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1.) We’re excited to have some time today with acclaimed Indie Pop band extraordinaire Daisy the Great; greetings and salutations, gang! Before we dive right into the rock and roll Q&A rabbit hole, could you all say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our ever-inquisitive readers?
Hello! Thank you for having us! We’re Kelley and Mina and we front the band. Kelley is from New York City and Mina is from New Orleans and we met in college at acting school. We’re best friends and bandmates and businessmen together forever. We’re both lead singers and songwriters of the band. We also have here Nardo who plays guitar and bass, Matt who plays guitar and bass and switches off with Nardo, Matti who plays drums, and Brie who sings back up vocals and plays synth!
2.) Major congratulations on the headlining gig at the world famous Beat Kitchen in the great city of Chicago, Illinois! Kelley, what does it mean for you and the band to serve as the headlining band at such a renowned venue?
Kelley: Thank you so much!! We are so excited to be playing Beat Kitchen. We have always loved playing Chicago and can’t wait to bring the headlining tour there. Plus the show sold out a month in advance!! That was so exciting. It’s an honor to play Beat Kitchen and get to share our music and celebrate our new album with everyone. Chicago’s the best. 🙂
3.) Mina, word ‘round industry campfires has it that Daisy the Great is – to borrow a phrase from Joe Cocker via The Beatles – going to have a little help from their friends while on the road, namely from respected singer/songwriter Olive Klug! How did this collaboration come about?
Mina: We thought Olive would be a great fit for the tour because they make really beautiful music with smart songwriting and can really capture a room with just their voice and a guitar 🙂
4.) Briana, what can a fan of Daisy the Great that might never have seen a live show from the band expect when attending a concert performance from you?
Brie: You should expect a lot of dynamics and hopefully a really fun show! We really like to play with getting really big and then getting really small and keeping everyone on their toes. We’re playing the new record, plus some old and some new songs!!
5.) Matt, in your humble opinion what does Daisy the Great bring to the musical table that is markedly different from any other artist currently making the rounds?
Matt: Daisy uses a lot of musical dynamics and genre blending to support wonderful wandering melodies and unexpected harmonies. When we play live I think we have a unique playful but totally rocking energy – we have a lot of fun up there. We’ve been performing together for so long so we can focus on being super present with the music 🙂
6.) Bernardo, Daisy the Great dropped a brilliant album in 2021. Are we being a wee bit selfish to ask when we will get a follow-up album? Is that currently in the offing?
Nardo: I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a new record (Mina and Kelley won’t tell me). But we are playing three newbies on tour right now!!
7.) Matti, what does the creative process look like when the band gets together? Does everyone sort of throw in creatively?
Matti: Kelley and Mina write the songs and sometimes make a full demo before we work on it, but either way then we all come together and magic happens. We all love working together and are all very respectful of each other when asking each other to ~interpret the music a bit differently~
8.) A question for all of you! Musically, who inspires you?
Here’s our list all together – Fiona Apple, Mitski, Bowie, Big Thief, Tuneyards, Lucy Dacus, Dirty Projectors, Porches, Sasami, Steve Lacy, Fleet Foxes, Lady Gaga, Norah Jones, Minnie Ripperton, Sleigh Bells, Tierra Whack, Nick Drake, Liz Phair, Spirit of the Beehive, Panther Hollow, Queen, The Cure, early Coldplay, Crosby Stills & Nash, Miles Davis, Cocteau Twins, Regina Spektor, Wilco, Cryogeyser, Sufjan Stevens, Aimee Mann, Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow, Laura Marling, Jeff Porcaro, Marcus Gilmore, Radiohead, the Beatles, Green Day, Alex G, Gorillaz, Rubblebucket, Alvvays, Angel Olsen, Margaret Glaspy
9.) Kelley, Paper Moon Records is the home label of Daisy the Great. What makes Paper Moon the perfect home for the band and its music?
Kelley: Yesss we released our first EP and our first LP on Paper Moon. Paper Moon was perfect for us because it is run by our friend Jake Cheriff! Jake is the best, and we really thrive working with our friends. There’s so much room for play and ease and time in the recording process, and we had a ton of fun working on those projects together.
10.) Mina, how did Daisy the Great come together as the super-tight unit that we hear today? Is there a VH1-Behind the Music story you could share on the group’s origin?
Mina: The group came together pretty naturally! Kelley and I started the band sort of accidentally. We were showing each other music we both had written and were arranging them with harmonies for fun and decided it would be fun to make up a band name. Then we decided to submit for the npr tiny desk contest and thought it would be cool to have drums bass and guitar for it, so we reached out to some musicians that we knew very vaguely through a mutual friend and they came over to my house and learned The Record Player Song in one hour and then we recorded it and put it on YouTube and that’s basically the same band we have now except for Matt and Brie who joined shortly after that. We started playing shows together and never stopped.
11.) Back to you to close this chat off, Kelley: At the end of the day what do you hope listeners and fans of Daisy the Great walk away with after attending a show that you all put on, or after listening to a piece of music which you’ve created?
Kelley: We always say we hope the songs feel like a hug, and I hope that people feel that sense of care and belonging at our show or listening to the music. We built a very dynamic set with a lot of giant moments and gentle moments, so I hope there is also a feeling of catharsis and joy! I hope people feel as though they’ve gone on a journey with us. We feel so much love and gratitude for everyone coming out to the shows or listening to the music so I hope they feel all the love we have for them!
