Interviews

Published on October 13th, 2024 | by Andrew Bistak

ANDY DAY INTERVIEW (Andy and the Odd Socks Australian Tour 2025)

The amazing Andy Day and his equally awesome band (The Odd Socks) will be touring Australia in 2025 and we catch-up with Andy to talk music and a whole lot more!

Welcome to Impulse Gamer Andy! You’re bringing the band (Andy and the Odd Socks) to Australia – so what are you most looking forward to performing down under?

Personally, I just love Australia and I also love the audiences. When you guys come and see a show, you really go for it and that’s what I’m looking forward to.

Can you tell us about the show?

It’s a gig but it’s also a theatrical performance and there’s a lot in it for both the kids and the parents. There’s a small narrative that weaves in and out and we basically have to create an album in an hour and we need the help of the kids and audience to do that.

Andy’s mum makes an appearance, Whiff makes an appearance, so it’s a lot of fun. Whiff is doing the Roadie “thing” and not helping at all. The “bus” will be parked outside but it will be hidden but that’s how we get out and about.

We’re basically bringing the TV show to life. It’s quite interactive as we have lots of visuals such as colourful sets, mini music videos that we’re performing and it’s also that energy that we bring which we do very well. It even has that Tenacious D vibe as well.

With the songs that Andy and the Odd Socks are performing – tell us a little about the composition. Are they new songs? Songs from the show or a mixture of both?

It’s both, including songs that we sing are from series 3 of Andy and the Band. Series 3 comes out on November 11th (2024) on ABC Kids.

What are some of the wow moments when you perform as a live band?

For me, it’s listening to the audience (including parents) sing your songs back to you as they’re jumping up and down and that’s what I get excited about. It’s also seeing the reaction of kids meeting the band for the first time as they come to life.

The Wiggles have an age limit to music, however with Andy and the Odd Socks, it caters for a larger range of ages, do you agree with that?

100%! It’s not preschool music as such but it’s more for families. We have lots of 10 to 12 year olds come and see the show, even though they might not see it as cool as someone younger. Parents also enjoy the show and we’ve done gigs here in the UK where they have dressed up as Andy’s mum (both mums and dads) and me – they really get invested and it’s often the first gig that they’ve taken their kids to. That’s really lovely to see.

Tell us about some of the inspirations behind Andy and the Band? Do I detect some parallels with Scooby Doo as you’re solving some mystery but who else?

There’s definitely references to Scooby Doo, including The Monkey’s, The A-Team, Around the Twist because they were all my favourite shows when I was younger and we wanted that vibe. We’re dressing up to go undercover and there’s all sorts of silliness and slapstick happening. There’s even The Mighty Boosh – it’s all amalgamated into one and also made into something different.

I used to listen to the Bart Simpson album and I was a big fan that it played lots of different genres such as Hip-Hop, Jazz and the Blues – I love that in creating a kid’s album with different genres, you can make it enjoyable for everyone and not just for kids. We also want our songs to be funny and different such as the cheeky bum song that is about two cheeks who are best friends. Planet Rock is another song that all the kids and adults want us to play as well.

Speaking of Planet Rock, how did you manage to get the legendary Brian May (Queen) to star in one of your episodes?

His lovely wife Anita starred in one of our episodes and when we were coming up with the idea of Planet Rock, we needed the Godfather of Rock and somebody of that status. A legendary rock star that everyone could recognise, especially the adults. We gave the script to Anita and she showed Brian who read it and he absolutely loved it because it was about bringing confidence to kids through music. He was brilliant as the Godfather of Rock, a total gentleman and had never done acting before.

Speaking of older rockers, do you think there will be a reunion tour in 20 or so years?

Like The Wiggles? It depends on how long we can keep it going but hopefully… that would be amazing. It will be a very different age of children’s TV then and music in general but I like to think that would be a possibility.

So what exactly is an Odd Sock?

To be an Odd Sock is to be yourself really and that’s the encouragement we’re trying to give kids.  The odd socks symbolise that we’re all different and we should be proud of that.

Is that how you became involved with the Anti Bullying Alliance in the UK?

Yes, it fit perfectly with what we wanted to do. It’s giving confidence to kids and making them feel more confident in themselves. When we started we had 30,000 kids, now we have seven million all wearing odd socks for Odd Socks Day which we’ve made into a fun day but with a real strong message and we’re really proud of that. I’ve got friends who were bullied in school and some thrived from saying no who had the confidence, whereas others made different choices as a result of the bullying. So it’s a really important message we’re trying to promote and as the theme changes every year, you also provide a new song which we love.



 

As an entertainer, how do you keep reinventing yourself?

That’s a good question but I’ve been lucky enough to do what I enjoy. It’s also about putting that energy into what you like doing and sometimes that changes throughout your career. And when it does change, you just have to go for it and go in that direction.

With Andy’s Prehistoric Adventure, I was a huge Back to the Future fan and I always wanted to do something with time travel.

I also love music and that has always been a passion.

We started in 2017 as a band and even did that before the TV show. So you just need to take those opportunities and be a bit of a “Yes Man”. I’ve always managed to work with really good teams and talented people, so I’ve been very lucky. I don’t know how to answer that exactly.

What does the immediate future hold for Andy Day? Are there any more TV Shows planned?

We might be filming a fourth series of Andy and the Band, hence my yellow shirt. And we might have more dinosaurs in the not-so-distant future. I also got into writing books and I’ve become an author, so another book with Dino Dad! So that’s keeping me busy and if I can keep doing what I love, that’s really important to me.

Thanks for your time Andy and we’re looking forward to your tour of Australia!

Thanks for having me and take care.

Andy and the Odd Socks 2025 Australian Tour

  • Friday, 10th January – Regal Theatre, Perth WA
  • Saturday, 11th January (two shows) – Regal Theatre, Perth WA
  • Sunday, 12th January (two shows) – Regal Theatre, Perth WA
  • Tuesday, 14th January (two shows) – Hamer Hall, Melbourne VIC
  • Wednesday, 15th January (two shows) – Hamer Hall, Melbourne VIC
  • Friday, 17th January (two shows) – Norwood Concert Hall, Adelaide SA
  • Sunday, 19th January (two shows) – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW
  • Monday, 20th January (two shows) – Chatswood Concourse, Sydney NSW
  • Wednesday, 22nd January (two shows) – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane QLD
  • Thursday, 23rd January (two shows) – Kings Theatre, Caloundra QLD

livenation.com.au

www.andyandtheoddsocks.com

To buy tickets please visit Andy and the Odd Socks tickets | Tours and Events | Ticketek Australia


About the Author

When he's not trying to save the world, Andrew enjoys travel (although loathes turbulence), going to the movies, reading and being a dad to his two dogs (and now twins) with his wife.


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