It may seem a bit cliché to say that writing a record can be a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, but for Nashville quartet Daisyhead releasing their second full-length album was one of the most stressful experiences for the band.
Amidst several line-up changes and a lot of the material which appears on ‘In Case You Missed It’ falling on the shoulders of vocalist/guitarist Michael Roe, there was a period when the band never thought the record would see the light of day.
“A lot of the guitar and singing fell on my shoulders, and it kind felt like everything was falling apart and we didn’t even know if we would get the record out at one point,” Roe tells Already Heard. “But we managed to push through and everything just started coming together. The end product has been incredibly rewarding and once we actually start touring this record more and playing the songs live and see how people react, then I will get the full effect of it. But right now I just can’t believe I’m sitting her with a finished product.”
For Roe, creating the new record was a bit of a journey of self-discovery, finding his limits and style as a songwriter and becoming okay with wearing his heart on his sleeve. Despite describing himself as not a very confident person, it appears through his music Roe has discovered the outlet to find his voice and found that having more of an involvement in this record, the vocalist has been able to fight some of the demons in his life.
“This latest album was a lot more stressful than the last, there were a lot of member changes during the whole process,” added Roe. “When we really got into the writing process for this record, we didn’t even have a full band.
"Since I had creative control, I got to make it (the new record) what I wanted to make it, but at the same time, we didn’t really have a choice. On the first record, our original guitarist did a lot of the writing of the guitar parts so we mixed and matched a lot. So I was a bit bummed out about that as it was all on me a bit, so it was a bit of both wanting to change the sound and also having no other choice.
"I’ve always been self-conscious about my lyrics, and there is a lot of pressure because I know people will dissect it and think differently about the way I put myself out there. But I think in doing that, it is the best possible thing I can do for myself. Some people may not like that and that’s fine, but if I’m continuously worried about it then it’s just going to keep playing on me so I just tell myself to accept it.”
Like many bands of the new wave of grunge/emo bands, it is the lyrics which drive the record, and something which fans gravitate towards. And for Daisyhead this is no different with Roe explaining that he has even received personal messages from fans, saying that his lyrics really spoke to them.
In the two years since the quartet’s first album ‘The Smallest Light’, Roe says he has become a stronger vocalist and the way ‘In Case You Missed It’ was recorded enabled him to get into the right frame of mind needed.
He adds: “I started taking vocal lessons and we didn’t really tour off the ‘Smallest Light’, but the touring we did do really helped me condition my voice to sign for longer periods of time.
"Also the studio experience we had on this record was a lot different. We were in the studio for the entire two weeks we were in Boston recording. So I was in the right head-space for the whole record.”
Roe and fellow Daisyhead compatriots Jon-Taylor Sloan, Chase Barham and Baxter Clifton have taken a different approach to the new record, in terms of self-promotion and creating a more rigorous touring schedule. And it is the lack of promotions surrounding ‘The Smallest Light’ which has pushed them to do so.
“When we released that album (‘The Smallest Light’) we didn’t really know what we were doing in terms of self-promotion. I always say we never gave it the cycle it deserved and that falls on us,” adds Roe. “I think I expected more to come from it, we didn’t realise the effort we had to put in.”
He continues “I think it is too early to tell what the fans connection is going to be with this album, there has been some gravitational pull and they have a relationship with us. But once we tour this then it will be more clear what the impact exactly will be.”
‘In Case You Missed It’ by Daisyhead is released 28th April on No Sleep Records.
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Words by Tim Birkbeck (@tim_birkbeck)
