by kaylee pickens
photo by nolan peters
Southern California band almost monday is the perfect blend for an upbeat pop dream. From their radio-catchy hooks to their high class production, this trio has evolved into THE band to watch. After forming in high school, members Cole Clisby (guitar), Dawson Daugherty (vocals), and Luke Fabry (bass/keyboard) traded in their teenage angst for alt-pop singles that are surpassing millions of streams. With singles, “come on come on” and “broken people,” almost monday was on the pop radar with no chance of leaving. Not soon after their release of “live forever,” this pop trio unveiled “hailey beebs.” The 3-minute track grooves into 2021 with melodic keys and an infectious downtempo beat that’s hard to resist. almost monday sits down to discuss their newest track, artistic elements, and the band’s future.
How do you think your band has evolved since the release of “broken people?”
Dawson: “I think we have just continued to push ourselves creatively, what we're listening to has changed and I think that it has naturally pushed us into writing differently. Our writing process has always been pretty anything goes so I think we have just continued to follow that instinct.”
What were some hurdles that you overcame as a new band releasing new music?
Luke: “Starting from scratch as a new band with no music out was pretty tough to navigate for what songs we should be releasing and in what order. It can be kind of difficult to build up the ‘sound’ of the music and the band overall with just releasing one track at a time, but at some point you have to just be decisive and put music out there that you think is good.”
How would you describe “hailey beebs?”
Dawson: “I love this song because of its drastic scene changes through the verse, chorus, and bridge. I think it kind of takes you on a sonic journey of what getting over someone feels like. The verses feel more emotional, introspective, empty, while the chorus feels like an explosion of acceptance, and the bridge kind of feels like both of those ideas melted into one.”
Are there any artistic elements that you repeat in your videos/music?
Cole: “I think one thing we’ve been aware of when making music or videos is not trying to put out songs or visuals that are too similar to each other. We try to make our releases feel unexpected or different from the last things we put out. Overall though we’ve been shooting some of our recent videos on 16mm and Super 8mm film.”
What was your favorite thing when shooting the “live forever” music video?
Luke: “It was cool being able to run around San Diego and shoot at pretty legendary local spots that we drive by every day. There’s this old dive bar called Captain Keno's which has been around forever in Encinitas. I’ve driven by it a hundred times but never thought once of shooting a video there, so cool that we did.”
What inspired “live forever?”
Cole: “We wrote ‘live forever’ while on a trip we did out to Brooklyn to meet up and work with our producer Simon Oscroft. Musically we wanted to write some hooky/anthemic type indie rock song and a lot of the lyrics are inspired by events during the actual trip while skating around the city and navigating the subway system.”
Do you think quarantine has influenced how your band makes music?
Dawson: “Not in the way we approach it, but the way we create it. Everyone getting on Zoom calls and trying to write from behind our screens felt so lacking in inspiration and human connection. I think in the past a lot of our work that I'm proud of came from ideas flying left and right in the room with everyone around to experience that little moment of magic.”
What’s one thing you would tell someone who’s never heard your music?
Luke: “Describing your own music is actually really hard to do because we’re just so close to it. If I had to describe it I would say it has elements of indie pop, alt, and rock with a windows down summer vibe.”
What are some of your favorite memories from making your EP, don’t say you’re ordinary?
Cole: “In addition to ‘live forever,’ ‘broken people’ was another song we wrote while on that trip out to Brooklyn. Some of my favorite memories are of skating through the city from our Airbnb to and from the studio and experiencing the aura of New York City for the first time.”
Congrats on landing a spot at Bonnaroo! Is there a desired festival/venue that you would like to perform at?
Luke: “I think it would be super cool to play Governors Ball. Such a cool festival and crazy location.”
What’s something that you would want people to know about almost monday’s new music?
Dawson: “It's a bit of a departure from the first EP in terms of evoking different emotions, and sonically having a distinct color palette. However, I still think it has the classic almost monday DNA that people liked from the first EP. Honestly, just excited for fans to hear it.”