to appear on a show like Dancing With The Stars?
I would be! I don’t know how to dance, but I’d love to learn. And if that ever came up, I would be the one to take it.

Do you have any strange or unusual Myspace stories that you could share?
Oh my gosh! One time I got this girl that was half stalking me on Myspace. She was sending me all these crazy messages on how she wanted to marry me and things like that. And I just wasn’t responding, so she started saying stuff like, “Well I have really skinny legs but I’m kind of flat so I’ll get implants for you so that you’ll marry me if you want me too.” Crazy stuff! And she finally stopped messaging me. And then on my birthday a couple of weeks later, I got 100 dollars in the mail from her. And that was just crazy to me! I of course took the money – it was awesome – but still really creepy!

Are you guys going to be playing in the Los Angeles area anytime soon?
We’re really working on getting on a tour now. Our single goes to radio on the 16th of February – and after that is when we’re really going to be getting tours. I think that March or April is when we’re going to be heading out to that area.

Do you have any messages for your fans out here in Los Angeles and/or for people reading this who might want to check out your music?
To the fans that we have, I just want to say thank you! They’ve been so incredible to us and we appreciate all the support and all the messages and comments they’ve sent us on Myspace and Facebook – and the fan mail that we’ve gotten – we really appreciate that! And anybody that is checking us out for the first time – I hope that you like it!

Days Difference are:

Jeremy Smith: Lead Vocals and Piano
Jonathan Smith: Vocals and Drums
Jeremiah Ricks: Vocals and Guitar
Micah Ricks: Bass

(Interview by Kenneth Morton)

Days Difference on Myspace