Sometimes a band comes along that manages to transcend the normal parameters of heavy music. A band who has all the elements to be labelled as such, but also displays enough emotional resonance and accessibility to allow their music to seep through into other markets as well.
With a self coined phrase calling their music 'sad rock', Southern Californian outfit Dayseeker have proudly evolved from post-hardcore upstarts to a band whose sound sits somewhere between that genre and many more, defiantly allowing their emotions to dictate proceedings but still spicing things up with moments of heaviness that in lesser hands would work against them.
Having recently released their sixth full length album Creature In The Black Night, Dayseeker have grown musically once more, delivering their most immersive and intentional record to date — eerie, cinematic, and threaded with a dark emotional current. It is a deeply personal experience for vocalist Rory Rodriguez, but one which he feels is essential in his own personal development as well as that of the bands.
Dayseeker will be bringing their music to Australia early next month for all three Good Things Festival shows, as well as two select sideshows in Melbourne and Brisbane. HEAVY sat down with Rodriguez recently to talk about the new album and their upcoming Australian shows. We start by asking if the band is packed and ready to go with the Australian tour looming large.
"I think so," he smiled. "It's a little nerve wracking because we unfortunately parted ways with our guitar player very recently. We have a good friend of ours who is gonna be filling in for us, so these are our first shows with him. We're trying to get rehearsed and make sure that everything's good and that our live show stays intact. We really care about our live show being good, so other than that, we are really excited about coming to play."
We mention there's no pressure at all having a debut gig in front of 50,000 people, to which Rory lets out a laugh. "Yeah. I feel worse for him. I think we get a warm-up show for a side show in Melbourne so he will get to play to 900 people and then jump times fifty for the festivals (laughs). He's a pro, though, He's gonna do great."
In the full interview, Rory talks more about their live shows and what we can expect, highlighting the differences between outdoor and indoor gigs. He ran us through three songs Good Things punters can listen to if they aren't that familiar with Dayseeker, plus the diversity of the line-up and how that is a good thing for festivals.
We talked about the just released Creature In The Black Night and the early response, what Dayseeker were going for musically on album number six and how it is their most immersive album to date. He dove deeper into the lyrical content of the album and whether it is an album of hope or despair, how singing about his problems has worked over time and more.
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