Get to know Have A Good Day in Five Minutes or Less
First thing’s first - who are you? Curious to know the names behind the act.
We’re “Have A Good Day” or Luke and James. We make music to dance to really! It’s all about appreciation for being alive, dancing through the highs and the lows! We make emotional, electronic pop music which is guaranteed to make you move. It feels nostalgic and sounds like the future!
How’d the duo come together? Was it friends at first sight?
We both had a history of writing and producing for other artists. We first met collaborating on an unreleased track “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and then continued to make a new song every studio session we booked. The speed and chemistry that it all happened prompted us to use those songs for our own project.
Could you list some musicians that have influenced the sound until now?
We grew up with a love of anthemic 2000’s music like MGMT and Empire of the Sun. We love music that is genuinely hook-driven, lyrically complex and unashamedly themselves. The 1975 and Remi Wolf are our current favourites.
When did you realise you wanted to pursue music?
Luke: Well for me, I was on track to pursue Hockey as a career but sustained so changed tack. You can still play music with a messed up knee!
James: Haha! I think it was a really bad motivational speaker coming to my school and asking what my greatest dream would be. I guess he wasn’t that bad because it helped me realise that music was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Do you both experience any clashes between the two of you when it comes to working together or writing concepts? Give us a little inside scoop.
We both actually work quickly, it’s all about instinct and not overthinking. The songs come quickly, it’s all about trying to conjure a memory or feeling. Once we have that we spend a lot of our time polishing the songs off to make them as potent and danceable as possible.
Are you hard on yourself or each other when creating new concepts?
We both work really hard to fight perfectionism. The best music comes from the heart, as cheesy as that sounds! Both of us studied music where technical skill was king, so we spend a lot of time trying to unlearn those lessons and just create music that feels good.
With your music, I can sense that your live shows are the same high-energy as the songs?
Our live shows are high energy and almost every song has a crowd participation element.
Besides the crowd getting on their feet for you and cheering, are there any other career highlights so far?
We’re so new that we’re grateful for everything that is coming our way. Our first gig is Dark Sky Festival alongside some of our favourite Aussie acts so we can’t wait to see what else is in store.
Any advice to emerging artists like yourself?
Write everyday even when you don’t feel like it. Some of the best music comes from the days where you thought you wouldn’t make anything.
Alright! Quick-fire. Give me a fact about you both!
James was paid to sing Happy Birthday to King Charles.
Luke is a saxophone freak and has a wild 2 minute solo in the middle of the Have A Good Day live show.
