Please introduce us to the band.
The Strange Days is a lovechild of Michel Rein (guitar, lead vocals), Courtney Luzmilla (drums, vocals) and Tom Geba (bass). Mike assembled a four piece band two years ago after writing a couple of early songs. We became a trio pretty quickly and found it a comfortable number. Courtney replaced the previous drummer Francine late last year, bringing with her a new flair, backing vocals and plenty of attitude!

Is there one of your songs that has a special or particular meaning to the band?
Many of our songs tell a story behind the lyrics, for instance "Numb" has taken a long time to take shape, while "The Chair" has this tremendous energy building up. But by far our favourite song that we love to share with the crowd is "Mother's Only Son". Normally a soulful acoustic with a great hook, in July we will turn this pretty gem into an electric power ballad that will touch your heart, then beat the shit out of it.

What is your favorite type of music to listen to? Does it resemble what you guys play?
Besides naming Nirvana, Bush, Pearl Jam and the whole grunge pantheon we like and draw inspiration from a lot of stuff, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Jeff Buckley, Clapton, Sonic Youth, The Living End and Kyuss to name a few...We also like modern indie, but Mike is too cool to admit it...

What contributes to the band's energy and enthusiasm?
Pizza. We practice about twice a week and afterwards we go to our local pizzeria for some delicious woodfire oven delicacies. All of the band's signature qualities - Mike's rough vocals and brooding lyrics, Courtney's spontaneity behind the kit and Tom's bass badassery are inspired by pizza.

Are you guys in the process of writing any new material? Tell us a bit about it.
Yes and no. Yes because we are constantly modifying some of our songs, whether in preparation for recording or to make them sound better live. Sometimes the changes are natural and sometimes quite drastic. Mike wrote almost two dozen songs last year that we had fun turning into full tracks, so in a way we have not written anything new because we have so much already!

What would you like to take away from the show at The Lair?
The Lair is a great gig (Tom took part in Emergenza 2011 with another band), it can fit quite a large crowd yet you still maintain that close connection with the audience. What we want to achieve, besides getting through the heat and rocking, is to promote our band and get lots of new fans!