Picnic Basket Nosedive are a pop punk band from Loch Lomond, Scotland.

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Picnic Basket Nosedive? How long has the band been around?

The band started around the time I [Darren] was playing bass in a metal band called What's The Damage?! and wanted to start writing music in a style that he enjoyed more. None of the original members bar our first drummer Jamie were in previous gigging bands and currently our members ex-bands included local names such as Everything Absent, Heretic and Kevin had his own Say Anything-inspired solo act. None of our past bands were as known or "got out of our hometown", so to speak. The band has been together for 3 years with me being the only original member left.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

It all stemmed out of a cover band called Dropkick The Seahorse, an equally peculiar name, other than that we've been Picnic Basket Nosedive ever since. A lot of people assume it's some weird euphemism for a trouser-friendly kiss but in reality it's very innocent and involved a drunken rant from myself, as most things are.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

I [Darren] write all of the lyrics and the majority of the music alongside Kevin and Ryan. Thematically it's your usual breakups and hometown pop punk pish but we like to try and put a spin on things and take scenarios from different perspectives.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

As cliché as it sounds, we all bring different influences to the table, but none of them stray too far from the other. Ryan is a massive Coheed and Cambria and Glassjaw fan bringing the darker influences, Kevin loves his Say Anything and Wonder Years, I'm more of classic pop punk and easycore fanatic with New Found Glory and Four Year Strong and our newest addition Lewis is a massive fan of Arctic Monkeys and Muse which you can hear from his bass playing which gives us a refreshed and slightly more original sound in our new material.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Not particularly. I caught the gig bug around 12 when my dad took me to see Incubus in Glasgow and I have been addicted to seeing bands ever since. I guess after a while I just started to wonder what it was like being up there and had a passion for drums. I was asked by a few classmates way back then if I wanted to be in their band and it all snowballed from there...12 years ago. Damn, I'm old.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

Drinking! What else is there to do when you're Scottish? As we've played more and more shows back to back through touring I've learned the hard way the importance of keeping my voice saved so we have stopped getting drunk before we play and maintained a (somewhat) professional attitude more and more over the years. I've been learning some vocal warm-ups and warm-downs for our next tour so hopefully it won't sound like I've hit puberty every 15 minutes!

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

We've played with some great bands in Glasgow and around Scotland/England so far but my personal highlight was finally being given the chance to open for Hawthorne Heights a few years back. We've opened for them on two occasions now and they seemed to enjoy our sets both times. We've played with a few bigger names but they will always stand out to me as I was such a massive fan of theirs growing up

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

There are countless bands I'd give my right leg to open for, I'd probably go with Four Year Strong or Say Anything if they did a UK run next year. That'd be an absolute dream come true! Also scoring a slot at Slam Dunk Festival is a big personal goal for us.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

If you're in the UK and not doing much this month come and check us out! We're doing an 11 day run from the 20th November and you can check all the dates on our Facebook page.