Interview: Daily J '25

We catch Jayden from Daily J sitting on a couch out the front of a motel in Wollongong, Australia. Waiting to start their biggest tour to date. Apart from some technical issues involving phone chargers and giant geckos (well, giant for a Kiwi at least!) it was pretty smooth sailing.

Radio BurgerFuel (RBF): It’s been six years since we last had you in. Obviously a lot’s gone on since then. But you were telling us about the move from Blenheim to Auckland, and the plan to make music a full-time gig. How’s that been going for you?

Jayden Paul (JP):  I was a landscape builder since I last met you over 5 years ago, until last year really. So, yeah, I guess we're really enjoying the fruits of our labour, but the work hasn't really stopped and there’s still a long way to go. But honestly, it's the dream, right? 

Being in a band there’s still plenty of mahi to do so, yeah. We're juggling the business side and obviously performance and songwriting, so it's a full time job, that's for sure. It is nice to finally be able to give all my attention to it and the rest of the fellows as well. I reflect and look back at all the mahi we've had to put in to get here, it's definitely quite rewarding.

RBF: Obviously you’d been thinking about going full time for a long time. But, what did you have to get into in place before you could actually take that next step?

JP: I think it's just constantly releasing as much music as possible. It basically makes sense right, the bigger your net, the more fish you catch. So we're just sort of the more music we have on DSPs, the more money we're able to make to support our dreams.

And, also growing our live show and just putting a lot of time and energy into perfecting that. So when people come along, we want them to feel that it would sound exactly like the record with stage presence and all that. But I think it's a combination of those two things. And dedication and perseverance. For us, it's always been the dream. And although it's bloody hard, it's also so rewarding.

RBF: So ‘Scatterbrains’, what album number are you calling that?

JP: Well, Slush Honey was sort of a two part album, that's how we look at it anyways. 2 EPs, a-side and b-side technically, so I'll go three.

RBF: OK, sorted! How literal is the title then?

JP: With ‘Scatterbrains’, we've gone back and approached it the same way as ‘Venus Ate Mars’ [Daily J’s first album], working with Joe Ferris again as producer. It’s really just a collection of works from our time as a band, with a couple of newer songs as well. It's just how it worked in our opinion.

Normally in the past, we've done albums where it's all about the last year and a half and riding that momentum and that's the feeling. Whereas ‘Scatterbrains’ sort of sums up everything that's been going on in the last little while and as life shows you, it's a roller coaster. I think, our music's always been pretty honest, a good reflection of our personality in there, therefore it's pretty scattered, a bit delulu.

We've got a Dropbox folder that's got a ton of half written songs with a lot of good energy and a lot of vibes. So I think naturally, ‘Scatterbrains’ is a bit scattered. The production and even the genre moves around quite a bit. Tracks like ‘Daydream’ might be more of a dancy song. And then you've got ‘Sunday Stitches’ which is pretty fast-paced indie rock.

RBF: How did you decide what songs to pull together for the album?

JP: When we were selecting the songs for the album, we did it a bit differently. We just got a big whiteboard and wrote out all of our tracks and then we all had a vote. One of the votes was a must have - everyone got that, so there were no arguments there. And the rest it was just whatever songs at the most ticks next to it.

There's an element of what's our favourites, but also it does have to have some sort of cohesiveness as an album. It can't be too crazy though, so people aren’t like “what the hell is this! What kind of band are they?” So there's still an underlying Daily J there with catchy hooks, nice little guitar riffs and staying true to our sort of East Coast vibe.

RBF: Are you guys quite democratic, is that how you guys work?

JP: Yeah. We have to. So many bands can't even make it this point. Not because they're not going well, but just cause differences in the band. So yeah, we do take a real democratic approach and everyone's voice is equal. I mean, I've kind of been the prominent songwriter since day one. But as we've grown, it’s not just in age, but ability as well - the other fellows are really coming into their own and bringing their influences and that is further evolving I think.

RBF: You mentioned earlier that you were trying to make your live show sound like the album. How’s that been going for you?

JP: Yeah, I think this is probably the most technical album we've ever done in terms of how bloody hard it is to play. So there's no way around it really, other than hours and hours and hours of perfecting it.

When we went into the studio, we recorded a lot of the trickier parts and had the time to try and nail it. But obviously transferring that to a live show, there's no escaping it. Being a five piece there's a lot that we can do, but there are some things that we’re just physically unable to do so we do track some of the live effects stuff and some backing vocals. That sort of sparkly stuff on top. But she really does help elevate our live show so yeah, hours of rehearsal time to try and bring it across.

And you know, we're feeling pretty confident in terms of how it's sounding and I think we will definitely play a good show that blows minds to be honest.

RBF: Have you road tested many of the new album tracks?

JP: Funny enough, there's a song, ‘Roadie’, which has been around for a while. And we did jam it out a couple of times early on, but when it wasn't anywhere near what it is now.

We debuted ‘Sunday Stitches’ in the UK last year on that tour. And the other singles we’ve played a few times at some summer festivals. But not all of them. So tonight, with the first night we can actually play the whole album. Which will be epic.

RBF: Awesome, it’s actually been five years since I saw you guys live, I think the last time was when you opened for Lime Cordiale at the Powerstation, so I can’t wait to see how different the show looks now.

JP: Yeah, it certainly does look different. I remember that gig, it was sick. It was the first and only time we've ever played Powerstation. So it's quite cool that six years later we put on our own headline show there on the 28th.