These guys have one common interest (aside from devouring enormous pastries): that is playing music. They’re ready to rock you once again with their unique alternative brand of jazz-rock, and are super-stoked to be having a second chance to play at The Espy, this time for the semi-finals. In our pre-show interview with them, they are all smiles and thank you’s to their fans who came out and helped them along their way to the semi-finals, but come on guys, take some credit! You rock!

FOR THOSE WHO MISSED OUT ON YOUR FIRST ROUND CONCERT, CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT WHO DANISH ARE?
Danish was formed roughly a year ago as a group of friends with common interest in playing music. We are primarily a jazz-rock band, weaving a bit of saxophone through our songs for a bit of effect.

WHAT’S YOUR APPROACH TO YOUR ONSTAGE PERFORMANCES?
We like to keep our performances light hearted and energetic. In the rare moments when we’re on stage we like to make the most of it, have a good dance, sing wildly, slap the bass, you name it.

WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE FIRST ROUND FOR YOU?
The Espy basement was probably one of the best venues that we’ve played because it was so intimate and grungy. It was really awesome to be right up close to the crowd and to see everyone’s lovely smiling faces.

CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE FIRST ROUND AND WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM IT?
The last gig tested our organizational abilities, so we now know that's something to work on. Otherwise we just had a great time and learnt how to try and get the crowd on our side.

SO HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE EMERGENZA FINALS?
Exciting, we hope we can keep progressing through. Going to the national finals would truly be more than we could ask for, even getting into this round feels incredible and we would really have to thank the lovely crowd at the last gig for that.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO BETWEEN GIGS AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO PREPARE FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF THE COMPETITION?
In preparation we’ve been writing a few new songs and exploring some new covers. We have done a few gigs in between which have been really good for developing a tighter sound and to get more comfortable on stage.

HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO PROMOTE FOR YOUR UPCOMING GIG?
This next gig is coming at a pretty tough time for the band, because it’s super close to the end of year exams, so we really hope that we can coax some generous souls into coming. But we’re primarily working on getting our older supporters to come.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST ABOUT THIS ROUND IN THE SEMI-FINALS?
Playing in the Gershwin Room is going to be great fun. We always love playing at The Espy, so we’re stoked to be going back there.