Dayseeker’s Rory Rodriguez guides us by the creation of the band’s most immersive file thus far ‘Creature In The Black Night time’, out October 24 by way of Spinefarm Data.
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Ask any artist why they created a specific piece of labor, they’ll seemingly discuss at size concerning the individuals, locations, and experiences that impressed them. All through any inventive profession, there are countless alternatives for inspiration to strike, however there are some items of artwork that really feel virtually inevitable, the sorts that channel a few of the most vivid reminiscences possible.
For Dayseeker’s Rory Rodriguez, 2022 album ‘Darkish Solar’ was a kind of. A grief-stricken file written within the wake of his father’s passing, it was wrought with ache and poignant reflection, connecting with followers in a approach solely few information can.
“I can’t clarify how proud I’m of that album,” Rory begins.
“Seeing the best way that followers associated to the songs was so particular, however one remark I noticed on-line notably caught my consideration. It stated one thing like, ‘Man, I like Dayseeker, however their music is so unhappy. I’ve to be in a sure temper to take heed to it’.”
“That caught with me. It’s not as if we went into the following factor consciously eager to be much less melancholy and miserable, however there was this pure evolution. There’s nonetheless darkness right here, and I might say that is our darkest but, however I believe ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ is extra palatable. Folks don’t should be going by the worst factor of their life to attach with it.”
While grief and self-destruction nonetheless weave their approach by the band’s sixth full-length, that emotional weight is not the one voice within the room. An album that exudes confidence and swaggering sensuality, it finds the California quartet pushing additional into their emotional and sonic depths than ever earlier than.
Some of the talked about bands within the trendy steel sphere, fifteen years into their profession, Dayseekerare not an underground secret. The stress that comes with that’s undoubtedly actual, however ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ does every little thing however play it protected.The sound of a band doubling down on their instincts and embracing the sudden, get able to rethink every little thing you suppose you recognize about Dayseeker.
THE SOUND
“It’s human to really feel the stress of expectation. There have been followers who didn’t suppose we may match ‘Sleeptalk’, and now there are those that suppose ‘Darkish Solar’ was a masterpiece,” Rory shrugs, considering again on the band’s mindset going into album six.
“It’s regular to get a little bit in your head about that, however we’re all the time making an attempt to write down music that has substance. It’s all the time rooted in actual issues that I’ve been by, and all that issues is that we keep genuine to ourselves.”
Their earlier albums hammered out throughout a month-long interval alongside a producer, over time Dayseeker have tailored their course of to keep away from the inventive burnout skilled by so a lot of their friends. Written and recorded in two elements – with preliminary classes happening on the tail finish of 2024, and the ultimate stretch accomplished earlier this 12 months – ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ was the product of a uniquely staggered method, one which finally performed an enormous function within the closing album.
“Dan [Braunstein, producer] is about an hour and a half from me, so I might keep in LA for just a few days at a time, then drive again house and hang around with my daughter,” Rory explains.
“That made issues really feel much less intense, and I’m glad that we break up it into two elements. We did the primary half of the file, then received to breathe on it for a second. Writing from scratch could be actually difficult, however I wrote songs like ‘Cemetery Blues’, ‘The Residing Lifeless’ and ‘Nocturnal Treatment’ between the 2 blocks of classes.”
That break additionally gave them house to lean into the eerie cinematic world that had emerged naturally within the earlier classes. While Rory would definitely by no means declare to be a die-hard horror fan, the vocalist discovered himself extra drawn to the style than ever earlier than. That fascination creeping into his songwriting with out him realising, quickly the band had been looking at an inventory of creepy demo titles together with the likes of ‘Pale Moonlight’, ‘Shapeshift’ and ‘Crawl Again To My Coffin’. So, they determined to run with it.
“While you’re writing a file, it may be troublesome to stay with one theme, however it felt so pure,” Rory explains.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s an idea album, however there’s a lot to mess around with while you take a look at horror and people basic spooky vibes. There isn’t a definite story flowing from starting to finish, however it undoubtedly looks like all of those songs are related thematically. It’s one cohesive piece of labor.”
Sure by a collection of haunting spoken-word sections threaded all through the file, ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ is the sort of album that invitations you to get misplaced in its world. Retaining the shiny manufacturing, gorgeous chords and 80s synthesiser sounds which have change into Dayseeker’s signature, it’s additionally considered one of their heaviest choices thus far, with Rory screaming throughout the vast majority of its tracks.
