Chicago-based psych rock trio Daisychain share their rich, electrifying debut album All In A Name, produced by renowned producer, mixer and engineer Sylvia Massy (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool, Prince) out everywhere now. Alongside the full punchy project, the band pens an ode to being young and impulsive with ‘G-String,’ a summery, vibrant pop-leaning track, and DIY music video, that documents a girls trip in Vegas that may or may not have involved a corporate lawyer and seemingly limitless funds.
Daisychain recently completed the Southwest leg of the She’s A Freak tour including their special hometown record release in Chicago. Next month, they’ll move through much of the Midwest and Colorado, and will move through Germany, Denmark and Austria this fall. In September, they’ll support Chicago funk/soul rocker Neal Francis.
The spirited album showcases Daisychain’s complexities as people, tight-knit bond as friends and versatility as artists, featuring sounds from wood winds, chimes, pump organs, mixed with synthesized vocal and guitar harmonies. Inside her Ashland, Oregon-based studio, celebrated producer Massy created a safe space for the group to experiment and elevated their sound and strengths, whittling 100 tracks down to ten. Matching the band’s name, the project sonically blends sultry and soulful vocals with moments of fierce garage-rock and classic 1970s rock, resulting in a robust, thrilling listening experience.
On ‘G-String,’ the band steps away from their rock-heavy, witchy sonic palette and lean into their femininity with a lighter, dreamy sound and lyrics that explore a rambunctious weekend between best friends. Pulling inspiration from Lana Del Rey and The Velvet Underground, Regala adds, “The truth was twisted in this song, but just enough to give it a little imagination. A memoir of being young, girlish and impulsive.”
Daisychain is a femme-fronted psych/blues rock trio from Chicago made up of Nickole Regala (bass, vocals), Frankie Sripada (lead guitar) and Sophia Williams (rhythm guitar, vocals). Formed in 2017, Regala and Williams met at a local open mic night, and weeks later they were jamming. Sripada was invited into the mix, and the trio began rehearsing as Daisychain in the basement of their neighborhood coffee shop. Since then, the trio has toured the country, including playing Chicago’s legendary Metro and now, with their full-length album out in the world, aims to cement themselves further within the rising indie psych rock landscape.
We had a chat with Nickole and Sophia all about the band’s journey so far, All In A Name, what we can expect from their upcoming tour and more. Read the Q&A below.
Hi guys! How are you? You formed Daisychain back in 2017, how has your journey as a band been so far? Any highlights and/or challenges?
Sophia: “Hey! Thanks for chatting with us! When we formed Daisychain back in 2017 we definitely had dreams of getting our music out there, and seeing all our hard work come into fruition has been pretty incredible! The whole process of evolving as a band and putting effort into the creative and business aspects of a band has been very rewarding and eye opening. There have been endless highlights and challenges, but I’d say the release of our first full length album has definitely been one of our biggest achievements!”
Speaking of your first full length – what can you tell us about All In A Name? What do you hope fans/listeners take away from it?
Nickole: “All in a Name is a diverse album, but if we had to boil it down to a few influences, I would say it’s got a lot of Pink Floyd meets Veruca Salt meets Jack White type vibes. Most of the songs speak on the emotional toil that comes from miscommunication, loss, and unrequited love. We hope fans and listeners are able to find a little escape in this album, but also take away from it the strength to push and keep living life even when everything seems defunct.”
Please take us through your songwriting/creative process for the LP. What was your favourite part and what did you find most challenging?
Sophia: “In preparation for recording All In A Name we were asked to write 100 songs. It seemed like an impossible task, but we worked nonstop for a few months and made it happen! It was definitely a creative challenge and a time intensive project (on top of all working full time jobs), but was so rewarding in the long run. We all pushed ourselves to write honestly and to give every idea a chance to develop and take form. I really enjoyed going out of my comfort zone to experiment with different approaches to songwriting, and it was really cool to see what songs made it to the album.”
You have some shows coming up in July. What can we expect from a Daisychain show? How do you want fans to feel after leaving one of your gigs?
Nickole: “If you find yourself at a Daisychain show, you can expect ‘Mama and the Papas’-esque vocal harmonies, actual guitar solos backed by actual guitar music, and general female-fronted badassery. We want fans to feel a lot of things at our gigs, but mostly, we hope they leave feeling inspired to create and continue.”
Finally, what else is next for Daisychain? Any goals for the future?
Nickole: “We recently announced our first EU tour that’s happening at the end of October this year. We’re super excited to share our album overseas and can’t wait to get our feet wet in Europe. I would say one of our goals for the future is to continue to tour Europe and eventually expand to Asia and play Fuji Rock Festival!”
