Andy and the Odd Socks Tour: next stop, Nottingham!

CBeebies superstar Andy Day is well known for his television antics; from his dinosaur discoveries to his safari expeditions, this television star is a well-known face for kids and parents across the country.

Just when you thought this presenter couldn’t do any more, Andy is embarking on a 5 date tour this October with his band Andy and the Odd Socks. We talked to Andy about his upcoming visit to Nottingham on 23rd October at the Nottingham Arts Theatre, discussing everything from performing at Glastonbury, groovy hoovers and Tom Hardy. There’s more to Andy Day than his odd socks: he is a passionate supporter of anti-bullying charities, creates inspiring music for adults and children alike, and is just overall a really lovely person.

NL: You’ll be coming to Nottingham on 23rd of October. What can fans expect from your UK tour?

Well a lot of interaction of comedy on stage and some very good music. They’re going to be rocking out with their odd socks on.

NL: What is your favourite song to perform?

Woah good question, I love singing Groovy Hoover. It’s one for the kids and one for the adults. It involves a hoover that basically is my best friend, and talking about all the good qualities of the hoover. I’ve heard many times actually that parents said their kids started hoovering in the house as a result of the song. I think it’s good it puts the parents on our side.

NL: Where did the inspiration for the name come from?

Two reasons really. One is that I’ve always worn odd socks. Well, not always, but from quite early on I’ve always worn odd socks. I don’t know why. I just enjoy wearing odd socks. Secondly, mainly the characters in the album are very unique in the way they do things and the characters are very odd themselves. So it has a nice message of ‘it’s ok to be yourself’ underneath all the music.

NL: How did the band come together?

Literally I wanted to start the band, and four band members all playing brilliant instruments and doing them very well, came from Planet Rock, landed in front of me and said ‘yes! This is the band we want to be in’. And that’s how it started.

NL: You recently performed at Glastonbury 2017 – how did that happen and how was it?

It was absolutely fantastic, I mean it’s Glastonbury and it’s the biggest festival in the country, arguably in the world. To be asked to do it was an absolute honour. It was brilliant. I think the reason is because Emily Eavis has kids and was a big fan of the album, a big fan of us, CBeebies and she wanted to get us to perform so she put us on an adult stage, and we had a good audience. Then it rained and we had a bigger audience because everyone was coming in to get dry so it was a really good gig.

NL: It’s amazing, did you ever expect your band would perform at Glastonbury?

We never expected it so soon, I mean we hoped in the future but it was just brilliant. I mean I love Glastonbury anyway I’m there a lot of the time at the Kids’ Field most years but this is a big stage and it was a bit of a dream come true really.

NL: I also read that you’ve had some celebrity faces in your audience such as Tom Hardy. How did that feel?

Yeah, I mean it’s really lovely. What’s really lovely is that with the parents it’s all about their kids and if the parents are enjoying the music too, whether you’re on TV or not it’s a really nice feeling. And I’m a bit of a big fan of Tom Hardy so it was really nice to know he had our album and his wife and kid came to see it. And Fearn Cotton and her kids are fans of the band and the music which is really nice and really lovely to hear.

You did performing arts at school. Is this something you’ve always wanted to do? Have you always wanted to be a children’s TV presenter?

Yes, I’ve always wanted to be a children’s TV presenter that was definitely my dream from about the age of 20, maybe even earlier about 18 or 19. So I went to Italy and worked with kids and that’s where I got the bug working with kids and pursuing a career in children’s TV is the way forward for me. It’s the sort of thing I like humour wise and I love kids as well I love their reactions to things and the fact they’re honest. Alongside all that I’ve always wanted to be in a band and thankfully because of the CBBeebies profile I’ve been able to get an audience where I can be in a band that’s for kids and adults. It’s a lovely situation to be in and a dream of mine as well.

NL: It looks like you’ve got two successful careers on the go. How do you juggle the two because they are quite different even though the audiences are quite similar. Will you continue to do both or do you have more ambitions as you’re obviously multitalented?

I’ve always been very lucky to be in things I really enjoy so the minute something doesn’t become as enjoyable as the next or the minute it doesn’t blend well then I’ll make a choice to do one or the other. But at the moment it is a bit of a juggle but I really enjoy both of them and I think they can work alongside each other quite nicely. So yeah I’m quite lucky in that respect.

NL: You work closely with an anti-bullying charity and your song ‘Unique’ is an anthem for anti-bullying. Is this something that is close to your heart?

Yeah absolutely. The theme last year for anti-bullying was ‘all different, all equal’ for Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) and we had a song called ‘Unique’ which fit perfectly with the ABA and they’re a very small charity and they do such great things. We wanted to be a part of something which could help grow and help schools become more aware. Although schools are very good at engaging with kids, becoming aware about bullying and bullying behaviour and stuff. So the ABA teamed up with us and said we want to get to the age range that watch you. It made utter sense, the band being called Andy and the Odd Socks as well and the characters sort of misfits but they accept themselves for who they are and that’s a nice message to send to kids of that age. It’s nice to put that out there. So we created Odd Socks Day which falls in with Anti-Bullying Week each year and this year on 12th November. This year’s theme is choose respect so we wrote a song for that which is online at the moment and hoping to get as many schools as possible to get involved with Odd Socks Day, where kids pay £1 to wear odd socks and they talk about the awareness of being kind and being nice to each other as well as how your actions can affect different people . It’s just bringing awareness to it really in a fun way.

NL: What can we expect from you in the future?

Well, I mean we definitely want to get Andy and the Odd Socks on TV, sort of in the process of pushing for that. It’s sort of like The Monkeys stroke Scooby-Doo stroke The Mighty Boosh for kids and we want to put that out and then we want to tour round the world doing it! Bigger than The Wiggles, touring round just making music, inspiring kids to pick up an instrument and also get the ABA up there and get as many people as we can becoming aware of the good things that they do.  

Tickets to Andy’s upcoming gig in Nottingham can be found here: https://myticket.co.uk/

Anti-bullying alliance: https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/

NottinghamLIVE have a pair of tickets to give away for the show on 23rd October at Nottingham Arts Theatre.  If you would like to win, comment in the box below! A winner will be chosen on Saturday 20th October.

 

Interview by Eve Watson