I had the incredible opportunity to speak to the female duo, Daisy the Great, who had hit song 'The Record Player Song', aka the song that has been on repeat for me for the past month! Their music video for 'to be alive' is out now, released yesterday on the 28th of October. Here's the link to watch it and below is our interview! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDoRza7AYFs&feature=youtu.be
ME: I am absolutely obsessed with your song The record player song which is obviously one of your biggest songs. It feels very nostalgic for me as someone who was a preteen during the tumblr aesthetic times and I feel as if that’s where it originates from, am I right in saying this?
KELLEY: Thank you!! I started writing "The Record Player Song" during a time that I think would fall into the tumblr aesthetic age… I did get a record player and dye my hair blue (etc.) ~ but I didn’t actually finish the song for over a year after starting it. So I would say that’s where the song started, but it’s really just about trying to find yourself and feeling like you have no idea who you are and that everything you’re doing is a total bust.
ME: on Spotify you have over 200,000 monthly listeners which is an insanely big number. Does this ever overwhelm you or does it actually encourage you?
MINA: It’s definitely encouraging. We try not to pay too much attention to numbers on Spotify and other platforms because they always change and attaching ourselves to numbers as a measure of success can be very hard on the brain and the heart. There are so many factors outside of streaming that go into building an audience/ fan-base, but it is definitely amazing to know that there are people out there who consistently listen to our music. It’s always very surreal for me when someone tells me we’re their favorite band. That makes me freak out.
ME: The record player song has over 6 million listens as well. Did you ever think I’m making this so that it would become as successful as it is?
K: I actually wrote “The Record Player Song" before Daisy the Great even existed and had never released any of the music I made at that point, so definitely not in the beginning! Once we formed Daisy the Great, we were really excited to put it out, but we never really thought about how big any of our music could get. We were just excited to create it and actually release it. Now when we play shows and the crowd sings the lyrics back to us it’s so crazy -- we’re so grateful. The first time that happened it was a total shock, and we both cried.
M: Yeah, ditto. I always cry when someone knows the words. We always try to write songs from an honest place and make the music that we feel we need to make in the moment in time that we’re making it. We put songs out without any expectations because so much is out of our control. The only thing we have control over is making the music we want to make, and, to us, success is qualified by whether or not we have translated the message/ feeling we set out to create.
ME: in a duo, some would argue that it’s easier than in a big band. Do you believe there are pros and cons to working just the two of you?
K: We actually work both as a duo and with a full band depending on what set up we need. I don’t know if I’d say there are pros and cons so much as just different vibes when you work with a small set up vs. our full band. Some songs definitely require a bigger sound to build the world you hear the song living in, and vice versa. The soft songs EP was really special because we put it all together from our bedrooms and wanted it to sound like that when you listen. So it’s just our voices and guitar mostly, and that’s all those songs needed. It’s also nice to perform live as a duo because you can really hear the lyrics. On the other hand, performing with our full band is absolutely the most fun thing in the world, and a lot of our songs really thrive and come alive with all of that energy behind them. Those shows are like pure happiness for me. Our sweet sweet bandmates (Matt Lau, Bernardo Ochoa, Matti Dunietz, and Brie Archer) are the most talented and kind and joyful people, and we feel so grateful to be able to perform with them. We all really really, really miss playing live during these times.
ME: to me your aesthetic feels very earthy and warm at the same time. When did you guys decide this would be your bands look?
M: Our look is always a little in flux, but i'm glad we come off as earthy and warm, haha. I think in general we are pretty cozy people.
ME: I also personally love your name, Daisy the great. Where did this come from? was it the first name you came up with?
M: Thanks! Kel and I were tossing a bunch of names around when we decided to start a band. We were walking down Avenue A making up different names and that's the one that stuck. We wanted to take something feminine and delicate and emphasize its power and greatness.
ME: out of all your smaller songs that haven’t blown up as much as the record player song or dips, what do you believe is the best song you’ve made?
M: I think it’s probably a song that isn't out yet. We always like what we just made. But of the songs that are out maybe “Company" or "to be alive" are my favorites.
K: Mine is a song that’s not out, definitely, but of the released songs, I think maybe “Company," “Woods," or "to be alive." It’s hard to pick a favorite baby, haha.
ME: this year you released a song called Pool. Has this year changed anything in terms of your process in making songs?
K: We did release “Pool” with our friend LazyLazy! We also released two collabs (“Friend” and “LaLa”) with our friend Sipper and the soft songs EP that we made during quarantine. The process for these was mainly really different because we were never in a room with anyone else...The EP was written over Facetime from our respective bedrooms and then produced by our dear friend Jake Cheriff. Typically we’d record songs with our full band in the studio after having played them live a ton and rehearsed them a million times. These were all written, recorded and then nearly immediately released -- and that felt really special because the project was really truly homemade and felt like it went immediately from our hands to our listeners and we got to share what we were making in real time.
ME: can we look forward to any more new songs coming out before the end of this year?
K: We do have a few projects in the works-- not totally sure of release dates, but there is definitely new music on the way!!
M: Woohoo!
ME: for the final one I like to add a fun question - if you could go back to pre-teen you what would you say to them?
M: Oh wow, so many things. I think I would tell her to breathe through a lot of hard moments and know that there will always be a time when you make it through those moments and you’ll know even more about yourself. I would also tell her not to get on social media, haha.
K: Hm, wow, yeah. I think I’d tell her that she’s stronger and braver than she knows! And I’d tell her to practice her instruments more, lol.
M: Oh yeah, good call. I’d tell young Min to start learning the guitar ASAP.
Their new video is out now! Link above, I sincerely recommend jamming out.