Dayseeker’s Rory Rodriguez guides us by way of the creation of the band’s most immersive report up to now ‘Creature In The Black Night time’, out October 24 through Spinefarm Data.
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Ask any artist why they created a specific piece of labor, they may seemingly speak at size in regards to the individuals, locations, and experiences that impressed them. All through any artistic profession, there are infinite 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 conceivable.
For Dayseeker’s Rory Rodriguez, 2022 album ‘Darkish Solar’ was a kind of. A grief-stricken report written within the wake of his father’s passing, it was wrought with ache and poignant reflection, connecting with followers in a manner 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 significantly 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 hearken to it’.”
“That caught with me. It’s not as if we went into the subsequent factor consciously desirous to be much less melancholy and miserable, however there was this pure evolution. There’s nonetheless darkness right here, and I’d say that is our darkest but, however I feel ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ is extra palatable. Folks don’t must be going by way of the worst factor of their life to attach with it.”
While grief and self-destruction nonetheless weave their manner by way of the band’s sixth full-length, that emotional weight is now 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 fashionable metallic sphere, fifteen years into their profession, Dayseekerare now not an underground secret. The stress that comes with that’s undoubtedly actual, however ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ does every part however play it secure.The sound of a band doubling down on their instincts and embracing the sudden, get able to rethink every part you assume you understand about Dayseeker.
THE SOUND
“It’s human to really feel the stress of expectation. There have been followers who didn’t assume we may match ‘Sleeptalk’, and now there are those that assume ‘Darkish Solar’ was a masterpiece,” Rory shrugs, pondering 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 at all times attempting to jot down music that has substance. It’s at all times rooted in actual issues that I’ve been by way of, 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 artistic 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 yr – ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ was the product of a uniquely staggered strategy, one which in the end performed an enormous function within the remaining album.
“Dan [Braunstein, producer] is about an hour and a half from me, so I’d keep in LA for a number of days at a time, then drive again dwelling 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 report, then bought to breathe on it for a second. Writing from scratch might be actually difficult, however I wrote songs like ‘Cemetery Blues’, ‘The Residing Useless’ and ‘Nocturnal Treatment’ between the 2 blocks of classes.”
That break additionally gave them area to lean into the eerie cinematic world that had emerged naturally within the earlier classes. While Rory will surely 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 have been gazing 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 report, it may be tough to stay with one theme, nevertheless 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 once you have a look at horror and people normal spooky vibes. There isn’t a definite story flowing from starting to finish, nevertheless it positively seems like all of those songs are related thematically. It’s one cohesive piece of labor.”
Certain by a collection of haunting spoken-word sections threaded all through the report, ‘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 grow to be Dayseeker’s signature, it’s additionally certainly one of their heaviest choices up to now, with Rory screaming throughout the vast majority of its tracks.
That shift is available in half because of the 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 taking part in into the album’s distinctive allure.
“Metallic has had such an uptake in recognition over the previous few years, and now you might be the largest band on the planet with screaming and breakdowns in your music,” Rory says.
“It seems like our music is getting a little bit stranger as we become older, and I like that. We’re not simply evolving right into a carbon copy of each different rock band. Generally you’ve gotten business individuals in your ear telling you to lock into the radio rock formulation. I hearken to lots of pop, and we nonetheless maintain to that semi-pop construction, however we need to do one thing completely different.”
THE LYRICS
When discussing the method of making their newest album, Rory is fast to level out that no working titles have been used for any of those songs. With artists typically biking by way of a collection of draft choices earlier than deciding on the phrases that make it onto the ultimate tracklisting, it’s an accomplishment of kinds, and one which helps to clarify the band’s distinctive strategy to ‘Creature In The Black Night time’.
Earlier than a word of music was put down, Rory had already recognized the guts beneath every monitor on the report. 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 report a way of complete cohesion.
“I’ve by no means approached songwriting like that, nevertheless it served the songs rather well since you’re not looking for the that means of the track when you’re creating it,” the frontman explains.
As for what the that means is, that’s a little bit extra sophisticated. Whereas ‘Darkish Solar’ zeroed in on the complicated journey of navigating grief, this time round Rory discovered himself drawn to a broader emotional panorama. Filtering by way of 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 lots of introspective songs on this report,” he says.