That shift is available in half as a result of album’s embrace of weirdness. From the country-tinged melancholia of ‘Crawl Again To My Coffin’ to the hyperpop drums and the experimental The Postal Service impressed textures of ‘Cemetery Blues’, there are moments that may catch even probably the most seasoned Dayseeker fan off-guard right here, all enjoying into the album’s distinctive allure.
“Metallic has had such an uptake in reputation over the previous couple of years, and now you could be the most important band on the earth with screaming and breakdowns in your music,” Rory says.
“It looks like our music is getting a little bit stranger as we become old, and I like that. We’re not simply evolving right into a carbon copy of each different rock band. Generally you could have trade individuals in your ear telling you to lock into the radio rock method. I take heed to plenty of pop, and we nonetheless maintain to that semi-pop construction, however we need to do one thing totally different.”
THE LYRICS
When discussing the method of making their newest album, Rory is fast to level out that no working titles had been used for any of those songs. With artists typically biking by a collection of draft choices earlier than deciding on the phrases that make it onto the ultimate tracklisting, it’s an accomplishment of types, and one which helps to clarify the band’s distinctive method to ‘Creature In The Black Night time’.
Earlier than a observe of music was put down, Rory had already recognized the center beneath every observe on the file. Establishing the titles, the themes, and what every track would discover earlier than even taking the sound into consideration, that course of is what gave the file a way of whole cohesion.
“I’ve by no means approached songwriting like that, however it served the songs rather well since you’re not looking for the which means of the track whilst you’re creating it,” the frontman explains.
As for what the which means is, that’s a little bit extra difficult. Whereas ‘Darkish Solar’ zeroed in on the advanced journey of navigating grief, this time round Rory discovered himself drawn to a broader emotional panorama. Filtering by emotions of distrust, anxiousness, and emotional numbness, there are numerous feelings scattered all through the songs on ‘Creature In The Black Night time’.
“There are plenty of introspective songs on this file,” he says.
“‘As our band has gotten extra standard, I’ve needed to learn to navigate belief. You continue to need to let individuals in and be weak, however generally you find yourself trusting the flawed individuals. Our success has taught me to be a little bit extra guarded and to query individuals’s intentions. It’s not like we go right into a file saying, ‘That is what we’ll write about’, however it all the time attracts from issues that trigger me nice happiness or nice disappointment. If it strikes a heavy emotional chord with me, I all the time really feel like that’s one thing value exploring in a track. I went by some robust conditions over the past couple of years regarding misplaced belief, and that’s what plenty of this file is about.”
That’s the place you get the likes of ‘Shapeshift’, a track that serves as an open letter on anxiousness, and the exploration of self-destructive tendencies on ‘Pale Moonlight’. Elsewhere on the album although, we see Rory lean right into a extra figurative house. ‘Crawl Again To My Coffin’ conjures up a metaphor on the sentiments of betrayal that may include letting somebody in, while ‘The Residing Lifeless’ wraps up a mirrored image on emotional disconnection in zombie imagery.
“It’s the one track on this file that pertains to my dad, and I’m speaking to him within the verses,” Rory nods.
“My dad was a stern, quiet man. I by no means noticed him cry, break down, or have any intense feelings. In a approach, I admired that, as a result of he was a robust individual to be round. I leaned on him lots after I was a child, and I adopted a few of the identical qualities as I turned an grownup. From going to remedy, I’ve realized that after I get hit with trauma, I do a shitty duct tape job and push it to the aspect.”
“‘The Residing Lifeless’ is a bizarre open letter to my dad, about him seeing what my life is like now and what I’m going by. It’s additionally about recognising that I don’t need to be like that. I don’t need to be this half alive individual that doesn’t present emotion. I need to be open, and I need to be weak with the issues that I really feel.”
THE COLLABORATORS
Having labored on each ‘Sleeptalk’ and ‘Darkish Solar’, when it got here to the query of who would sort out manufacturing duties on this file, there was solely ever one title in thoughts. Described by Rory as “the key fifth member” of Dayseeker, Daniel Braunstein’s refined touches are throughout ‘Creature In The Black Night time’.
“He cares a lot,” Rory nods.
