12Qs with daysormay
Hailing from Vernon, B.C, meet daysormay – an alternative trio of friends who have evolved their elementary school jam sessions into a burgeoning music career. (From left to right: Aidan Andrews, Carson Basset, Nolan Basset)
1. Tell us about daysormay – where are you from, what do you do, give us the run-down.
We’re Carson, Nolan, and Aidan. Originally from Vernon, BC, but living in Vancouver. We’ve been playing together since we were about 10 years old, we would hang out after school and on weekends and play covers until that evolved into writing our own songs and playing our own shows.
2. Was there a specific moment in each of your lives where a light went on and you decided, “Yep, music is going to be my life”? Or has it always been an inherent desire?
A: I think when I first wrote a song when I was like 11. It was like finding an outlet that nothing else had given me at that point in my life, it was and continues to be such an addicting feeling. I haven’t questioned it since then.
N: It’s always been an inherent desire. There wasn’t a specific moment where that desire became more intense, it just always continued to grow until it reached the point of it being the only thing I want to do. If I ever needed to do something else with my life, music would always still be the most important thing to me, so all of us are incredibly committed to turning this into a sustainable career.
C: I was always passionate about music, from playing in our cover band at the time and high school jazz bands. But it wasn’t until grade 11 that it became my whole life, and what brought me in was the ability to hear something so clearly in your mind, and use the tools you had to make it come to life.
3. With hard-hitting lyrics, powerhouse vocals, and punchy rhythms that transition into melancholy melodies, then build back into explosive anthems, daysormay’s sound doesn’t necessarily follow the constrictive rules of “genre.” Is that an artistic/intentional choice, or more-so the reflection of the culmination of music that inspires you?
A: What’s really cool about people who are making music now is that a lot of them, us included, had access to pretty much any music or art in their formative years because of the internet. So we’ve grown up learning from and being influenced by a global scene, rather than only what was local. I think what we do is more of a reflection of what we consume, and we listen to everything we can.
I think to push a genre or a scene forward, you have to look outside of it. We’re more trying to stretch people’s taste than follow it.
Nolan and Carson in Jacksonville, Florida, during the Tessa Violet Tour of summer 2019.
4. You guys have fans all over the globe. How do you engage with them and let them know that their support doesn’t go unnoticed? How do you hope to connect with them in the future?
We’ve been under the radar a bit lately to work on what’s next, and we’ve been missing talking to them. It’s the coolest thing to us that people believe in this enough to spend their own money coming to shows, buying merch, etc. There have even been people that flew from Canada to the US to come to several shows of a tour, it’s crazy. We’re working on making what’s coming next much more interactive for them, and also making sure to hit everywhere they want us to tour this year.
5. What are THREE things that inspire you on the daily?
A: We recently all moved in together, and that’s been super inspiring and productive. I also love digital art, and the colour blue.
N: I would say that it would be a lot harder to stay motivated without the other two guys, with creating being a thing with lots of down points, listening to interviews from other musicians and creators, and listening to music and performances from musicians who are honest and upfront in their music and seem to have mastered their craft.
C: I certainly get inspiration from the other two guys, documentaries about other artists, and their perspective on art and life.
Nolan, Aidan, Carson – by Torin Andrews
6. Being artists in a world where success more often than not is measured by social media numbers, do you find this measure distracting, motivating, or do you try to be indifferent?
All of the above. It’s something that you kind of have to ignore when you’re creating, but at the same time, it’s necessary in what we’re trying to do, at least in the current moment. So we’ve just always tried to find a balance between all of it, cause nobody’s gonna know that your song is great if nobody’s around to hear it.
7. What is the most valuable piece of advice you have received? And what is the most valuable piece of advice you can offer to others pursuing a career in a creative sector?
A: There’s a video of Kamasi Washington saying “Be stubborn on your goals, but flexible on how you get there”. I don’t know if that’s the number one for me, but I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. And when Tyler the Creator said, “If I want to be a table, I’m a table”.
N: Probably just the overwhelming amount of artists I hear in interviews say that they just worked hard and put everything they have into creating and that’s something that ended up setting them apart.
C: Two pieces of advice come to mind, the first from the female french composer Nadia Boulanger, she said “To study music, we must learn the rules. To create music, we must break them.” The next piece of advice came from our high school band teacher Mr. Dolman who taught me that there is beauty in the silence between notes. As for advice for other creatives, I’m still trying to figure this whole thing out, and every day is apart of the learning process.
Aidan recording in Vancouver in August, 2019.
8. Who is each of you guys’ dream collab?
A: I don’t think about it too much, we’ve always been pretty set on our ideas for songs from the start so collaborations don’t come up too much because of that. Totally open to it though, if the other person gets what we’re trying to say and do with the song, and if we feel like they can carry that in their part.
N: That’s a super hard question. Probably just someone who we all find inspiring would work very well with, and who would elevate whatever song or album we worked on with them. Though if I had to pick someone specific I would say BJ Burton or Kenny Beats.
C: At the moment for me the dream collab is with Kenny Beats.
9. There is truly something to be said about the unstoppable energy you all bring to each performance – regardless of crowd size. How do you prepare yourselves for each set?
You have to approach it the same regardless of how many people are there or who’s there. We always go in with no expectations, that way if there’s no one out there it’s not a big deal, or if there’s a ton of people you’re pleasantly surprised. Backstage we usually give ourselves some quiet and some space, then we get each other hyped and we go out.
daysormay performing at Squamish Constellation Fest, July 2019 by Jeff Basset
10. daysormay have played on some serious bills in the last few years including a US tour with Tessa Violet, Skookum Festival, Squamish Constellation Festival, and touring Europe both independently and with Scenic Route to Alaska. What would you say has been the most memorable show/moment of your careers thus far?
A: The entire tour with Tessa in the US was a highlight, every show was good and they were the kindest crew. We also played a show at The Great Escape in the UK last year that was like 100 people crammed into a hot basement, probably the sweatiest show we’ve ever played, it was awesome.
N: I agree with Aidan on the Tessa Violet tour, that was the best time.
C: I think for me it all has created stand out memories and life long friendships that I’ll never take for granted. They have all been insane.
11. What’s up next for daysormay? This is where you shamelessly plug any upcoming projects or events we should be ready for.
There’s so much we can’t talk about yet, but it’s all progress. We’ve had our heads down writing and recording for the past two years and we’re so close to sharing it. 2020!
12. If we asked you to plan an event in your hometown of Vernon, with no budget restrictions, what would that look like?
We talk about this a lot. We’d love to do something that showed off local art and other artists we’re excited about, and people that are making a difference in the area. We want to show kids that you can be from a smaller town like Vernon and still do cool stuff, especially art.
Connect with daysormay
MANAGEMENT
Indoor Recess Inc.
Joanne Setterington – joanne@indoorrecess.com
BOOKINGS:
Ralph James (Canada) – rjames@apa-agency.com
GENERAL INQUIRIES:
info@daysormay.com
