Daughtry

Chris Daughtry is American Idol’s biggest success story since Kelly Clarkson. After he came fourth on the show’s 2006 season, he formed a band, cranked their amps up to eleven and annexed US radio with a succession of rabblerousing rawk anthems. In fact, his band – Daughtry, as they like to be known – have shifted more then three million copies of their debut album – Daughtry, as they like to refer to it - in just nine months. We caught up with Chris as he plotted his assault on the British music scene.

So, how are you finding it over here?
"I've never been out of the States before, so it's a different culture to me, which is kind of cool. Y'all drive on the wrong side of the street. When you're used to seeing one thing and then you see kids in what y'all call the passenger seat, and you think they're driving the car, it kinda freaks you out a little bit. Earlier I saw somebody asleep in the car and I thought they were asleep at the wheel!"

Daughtry are new to UK music fans. How would you describe your sound?
"It's very rock - just rock 'n' roll to me. I've always been inspired by good singers: people that have great melodies. That's all we tried to put in this record. It wasn't about how heavy or how soft the songs can be; it was about having good songs. We tried to make them great songs. When I write, I look at a lot of writers like Chris Cornell and Ed Coulter from Man Alive and I wonder whether I'll ever be able to write like them. They have these deep, metaphorical lyrics and my lyrics are very simple, but I think I write about things that people relate to. It's definitely not over your head."

Indie music's pretty dominant in the UK at the moment. Do you think your brand of straight-up rawk can find an audience over here?
"Yeah absolutely! I think there's a place for us everywhere, but maybe that's just me being biased. I think rock's universal and the one genre that really will never go away for good. I hope that there's a place for us over here. I love the fact that we can go to other parts of the world and share our story and share our music. I hope that we're accepted. I can't push it in people's face and tell them why it's good - it's up to the people to make their own minds up, you know. There's a lot of great music over here as well: bands like Muse, Franz Ferdinand and Radiohead fan are awesome."

Have you been surprised by the success of your album? It's been a number one smash in the States.
"I think it was a little shocking. We kind of knew that it was going to do very well the first couple of weeks because of the American Idol audience. You know, people knew who we were even before the radio play. But then it just started exploding. We started at rock radio, which in the US is a pretty small audience, but then it started trickling over into other formats, like Top 40 and Hot AC. It just took on a life of its own. Once we started doing all the high-profile TV shows, it just started blowing up even more. We went on tour and never really stopped. It was overwhelming - we never know how big we are, and then we go home and hear our song on the radio every five minutes, and it's a little bizarre."

You've actually been more successful than the singers who finished ahead of you on Idol. How do you feel about that?
"They're all friends of mine, so I'm not going to say: 'Haha look what I did'. The fact that my album did so well was just a good feeling. It made me feel great to know that people love what we do, and I finished fourth on Idol, which is pretty good. At the same time, nobody has ever finished fourth on the show and done what we've done. It's very, very encouraging to us that maybe we can stick around more than one album and have serious longevity and an incredible career."

With the exception of Kelly Clarkson, Idol stars have found it hard to sell records outside the States. Do you think you can buck the trend?
"Obviously Kelly Clarkson's done very well. I don't know how Carrie Underwood does over here - country music's not that big over here. She's done extremely well in the States and I think that our music is kind of a worldwide thing that people can get and people can relate to. I think at some point everybody has listened to a bit of rock 'n 'roll. Everybody has a bit of rock 'n' roll in them. I think there's a great need for it. Hopefully we'll be as embraced over here as we are in the States."

Are you proud of your Idol origins?
"I would rather people recognise us for what we're doing now. I'm never going to shake Idol from my history - that's what I did and I'm proud of that, but it comes to a point where you want people to notice you for what you're doing, not what you did. Everybody has a past and a lot of times you don't want people bringing up your past - because they judge you on that - and you want people to see you for who you are today. I don't know how Justin Timberlake is known over here, but in the States most people don't think of him as Justin Timberlake from The Mickey Mouse club. He's done an amazing job of really making an amazing career for himself. That's what our goal is. If I'd come off the show and put out a total bomb CD - something that just totally tanked - people would always remember me from American Idol. But the fact that people are digging it suggests that it's what people are going to start remembering us for."

And finally, if you could work with any music star - dead or alive - who would you choose?
"My answer honestly changes every day, because there are so many people I'd love to work with. Chris Cornell would be amazing to work with because I was totally influenced by Soundgarden. I couldn't do a duet with him though, because it would make me seem too ordinary - he would blow me out of the water and probably make me want to go back to school!"

Daughtry's self-titled debut album is released on Monday.