Scouting for Girls frontman Roy Stride wrote the joyful track These Are the Good Days while fleeing from the California wildfires.
In January, fires swept across the West Coast state – including Stride’s neighbourhood in Los Angeles – and it forced him, his wife Lucy and their two children Freddie and Rosie to evacuate to Calabasas, then Palm Springs.
However, Stride wrote the upbeat song to get through the devastating situation.
Stride recalled to the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column: “The fires came about a quarter of a mile down the road from where we were, and we had to evacuate twice – first to Calabasas and then to Palm Springs.
“And so we thought that, having finally got everything delivered over from the UK, we were fully prepared for it to all burn down. It was just mad how one of the most largest, sophisticated, modern cities in the world, there was nothing we could do.
“Still now, there’s miles and miles of nothing. It looks like a war zone.”
He continued: “We went out to Palm Springs for about four or five days while they were trying to get the fires under control, and the song was written there.
“It was trying to realise that actually, you know, we were there, and it was fine.”
As These Are the Good Days – which is the title track of Scouting for Girls’ new album that comes out on March 27 – made Stride feel more upbeat at a time of hardship, he hopes the track can also bring happiness to people.
Stride said: “With the things that are going on in the world, there is a lot of division, and there’s a lot of unhappiness driven by social media algorithms. That sort of disgust and outrage gets more promoted and more views.
“We are trying to create as much positivity as possible, it’s the only thing I can really do. We are trying to create a space with the music and live shows that things aren’t as bad as they seem.”
Scouting for Girls is formed of Stride (vocals, piano and guitar), Greg Churchouse (bass guitar) and Peter Ellard (drums).