“‘As our band has gotten extra in style, I’ve needed to discover ways to navigate belief. You continue to need to let individuals in and be susceptible, however typically you find yourself trusting the unsuitable 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 report saying, ‘That is what we’ll write about’, nevertheless it at all times attracts from issues that trigger me nice happiness or nice unhappiness. If it strikes a heavy emotional chord with me, I at all times really feel like that’s one thing value exploring in a track. I went by way of some robust conditions during the last couple of years referring to misplaced belief, and that’s what lots of this report 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 area. ‘Crawl Again To My Coffin’ conjures up a metaphor on the sentiments of betrayal that may include letting somebody in, while ‘The Residing Useless’ wraps up a mirrored image on emotional disconnection in zombie imagery.
“It’s the one track on this report 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 manner, I admired that, as a result of he was a powerful individual to be round. I leaned on him so much 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 discovered that after I get hit with trauma, I do a shitty duct tape job and push it to the facet.”
“‘The Residing Useless’ is a bizarre open letter to my dad, about him seeing what my life is like now and what I’m going by way of. It’s additionally about recognising that I don’t need to be like that. I don’t need to be this half alive person who doesn’t present emotion. I need to be open, and I need to be susceptible 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 report, there was solely ever one title in thoughts. Described by Rory as “the key fifth member” of Dayseeker, Daniel Braunstein’s delicate touches are throughout ‘Creature In The Black Night time’.
“He cares a lot,” Rory nods.
“I’ve labored with different producers the place it seems like they’re simply there to hit report, however Dan challenges me. He’ll say issues like, ‘What you’ve gotten is sweet, however I don’t assume it’s what it’s imagined to be but’. As a songwriter, typically your ego will get in the best way, however we’re at all times keen to attempt different concepts. I bear 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 report both manner, however he really cares. He’s an enormous a part of why these information end up the best way they do.”
The album was combined by scene legend Zakk Cervini (Carry Me The Horizon, Blink-182), who elevated Dayseeker’s sound to its most polished, cinematic stage 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 typically discover it arduous to be tremendous creative with the heavier elements,” Rory admits.
“I spent a number of days with Cody at his dwelling close to Nashville, and we labored on a number of songs collectively. He ended up writing the heavier breakdown half within the bridge of ‘Creature In The Black Knight’. He’s such a wise 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 have been attempting to squeeze right into a track on ‘Darkish Solar’, nevertheless it didn’t match. I beloved the half Mitch had written for us although, and I wished to verify it went on this report. 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 paintings for ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ to know that you simply’re coming into a special world. Designed by Ryan Sanders, who was additionally accountable for the purple hued single paintings of ‘Pale Moonlight’, each photos centre round a cloaked Grim Reaper.
“We advised him what the vibe of ‘Pale Moonlight’ was once we have been engaged on it and defined that we have been on this horror theme,” Rory remembers.
“Having that Reaper determine designed earlier than we completed the report virtually influenced the path of the songs too. There’s a speaking bit on there, and it’s meant to symbolize the attitude of the Reaper. There’s this recurring theme going by way of all of the songs, and the title and paintings 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 monitor of the identical title.
“We did a present in Hawaii, and I heard this bizarre synthwave monitor with pulsing bass and drums. I puzzled 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 actually not misplaced on Rory how fortunate he and his bandmates are to be the place they’re proper now. Their viewers rising quicker than they will course of, and their stream of inspiration operating 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 might be my friends who’re pushing boundaries, it might be a band I catch reside, or it may even be a serious pop artist like Sabrina Carpenter. All completely different musical kinds and genres construct you into who you might be, and that’s why we’re at all times listening to music on the bus. We’re at all times speaking in regards to 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 wonderful to me.”
A report fuelled by darkness however in the end guided by progress, ‘Creature In The Black Night time’ condenses every part that Dayseeker have learnt during the last 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 know 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 important period of Dayseeker but.
“Generally you meet different musicians, and while they like music, they don’t find it irresistible. It’s not like that for us. We love this, and we care so much,” Rory finishes.
“We did a VIP expertise on our headlining tour final yr, and we have been midway by way of the report then. Followers have been asking us what our favorite Dayseeker track was, and all of us have been like, ‘You haven’t heard it but’. All of us really really feel like that is the perfect factor we’ve ever completed.”
