Photo Credit: Alistair Barrell

If you’re wondering why Daisy The Great sounds familiar, it could be because not too long ago a song of theirs went viral. It could also be that they’ve been on the roster of some of the biggest festivals in the US for the past year or so. From Lollapalooza to Firefly, Daisy The Great has been entertaining the masses, and even hit the small screen on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.’ We talked about all of the above and then some, like their upcoming All You Need Is Time Tour that kicks off on April 12th in Boston at the Brighton Music Hall. 

Kendra: So you had this big break when a song of yours went viral some years ago, and I thought how that viral moment is probably most comparable to back in the day when artists heard themselves on the radio for the first time. In terms of going viral though, other than seeing the numbers – what was the moment you sort of knew, okay, “The Record Player Song” made more noise than we may have expected? 

Daisy the Great: A fan messaged us and said that they put the song on TikTok and that it was getting a lot of recognition, hoping that that was okay with us…it was so sweet. We didn’t have TikTok then so we really didn’t know what was going on, but we made an account and saw all these videos that people had made with the song. It was awesome and shocking and we are definitely grateful forever to that fan. 

Kendra: Since then the world had a bit of a slowdown but last year felt a bit more normal and you took advantage by hitting the festival circuit. What was your fondest memory of those fests as a performer vs your fondest as a mere fan of music? 

Daisy the Great: We played a ton of festivals last year, it was so much fun. One of our favorite shows was definitely playing Lollapalooza in Chicago. We’ve always loved playing Chicago, and the crowd at our set was so much bigger than we expected and so kind and excited, and they knew all of our lyrics. That was so heartwarming and made us feel really supported and happy in a moment where it was easy to be feeling a lot of impostor syndrome! 

We also loved Wonderbus and Firefly. Our favorite moment as a fan was probably seeing Green Day at Firefly. We’d played earlier that day on a really gorgeous stage and then headed over to see Green Day and they were unreal. It was like a giant sea of people all singing along to songs that we’ve known for forever. Back-to-back hits !! We got to see Girl in Red at a few different festivals too which was also really awesome. 

Kendra: Since starting out and growing into the 6-piece band you have now, how has that changed the dynamics of how you personally approach a live performance? 

Daisy the Great: Initially we were writing songs and performing them at small gatherings with one or two guitars, or a piano, and eventually we started playing some real shows, and the songs were really just aching for a full band! Over the years we’ve developed a keen sense of when to add instruments or sounds and when to take away and let something breathe as just the two of us and a guitar again. We can always return to that when the moment is right, but it’s so much fun to get to rock really hard on stage and put everything you have into that.

Kendra: I noticed you had a solid 4-piece when you were part of the #LateShowMeMusic series on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.’ This is something new to me as I don’t have cable and my YouTube algorithm ain’t hip to it yet, but I loved it. It’s a very cool approach to showcasing artists, just letting them play and be in their element. What was your initial reaction when you got word of this particular booking? 

Daisy the Great: Oh thanks so much! That was so awesome to be a part of, we really admire so many of the artists who’ve been on the series before so it was definitely an exciting moment to be asked to perform too! We were all stunned, and then quickly got to planning out how we wanted the performance to be. We were on tour at the time so it was a tight turnaround and really fun to have a sudden project to build a team for on the road.

Kendra: On that, you performed “Time Machine” from 2022’s ‘All You Need is Time,’ which fans across the US are going to hear, among other favorites, on your Spring tour from Boston to California and back home to Brooklyn. Other than the fact that getting home is going to be easy as can be, what are some other significant reasons you think tours should always wrap up at home? 

Daisy the Great: Weirdly enough we have done quite a few tours that didn’t wrap up in New York City and we are just sooo excited for our last show on this tour to be our homecoming show. There’s something really special about traveling around and playing your music and learning and growing as an artist and performer, and then getting the opportunity to come home and share that with the audience that most likely knows you the best! We love New York City. And we’ll get to sleep in our own beds after the last show, which really is a game changer. Tightest set for the home show baby.

Kendra: After having played festivals throughout last year, how was it getting to plan a set on a headlining tour? I mean, other than more songs – are there any special additions to the set for this go-round? Perhaps for the Brooklyn show? 

Daisy the Great: Planning our set has been so challenging but so much fun. We’ve been playing support sets for a long time now, so this is our first opportunity to play a headline set on tour! We’re playing a lot from our album but also playing some favorites from our older records, and we’re also going to sneak in some very new songs!! 

We have a big weakness for playing unreleased music, we can’t resist. We have been making a bunch of new merch that we’re really excited about as well. One of our favorite merch items is this zine-songbook that we made that’s filled with handwritten lyrics and notes along with games and drawings and sheet music. And yes! We are planning some special additions to the set, especially for the Brooklyn show…maybe a special guest?

Kendra: Time for a side note – So Easter is my favorite holiday. Don’t ask me what the holiday is actually about because it’s only my favorite because I love Spring and the candy is top-notch. With that, if you were to receive an Easter basket, what sweet treat and album on vinyl would you hope was in said basket? 

Daisy the Great: Cadbury mini eggs (recommended to us by our mini egg enthusiast/guitarist, Matt). And we’ll listen to Ethiopiques, vol. 21: Emahoy (Piano Solo)…that’s what we listened to today when we were making pasta, it was really nice.

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘All You Need is Time’ out now and a Spring tour booked and ready to go, what else can people expect as we continue into Summer?

Daisy the Great: We’d love to put out some of the new music!! Excited!