Following the release of Sleep Paralysis earlier this year, North London’s DAZE are back with another dose of infectious indie-rock. Reformation was released in September (2018).
Propelled by layers of fuzz-filled swirling hooks and a frantic energy, Reformation is an instantly catchy track that’ll stick in your ears on first listen. Oozing swooning, impassioned vocals and throbbing basslines, it soon builds to an immense, driving anthem, tinged with a welcome nostalgia of late noughties dance-floor classics.
In this interview feature, I chat with DAZE about the latest release, motivations, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
We all got along so well when meeting from our love of PEACE & JAWS. When we started we were very Dreampop but as we continued writing our songs got heavier and heavier
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
We’ve all been playing music from a young age. For Sam it was seeing Busted come on the TV, he’d be jumping around with his fake guitar, sunglasses & singing Year 3000. Luke took inspired from his dad who was a producer back in his early days working with artist like Corrine Bailey Ray & Cradle of Filth. Santino knew he wanted to be in a band the first time he saw Foals play & Oli… the satisfaction of writing music and playing live really drives us to push material to the public.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
Our everyday life experiences influences creativity we like to reflect what has happened on what has made us pissed of and put it into music. Our music taste has changed a lot since we started as a band, we use to listen to pure Indie Rock but have moved onto listening to artist like Tom Misch, Loyal Carner & De La Soul.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
As a band we just wanted to put out some new music, we’ve been gigging relentlessly after our last release which was in February so its refreshing to put out something that nobody hasn’t heard yet
What was the last song you listened to?
Jimothy Lacoste – I can speak Spanish.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
We all prefer buying our music on vinyl. Having it in its physical form makes you feel a lot more attached to each album, and helps to support the artist as much as possible.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
That’s a tough one. Spotify is great at suggesting new music to listen to, but Apple Music’s user interface is a lot better. We can’t decide!
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
The Facebook algorithm has made it extremely difficult for us to engage with fans on our page the more likes we get on Facebook the less organic reactions we get from our fans. It has made it hard for us to engage with fans that have liked the page from the start as our post don’t appear on their page unless we pay for advertising.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
The best place to connect with us is on Instagram and Facebook, we love a good Instagram story especially when we’re in the studio or playing a show so give @daze4lyf a follow
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
Our New Single Reformation has just come out and we have a headline at The Shacklewell Arms Sept 24th so come down!!
