BY DANIELLE HOLIAN
PHOTO BY ASHLY NICOLE
The sky's the limit for the band, The Gutter Daisies, as they keep on progressing with their indie, grunge music since they established in 2017. Grabbing listeners’ attention from across the globe, they have just released their brand-new track ‘Celebritiy Suicide’. “There is nothing to prove and so much to express,” The Gutter Daisies stated, and with many tracks under their belt to stream online or purchase on physical the band are on the rise to something more.
Unclear Magazine caught up with The Gutter Daisies for an interview ahead of their single release and to dive a little deeper into the band itself.
For our readers, please tell us a bit about your background in music.
Doug Rockwell: “We all started playing at a pretty young age. I remember seeing "Basket Case" by Green Day on MTV (back when MTV still played music), and I was hooked. That's what I wanted to do. I started playing guitar at 8, got my first band together at 12, and did my first tour at 17. When I was around 19 I got into music production, and eventually started writing and producing for other artists as well.”
What inspired the band's name, The Gutter Daisies?
DR: “We wanted a name that represented what we all kind of felt during the time we formed. We were all battling our own demons, but knew there was a light to be found. We wanted a name with contrast. To us, The Gutter Daisies is a name that represents how something beautiful can still grow in the darkest of places.”
Who or what are your musical influences?
DR: “There are so many! Green Day, Nirvana, Phish, Incubus, The Toadies, The Hives, The Foo Fighters, Vulfpeck, Barney The Dinosaur, Big Bird from Sesame Street, the thick layer that forms over chocolate pudding when you let it sit out for too long, failed relationships from fighting over chocolate pudding while watching Sesame Street, life, and not Michael Bolton.”
What inspired your latest single “Celebrity Suicide”?
DR: “A few years back, a celebrity had taken their own life. It was sad, and everyone was talking about it (with good reason). But I started noticing that within all of the emotional posts people were making on social media, a slew of them seemed extremely contrived and shallow. There were people posting selfies of themselves with the perfect lighting, an obvious photoshop job, and it was overall a completely irrelevant moment compared to the caption, which read, ‘oh my gosh I'm heartbroken right now… I can't believe he's gone.’ People were using this person's tragic untimely death to grab attention for ‘likes’... And this spreads beyond the average social media user. This has been going on in the media for years. People try and capitalize on other people's misfortunes for ratings, subscribers, viewers, etc… And sometimes people aren't idolized until after they're gone. I'm not saying there aren't genuine people grieving, of course there are. But it's almost as if one needs to do something drastic just to be heard. Lose your voice to show you once had a voice.”
Can you describe what your songwriting process is like? And how do you divide the creative process between you?
DR: “I'll usually bring in a song idea, sometimes with finished lyrics, sometimes just music. If Mike and Miles dig it, we'll smooth out all the edges and finalize the structure. Mike and Miles are great at what they do, and somehow they find a way with every song to make it 10x better than it originally was. After we're happy with it, I'll finalize the lyrics if I haven't already. It's pretty straight forward. It starts with a skeleton, and ends with all the essential organs wrapped in musical flesh. Sounds gross. But hey, that's music. Gross squishy flesh of emotions and melodies.”
How has your sound, taste, and energy progressed since the band began?
DR: “We look at our first EP as our set of training wheels. We were a new band trying to figure out who we were. I think the progression we've made since then has been a decent one. We've become more comfortable and confident in our musical skin, and in our lyrical content as well. We try to challenge ourselves to think outside of the box of what we'd normally do. Usually if it makes us uncomfortable, we try to run with it. Energy-wise, I think we've gotten a little more aggressive, but a little more mid-tempo. But that's now. Tomorrow could be completely different. That's the fun of it. Our only intention is to have no intention. If it feels good, we roll with it.”
What do you think music right now lacks in terms of social awareness to their audience?
DR: “I think there are a lot of artists trying to hop on a bandwagon. People think they need to be a carbon copy of the biggest thing out there. Sometimes it works, but a lot of times they disappear a month later. You need to be your truest self for people to believe what you stand for. Listeners are very good at sniffing out bullshit (most of the time). I think the less someone cares about sounding ‘cool’ and the more they care about the actual art and delivering a message, the more people will notice. I do think within the last 5 years, there's been a lot more honesty showing up in lyrics in mainstream music, and that makes me happy.”
What would you say was your biggest challenge breaking into the music industry?
DR: “Everything. It will try to stop you in every way possible. But the challenges are the knives that shape you, so it's a hazing process that every artist needs to go through.”
What do you want the listeners to take away from your music?
DR: “Honestly, we just want people to hear us for what we are, and not anything else. We're not trying to be anything other than that. There's a sincerity in each of our songs because every note comes from a genuine place. Regardless if someone likes us or not, if they can respect us for what we are, then we've done our job.”
And finally, what does 2020 hold in-store, thus far, for The Gutter Daisies?
DR: “Lots of new music, tons of shows, and of course a music video for ‘Celebrity Suicide’ very soon! Our next live show will be at on March 7th at Sassafras Saloon in Hollywood. Also, I'm personally really excited to buy a new pair of shoes and maybe a nice Hanukkah sweater.”