We interviewed Australian pop punk band With Confidence to discuss their latest E.P., Green Day and their upcoming U.K. tour.

Interview by Jane Howkins. 

You recently contributed a song to a three track E.P. called Not Your American Idiots. What can you tell us about that? We hear it originated on a Kerrang! Compilation album?

Kerrang! reached out to us about contributing a song and we all grew up on Green Day so it was an obvious choice for us to do it. It was a fun challenge to put our own spin on the song too.

 The other two bands featured on the E.P. are Milk Teeth and ROAM. Were you fans of those bands before the collaboration? Why do you think your three songs were picked out of the bunch for the E.P?

We love both of those bands, in fact we’ve toured with ROAM on 4 different continents. Clearly our three songs were superior to everything else’s in all of music’s recorded history…

Actually it was because the E.P. was a Hopeless Records release and the three bands on it are the only three from the Kerrang! compilation to be on said record label.

 Are Green Day a band that you grew up listening to, and if so, did they have a big impact on you?

Anyone in a pop punk band would be lying if they said Green Day didn’t influence them in some way. They’re one of the greatest bands of modern times and as a kid hearing American Idiot for the first time, that was one of the defining moments I was sure I needed to be in a band.

 What other bands/artists influenced you as a band, and who have you been listening to recently?

The first band that really resonated with me was Blink 182, they made me want to pick up the guitar and that progressed into discovering bands like Sum 41 then Motion City Soundtrack, and things like that. As a band our influence is so eclectic I don’t even know where to start. Recently I’ve fallen in love with Creeper, I think they have the potential to be the next My Chemical Romance.

There’s obviously a political message to the E.P. and your song interpretations. Is that something you’re conscious of at the moment, and what do you make of the current situation in the U.K. and the U.S.A?

I don’t want to pretend I’m extremely educated on the current political climate but I will say all of us as a band affiliate with a left wing political view and as for the current situation in the U.S.A, my views can be summed up by quoting a Frank Turner lyric “We can’t spend the next four years in a safe space, I’m gonna spend the next four years getting outraged”.

 You released your début album Better Weather last Summer. Do you have any plans to release any more material soon?

We’re still very heavily in the middle of the Better Weather touring cycle so it’ll be a while before any new stuff comes out, but we have been writing and working on new songs that we’re stoked with. We’re gonna continue writing both on and off tour, hopefully aiming to record our sophomore album later this year.

 You released a few singles last year, including one titled Voldemort. Is it safe to say that you’re Harry Potter fans, and can we expect anymore Harry Potter themed songs?

Our singer Jayden is responsible for that song, he’s a Harry Potter fan and used the Voldemort name as a metaphor for depression and mental illness. If we named another song after a Harry Potter character, I’d quit the band.

You’re going on across the U.K. and Europe soon with Broadside, Safe To Say, and Milestones. How is it touring with those guys, and have there been any crazy tour shenanigans going on? How does touring over here differ from in your native Australia?

We’re still currently a week out from the tour but we did Warped Tour with both Broadside and Safe To Say last year. We were already fans of their work and ended up instantly becoming friends with all of them, so it made perfect sense when we were trying to choose support bands for this tour to bring them over to play with us. Last time we toured in the U.K. was with As It Is and it was an awesome experience. The shows themselves were pretty much the same as back home – enthusiastic crowds with high energy.

 Why do you think people should come and see you perform live, and what can people expect from a With Confidence gig?

We pride ourselves on putting on the best show we can. We get a little wild and have a whole lot of fun. People can expect to have a spiritual awakening, potentially meet their soul mate, and maybe wake up with a suspicious rash the next day.

 Any last words for the fans?

Kumquat.