INTERVIEW: DAYSORMAY TALK NEW SINGLE/VIDEO FOR 'EGO,' THEIR UPCOMING ALBUM 'JUST EXISTING,' DIY ARTISTRY + MORE
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| Photo by: Eli Garlick |
Following the success of their previous single “The Trend,” Vancouver-based trio daysormay drop a new track with an accompanying music video.
“Ego” was born from vocalist Aidan Andrews’ attempt to write in different voices and his exploration into an array of musical styles:
“‘Ego’ started as a songwriting exercise. I was trying to see if I could write in different voices, as different characters. My goal was to be as un-Aidan as possible. Just to see what I would get. In the summer of 2018 I was working a job where I was able to listen to music all day. So, I was absorbing a lot of new styles, and I was listening to a lot of podcasts about songwriting. Carson had sent me a couple beats he had been working on. We toured and tested it a lot before getting in the studio with Steve Bays to do the final version in August 2019. I felt super lucky with this one because we were able to go right from touring into recording. So, all of the habits and tricks we had picked up from playing the song every night were still fresh in our minds. I feel like it brought another level of energy to it that might not have been there otherwise.”
The video for “Ego” sees Andrews and bandmates Nolan and Carson Bassett, nodding along to the beat of the track, sporting matching plastic suits – with a swinging baseball bat. Like the track itself, the music video explores the many aspects of self through the creative process and paints an eccentric atmosphere synonymous with the sound waves.
The visuals were created in collaboration with Christian Lai, Titouan Fournier, Ryan Schroeder from Transposition Films and Slatie Chu. The concept was drawn from the idea of filming in a rage room, as the whole video was initially built around the band smashing items within unique vignettes rather than a narrative-driven piece.
With all original content – from the screen (visuals, TikTok spots and Twitch streams) to pen and paper (lyrics and music) – the trio are known for their fresh DIY approach. daysormay continue to follow the beat of their own drum on their forthcoming album Just Existing:
“[Just Existing] has been a long time coming. Some of these songs have been around for 2+ years, while the others are brand new. It's been a crazy process of stitching it all together, we've never approached an album like this before, it feels new. I hope it can reach new listeners while also showing our current listeners a wider picture of who we are and what we've been doing over the past few years. We think of it as our debut. It feels like a beginning.”
Working with Canadian legend and Hot Hot Heat frontman Steve Bays (Steve Aoki, Diplo, The Killers) has instilled an even more individualistic creative force for their upcoming album – set for release on October 6th.
We’ve always tried to stay true to ourselves and what we want first and foremost, regardless of what any outside influences or trends have to say at the time. I think that would be number one. We get bored really easily, so we’re always looking for something new to experiment with and mix into our sound. The idea is to always move forward, to never plateau, and to only look to the past if we’re learning from mistakes.
Carson sent me the beat in the summer of 2018, it had like a latin style instrumental over it. I took everything off so it was just the drums, and I would add one or two elements every day. Some days I would add a sound, listen to it on loop for like two hours, and then take the sound back out and go to bed. I was very calm and focused, probably the most I’ve ever been. I had been listening to a lot of podcasts that were talking about songwriting and creativity, and I was trying to apply as many different approaches as I could to this one beat, and see which one worked the best. There was no pressure, no rush, no nothing. It was great. Once I finished the vocals I brought it back to Carson and Nolan, and we built the instrumental out from there. We toured it live for about a year before recording the final version, actually going from touring right into the studio. I think playing it live for that long before finalizing it made a huge difference in the energy. It’s basically tailored to live shows.
I was messing with writing from different POVs, as if I was someone else. I really enjoyed the freedom I got from feeling like I could say anything I wanted and that I could say it in any way I wanted, cause it “technically” wasn’t coming from me. It was more unhinged I guess, that was what made it feel so “un-Aidan”, it let me let go of a lot of my usual inhibitions. At the time I was listening to a podcast called Song Exploder, where artists pick apart their songs and talk about how they made them. There’s always such great insight about creativity in every episode, I was super inspired every day. The episode that really sparked Ego’s concept was Kimbra talking about how she made Top Of The World, which actually plays with the different character POVs as well. I was also listening to a podcast called Watching the Throne, which is basically breaking down and analyzing Kanye albums. At the time I was listening to the one about Yeezus.
We really just wanted to smash stuff. It was pretty improvised to be honest. We had a general idea of what we wanted to do, but most of it came together on set, just bouncing ideas off of Christian and Titouan (who shot and codirected the video with us). We wanted it to be very in your face, looking right down the lens. As blunt as possible, to get the words across.
