It’s the start of the 21st century and the millennium bug was supposed to crash our computers and bring down the system, Big Day Outs were still big, and we listened to music on compact disc.

The ‘i’ was a prefix to a verb not a noun; no iPhones, iPods and iTunes, and life was tough. Crowd surfing was not only acceptable but encouraged and smoking was cool; this was a primitive age before the rise of indie pop, when Triple J listeners were considered ‘alternative’ and real men played in hard rock bands.

From the ashes of all this emerged five angry musicians from Melbourne’s treacherous southern suburbs to form 28 Days.

Fusing hard rock with rap, recklessly igniting the volatile concoction with a provocative message, like a Molotov cocktail with Alan Jones’ name on it, and so the unforgettable award winning platinum album Upstyledown was born, providing an aggressive soundtrack for the new millennium.

So fast forward 12 years and dust off those Chinos because 28 Days are set to hit the road this month to finally honour their best selling album by playing it in its entirety to audiences across the country.

“We want to celebrate having a #1 album, a big achievement for us back in the day when you had to sell 45,000 records,” says charismatic bass player Damian ‘Damo’ Gardiner. “We are proud of the album, and feel it never got the tour it deserved.”

“The original release got so big so quick, we didn’t take it as seriously as we should have, we got swept up in it all. We never really toured the album properly, never really did the album justice.” “We are proud of the album, and feel it never got the tour it deserved… The original release got so big so quick, we didn’t take it as seriously as we should have.”

Speaking to a slightly older but much wiser Damo about the Upstyledown tour, it’s clear that this time around it’s about having fun, savouring the moment, and putting on one hell of a live show for fans.

“We had our first real rehearsal on Sunday, some songs we hadn’t played in 13 years and it felt so good, five hours we played. We have never jammed that long before, we used to just play through a few songs then go grab a carton of beers,” the enthusiastic but relaxed bass player chuckles.

On squeezing a national tour into little more than a few weeks Damo seems unperturbed. “We like to get away and we are all still best of mates. It used to be a lot worse in the early days with everyone pissing in our pockets, that’s when everyone started to get on edge a bit. Excesses flying out left right and centre, these days – it’s all good.”

“We are just really excited to get back out there. Any band worth anything loves playing live. Doesn’t matter if there is a 1,000 or 100 people it’s just amazing to play live,” he adds cheerily.

These days the Melbourne-based outfit must balance jobs and family life with touring. But the bassist remains relaxed and casual about the changes, “everyone is supportive and everything is planned months in advance, not like the old days.”

“We get to go away for the weekend, play music and drink free beer with our best mates and fans, it’s a bit like a fishing trip.”

28 Days has a reputation as a hard hitting live act with loyal fans to match. Only the bravest and most hardcore dare attempt the front of a heaving 28 Days mosh pit in full swing and it seems audiences can expect the same high energy levels on this tour.

Maybe less angst and controversy but with more passion and emotion, garnered over 15 years of excess, turmoil, tragedy and hard travel.

The Upstyledown tour will have the band zig-zagging across Australia starting in Perth on the 19th of April. “Perth has always been special for us” says Damo, “Perth is where Upstyledown first reached #1, so for us Perth is sort of where it all began.”

The band will play Geelong’s Wool Exchange the following night in an ambitious crossing of the Nullarbor before heading up the east coast, back down to Adelaide then Melbourne.

“Geelong is a cool place to play, everywhere else you sell heaps of presale tickets so you know what your in for but in Geelong, you’ll sell like 20, and then 400 punters just rock up on the night, always a nice surprise.”  “Don’t get me wrong, it was great back in the day when people went mental but you had your heart in your throat at times…”

28 Days have never been scared to venture into the depths of regional Australia, “the regional shows are great, the hospitality is awesome,” details the bass player. “In Northern QLD we were invited out on a fishing charter with the locals, that sort of thing happens all the time. They are just so grateful that you made the effort”

“Central QLD, Kalgoorlie, Whyalla, those really remote places are great, the locals are almost like ‘why the hell would you come and play here?’”

28 Days have been rocking out together for about 15 years now and have been instrumental in Australia’s live music scene. Damo reflects on the changing of the guard “We are starting to see the younger brothers of the guys that used to come to our shows. These kids were 10 or 11 when we released Upstyledown,” he remarks. Let’s hope the band is still touring when fans start bringing their kids along.

“The simplicity and catchiness of our songs, lets be honest they’re not rocket science, is appealing to the younger guys,” Damo reasons.

We can expect just as much energy on this tour, however times have obviously changed since the release of Upstyledown in 2000.

“Don’t get me wrong, it was great back in the day when people went mental but you had your heart in your throat at times, watching some of the crazy shit people were doing,” he admits.

“It’s definitely more subdued these days, maybe its all the OH&S stuff we get drummed into us… The energy is definitely still there but it’s just more sensible.”

After all these years the bond within the band is stronger than ever, even if they aren’t playing the same huge shows – such as the Big Day Out main stage to 60,000 people – still a stand out that blows the modest musician away.

Damo is also philosophical on the current shape of the Australian music scene. “I am personally glad that people can access free music, the record companies have had it too good for too long. A lot bands now just give music away, thinking well if we give away this CD free then we will make up for it by people coming to our shows, buying a t shirt, that sort of thing. That’s the way you have to do it these days,” he declares.

The future is looking up for 28 Days, with no plans to slow down anytime soon. “If you’ve been doing it as long as us you can’t just stop, we will just keep at it as long as we love it.”

Upstyledown has been re-released through Linus Entertainment, read the Tone Deaf review here. 28 Days head out on their national Upstyledown Tour in April, starting with Perth on the 19th. Dates and details below.

28 Days Upstyledown 2013 Tour

FRIDAY 19th APRIL @ CAPITOL PERTH

AMPLIFIERCAPITOL.COM.AU

SATURDAY 20th  APRIL @ WOOL EXCHANGE  GEELONG

OZTIX.COM.AU

WEDNESDAY 24th  APRIL @ HIFI, SYDNEY

OZTIX.COM.AU

THURSDAY 25th APRIL @ CAMBRIDGE HOTEL,  NEWCASTLE

BIGTIX.COM.AU

FRIDAY 26 APRIL @ HIFI,  BRISBANE

OZTIX.COM.AU

SATURDAY 4th MAY @ UNIBAR,  ADELAIDE

MOSHTIX.COM.AU

FRIDAY 10th MAY @ PRINCE OF WALES,  MELBOURNE

MOSHTIX.COM.AU

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