The Wombats add their name to a list of famous bands from Liverpool, alongside The Beatles and Atomic Kitten. The band released their third album, “Glitterbug,” earlier this year and are currently promoting it on tour.

“Glitterbug” differs from their previous indie rock albums with its electro-pop sounds and feel good dance vibes. Their current single “Give Me a Try” just broke the Top 30 at Alternative Radio and made it to number two on Alt Nation’s Top 18 Chart.

The Seahawk caught up with the band’s drummer, Dan Haggis, to talk about the album and the band’s upcoming show at Ziggy’s by the Sea.

The Seahawk: Tell us about your early days as a band. You met at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. How did you come up with the band name?

Dan Haggis: One of the people I met on a drunken night out was Murph and then he later met Tord and we decided to play together. We needed a name for the posters for one of our first gigs so I said “Wombats”. We used to call each other stupid animal names all the time, and this one just stuck. We thought about changing the name but it’s really irrelevant compared to the music so we’ve just embraced it. We used to have a little wombat mascot and one time in Australia a fan wore a wombat costume and we brought her on stage with us. It’s been fun.

TS: Which is your most memorable show from those early days? Do you think there was one that helped kickstart the band’s career?

DH: We did a show in Beijing at a music festival which was cool because we were the first unsigned band from Britain to get a gig in China. Other British bands played there but we were the first unsigned. We played to 15,000 people, which was our biggest crowd yet. People started hearing about us in the UK and they wanted to know who we were so I think that show helped get our name out.

TS: “Glitterbug” was released in April, but before that it had been almost four years since the band released any new music. This album has a different sound than the previous two with the upbeat tempos and dance vibes. What was the inspiration behind the sound change?

DH: We’ve always pushed forward and we like to play different instruments. We’ve also been drawn to electronic sounds so we plugged in and started playing around. We demoed the songs before playing them and found some exciting new sounds. We really didn’t think too much about it. Murph writes from an emotional and honest place so there are always variances but we really just try to keep ourselves excited and never think too much about it.

TS: Which song on the album holds the most meaning for you?

DH: That’s a hard one because the songs are like your children, you don’t want to pick favorites. I’d have to say “Greek Tragedy” I guess. We started it in Liverpool but didn’t play it because it was so different from our other stuff and we weren’t sure it would work. Murph was in L.A. so we went there and demoed it in the studio. Songs are like musical photographs, and when I hear this one I can see the hotel we wrote it in and the first time we heard it finished.

TS: You’ve been on tour promoting this album for a few months now. How do the audiences differ between here and Europe? Which fans tend to be crazier?

DH: Anywhere we go the crowds always have a lot of energy. When we go to different countries in Europe and the fans sing along, you can hear their different accents but I guess that’s the same as in America. The age groups and people tend to be similar no matter where we go really.

TS: What do you do with your free time on tour? Any fun hobbies?

DH: I go to the gym. It’s so easy on tour to sit and pig out on crisps [chips] and chocolate so I try to work out. I also play soccer, or futbol as we call it, squashand tennis, anything to stay active. I read a lot as well. When we aren’t on tour we make music in our free time because there isn’t a lot of time on tour to do that. We’re lucky that our job is our favorite hobby.

TS: Can you give us a preview of the show? What can fans look forward to?

DH: We’re going to play a few songs from the first album, a few from the second and a lot from “Glitterbug”. There’ll be lots of crowd surfing and feel good vibes, but people can also sit in the back and just listen too. It’ll be a high energy show for sure.

TS: The holidays are coming up in a few weeks. Do you have any fun things planned on your break from the tour or anything that you’re looking forward to doing with your family?

DH: I actually don’t get to go home this year because we have to finish up the tour in Australia, so I have a cousin there I’m going to visit. We’ll probably do a picnic on the beach or something. There’s a tasting game we play every year where you blindfold someone and pin their nose then give them 10 drips to taste, and it’s hilarious because they have no sense of smell. My mom’s side is Irish so we always stay up late singing Irish songs and drinking. It’s always fun.

The Wombats will perform at Ziggy’s on Saturday Nov. 28 with Royal Teeth. Tickets can be purchased online now or at the venue on the day of the show.