I like to think of it as an introduction to daysormay. Kind of like bringing you up to speed on where we’re at stylistically. Cause some of these ideas are like two years old, and some are brand new. So I think there’s an audible evolution over the course of the album where you can hear us shifting our sound and getting more and more up to where we’re at now. In my opinion it’s a really cool mix of what kind of songwriters we were before, with songs like “Role Model,” and what we are now. I’m stoked to see what the reaction is.
Over the past year I’ve had two pieces of advice stuck in my head that I keep coming back to. Number one is: always trust your gut. Listen to your instinctual reaction to something. Cause it’s easy to let certain things slide once you get used to them, but if something sticks out to you right away, listen to that. Number two is from Kamasi Washington. He said: “Be stubborn in your goals, but flexible in how you get there.” That’s helped a lot in decision making, for me.
Q: How would you describe daysormay’s artistry?
We’ve always tried to stay true to ourselves and what we want first and foremost, regardless of what any outside influences or trends have to say at the time. I think that would be number one. We get bored really easily, so we’re always looking for something new to experiment with and mix into our sound. The idea is to always move forward, to never plateau, and to only look to the past if we’re learning from mistakes.
Q: Tell us about the creative process behind the single “Ego”:
Carson sent me the beat in the summer of 2018, it had like a latin style instrumental over it. I took everything off so it was just the drums, and I would add one or two elements every day. Some days I would add a sound, listen to it on loop for like two hours, and then take the sound back out and go to bed. I was very calm and focused, probably the most I’ve ever been. I had been listening to a lot of podcasts that were talking about songwriting and creativity, and I was trying to apply as many different approaches as I could to this one beat, and see which one worked the best. There was no pressure, no rush, no nothing. It was great. Once I finished the vocals I brought it back to Carson and Nolan, and we built the instrumental out from there. We toured it live for about a year before recording the final version, actually going from touring right into the studio. I think playing it live for that long before finalizing it made a huge difference in the energy. It’s basically tailored to live shows.
Q: What inspired you to step away from your typical voice and how did you channel the most “un-Aidan” version of yourself for this track? What podcasts and songs had an influence on the outcome?
I was messing with writing from different POVs, as if I was someone else. I really enjoyed the freedom I got from feeling like I could say anything I wanted and that I could say it in any way I wanted, cause it “technically” wasn’t coming from me. It was more unhinged I guess, that was what made it feel so “un-Aidan”, it let me let go of a lot of my usual inhibitions. At the time I was listening to a podcast called Song Exploder, where artists pick apart their songs and talk about how they made them. There’s always such great insight about creativity in every episode, I was super inspired every day. The episode that really sparked Ego’s concept was Kimbra talking about how she made Top Of The World, which actually plays with the different character POVs as well. I was also listening to a podcast called Watching the Throne, which is basically breaking down and analyzing Kanye albums. At the time I was listening to the one about Yeezus.
Q: How did the visual concept for the music video come about?
We really just wanted to smash stuff. It was pretty improvised to be honest. We had a general idea of what we wanted to do, but most of it came together on set, just bouncing ideas off of Christian and Titouan (who shot and codirected the video with us). We wanted it to be very in your face, looking right down the lens. As blunt as possible, to get the words across.
Q: What can we expect from your forthcoming album Just Existing?
I like to think of it as an introduction to daysormay. Kind of like bringing you up to speed on where we’re at stylistically. Cause some of these ideas are like two years old, and some are brand new. So I think there’s an audible evolution over the course of the album where you can hear us shifting our sound and getting more and more up to where we’re at now. In my opinion it’s a really cool mix of what kind of songwriters we were before, with songs like “Role Model,” and what we are now. I’m stoked to see what the reaction is.
Q: You're known for your DIY approach. What advice would you give to other artists who are aspiring to be fully hands-on with their own projects?
Over the past year I’ve had two pieces of advice stuck in my head that I keep coming back to. Number one is: always trust your gut. Listen to your instinctual reaction to something. Cause it’s easy to let certain things slide once you get used to them, but if something sticks out to you right away, listen to that. Number two is from Kamasi Washington. He said: “Be stubborn in your goals, but flexible in how you get there.” That’s helped a lot in decision making, for me.
Q: What’s next for daysormay?
We’re finishing up Just Existing at the moment, and working on the second album whenever we can in between. The goal is to keep meeting new people, keep improving, putting out more music, and hopefully touring as much as we can. We’re super excited for the future and can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been working on for the past few years.
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