As part of Music Is To Blame's What's to Blame? interview series, the four members sat down with us at Y-Not Festival. We discussed an evolution in their songwriting style, who they were excited to share the stage with, as well as their first headline tour.
First up, if you could introduce yourselves and where you're from.
Riley: I'm Riley. I'm originally from Southampton, but I live in London.
Aurora: I'm Aurora, I'm half-Spanish and half-Finnish, and I also live in London.
Marco: I'm Marco, and I'm Italian. I live in London as well.
Jay: I'm Jay. I'm originally from South Wales, but now I'm in Milton Keynes, baby!
Very nice. What is to blame for your band name? Where did daydreamers come from?
Riley: Okay, cool. The band name came from looking down a list of loads of potential names, and daydreamers really, really stuck. I suppose because it kind of felt like it fit with the music. The music is sort of nostalgic and summery. Something about daydreaming felt strangely optimistic and also quite distant and introspective. I guess I feel like I am a bit of a daydreamer. I'm always daydreaming and off in my own world, so it sort of really resonated with the band.
What do you think the biggest difference is between your current sound and when you guys began making music together?
Riley: That's a good question. I think I would struggle to answer that. Maybe it's a bit darker now, the music we're about to release. It feels a little bit more introspective, and the EP we released was a bit more about moving to London, relations, dating, and that sort of thing. Now it feels more about coming from a place of being a little bit low and figuring out your place in the world. I guess a little bit darker and a little bit more meaningful. I want to say there's more depth to it, I suppose.
Yeah, I get that. Cool. Are you watching any other artists at Y-Not this year?
Jay: To be honest, I don't think we'll have the chance to. I would've quite liked to have seen The Wombats.
Riley: The Wombats would've been up there. The nature of these things is that you're always so busy.
Jay: You know what, actually, Chloe Slater and Luvcat. I think they're really, really cool. Sophie's brilliant. So both of them and The Wombats.
Great choices. How does a festival experience compare to playing other gigs throughout the year?
Marco: It's a bit different, I guess. Sometimes in festivals, you have to win over more people and work hard, if that makes sense?
Yeah, for sure.
Marco: When you play your own shows, it's a bit different. The vibe is different. Every time is different. It's super enjoyable, all of us, we love it.
Riley: It's true that with festivals, they can sometimes be a bit unpredictable. You don't really know the audience you're gonna get, but with your own gigs, you're playing a show where it's your crowd and you kind of know what you're going to get. But that doesn't mean it's bad. I think there's a lot that's exciting about playing to a crowd that you kind of have to win over.
For sure. We're over halfway through the year now, and I'd like to wrap this up by asking what has been the highlight for you guys so far?
Headline tour!
Riley: We played this show at The Garage, which is like 600 capacity, and to see all of our fans there was incredible. But yeah, that's been my highlight. I don't know if anyone else has any more?
Aurora: Yes, same thing. Very much the same. I really liked the Leeds show as well. I think the London and Leeds shows were very different. The Leeds one was the smallest of the whole tour, but it felt like the room was just full of energy and everyone was enjoying it. There was something very special about it being so intimate. Then obviously the London show was the peak. It had been building up all the way to that. We got the biggest audience, and everybody was there to see us, and it really hit then that this is what we're doing.
Emily Teague
Image: Plugged in PR
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