“I’ve labored with different producers the place it looks like they’re simply there to hit file, however Dan challenges me. He’ll say issues like, ‘What you could have is nice, however I don’t suppose it’s what it’s presupposed to be but’. As a songwriter, generally your ego will get in the best way, however we’re all the time prepared to attempt different concepts. I keep in mind particularly recording his thought for the refrain of ‘Shapeshift’, then listening again and going, ‘God rattling it, you’re proper’. He doesn’t have to problem me, and he’s gonna receives a commission to do the file both approach, however he actually cares. He’s an enormous a part of why these information prove the best way they do.”
The album was blended by scene legend Zakk Cervini (Carry Me The Horizon, Blink-182), who elevated Dayseeker’s sound to its most polished, cinematic degree but. Elsewhere, co-writing contributions from the likes of Tyler Smyth, Silent Planet’s Mitch Stark, and Wage Warfare’s Cody Quistad introduced contemporary power into the fold.
“As a band, we’re nice at placing collectively the melodic rock elements of our music, however I generally discover it onerous to be tremendous creative with the heavier elements,” Rory admits.
“I spent just a few days with Cody at his house close to Nashville, and we labored on just a few songs collectively. He ended up writing the heavier breakdown half within the bridge of ‘Creature In The Black Knight’. He’s such a sensible songwriter, and he can simply spit out guitar riffs.”
“With Mitch, he helped us write the heavier bit in ‘Shapeshift’. It was truly a component that we had been making an attempt to squeeze right into a track on ‘Darkish Solar’, however it didn’t match. I liked the half Mitch had written for us although, and I wished to ensure it went on this file. Fortunately, it slotted completely into ‘Shapeshift’.”
THE TITLE & ARTWORK
With a title that tells a brief story in itself, it takes only one look on the cowl art work for ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ to know that you just’re getting into a unique world. Designed by Ryan Sanders, who was additionally answerable for the purple hued single art work of ‘Pale Moonlight’, each photographs centre round a cloaked Grim Reaper.
“We instructed him what the vibe of ‘Pale Moonlight’ was after we had been engaged on it and defined that we had been on this horror theme,” Rory remembers.
“Having that Reaper determine designed earlier than we completed the file virtually influenced the route of the songs too. There’s a speaking bit on there, and it’s meant to characterize the attitude of the Reaper. There’s this recurring theme going by all of the songs, and the title and art work tie all of it collectively.”
When it comes to how they settled on the album’s title, the story is simply as easy, coming while Rory was writing the observe of the identical title.
“We did a present in Hawaii, and I heard this bizarre synthwave observe with pulsing bass and drums. I questioned whether or not we may do one thing like that in Dayseeker,” the frontman nods.
“It’s not typically that it occurs, however I ended up writing most of that track straight from my head into my notes app. It simply got here out of me, and as quickly as I spat that line out onto the web page, I had named each the track and the album.”
THE FUTURE
Six albums in, it’s definitely not misplaced on Rory how fortunate he and his bandmates are to be the place they’re proper now. Their viewers rising sooner than they’ll course of, and their move of inspiration working smoother than ever earlier than, it’s a place that many bands dream of discovering themselves in.
“I simply love being part of this. Each week I get excited when Spotify spits out my Launch Radar, as a result of I’m obsessive about studying about what’s new within the scene,” Rory smiles.
“It could possibly be my friends who’re pushing boundaries, it could possibly be a band I catch dwell, or it may even be a significant pop artist like Sabrina Carpenter. All totally different musical types and genres construct you into who you’re, and that’s why we’re all the time listening to music on the bus. We’re all the time speaking concerning the albums and musicians which have impressed us all through our lives, and to be even a small a part of that scene is so superb to me.”
A file fuelled by darkness however finally guided by development, ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ condenses every little thing that Dayseeker have learnt over the past decade into 35 minutes of pure magic. The sort of album that feels indescribably particular from the second you hit play, it’s simple to grasp why the corners of Rory’s mouth curl up right into a smile each time he talks about it. Targeted, assured, and having the time of their lives, the stage is ready for probably the most very important period of Dayseeker but.
“Generally you meet different musicians, and while they like music, they don’t like it. It’s not like that for us. We love this, and we care lots,” Rory finishes.
“We did a VIP expertise on our headlining tour final 12 months, and we had been midway by the file then. Followers had been asking us what our favorite Dayseeker track was, and all of us had been like, ‘You haven’t heard it but’. All of us actually really feel like that is the perfect factor we’ve ever finished.”