US rock outfit Classless Act have had a meteric rise in 2022. Firstly, they landed themselves the opening slot on The Stadium Tour with Motley Crue and Def Leopard, before dropping their massively successful debut album Welcome To The Show which led to frontman Derek Day being invited to perform as part of the Taylor Hawkins farewell concert in September.
Now, currently part way through their own headlining tour, the band are readying to drop the Welcome To The Acoustic Show EP on December 16, which features a selection of cuts from their debut album performed stripped back and acoustically.
HEAVY sat down with Day recently to discuss the EP and more, starting with the reception for the singles dropped from the EP in the lead up to its release.
"Pretty good, actually," he beamed in his usual charismatic nature. "So much so that we've decided to play them on tour acoustically. People dig it, they're sharing it, and really most of all we're quite happy with it too. It's very raw. It's just one take and we released it and that was it, just like experimenting."
We ask Day what he gets out of performing the songs acoustically that he may not when playing them in their original form.
"So many things," he smiled. "My favourite thing is the dynamic shift. Everything gets a little quieter, so I'm forced to sing a little differently. I get to really hone in on the feeling, or the meaning of the song. I really get off on those dynamics."
In the full interview we ask Derek for his favourite track to play acoustically, if this EP is more for existing fans or new ones, The Stadium Tour and how it went, what sorts of things Classless Act as a band took out of that tour, their current tour, plans over the festive season, how the next album might sound, plans to come to Australia and more.