For the past eight months, Daysee has been excreting trippy tunes from their analog recording studio in Palatine, Illinois. The studio is owned and run by duo Nick Van Horn and Erich Schuh, who needed a space to record their work; a shoegaze hallucination of noise inspired by an eclectic mix of musicians including the Beatles, Swervedriver, Kendrick Lamar, and Slowdive.
Shoegaze: a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1980’s is composed of distortion of noise especially with guitar, obscure vocals, and an indistinguishable melange of sound. The music of Daysee, like their track Dizzy on the upcoming album, Pepomint, is a twirling loop of guitar, fuzzy vocals, and whimsical sound-effects. Dizzy is fun, feel-good, and strange, a whirlwind of sound that laps upon itself, a true shoegaze anthem.
Elizabeth: Can you tell me a little bit about Daysee and your sound?
Daysee: We listen to a lot of shoegaze and one day we decided that we wanted to make a band with the same kind of shoegaze noises. Recently our sound has been turning more electronic in a way.
Elizabeth: Who else is in Daysee?
Daysee: Nick Van Horn on Guitar and vocals, Eric Schuh on guitar and vocals, Jimmy Kushner on bass, and Esteban Miranda on drums. Nick and Erich write and record most of the songs. We’ve been recording music since November.
Elizabeth: Have you been playing a lot of shows?
Daysee: We play two or three shows a month in Chicago. All of the shows we do are in the city with Chicago bands. Palatine is only thirty minutes from the city, so the commute is not too bad. We’ve played The Empty Bottle, SubT, a few DIY places like Margaritaville, Fallout, Knowhere, all over the place. We actually started out only playing house shows and it’s only recently that we’ve started playing venues. We prefer house shows because they are the most energetic, they are where the people are the most pumped up and dancing. Venues sometimes are more awkward, low energy, but it also depends on what venue you’re playing, and who you’re playing with.
Elizabeth: Could you tell me a little bit about your creative process and what goes into putting a track together?
Daysee: We usually jam on guitar for a while and mess around and then get rid of stuff we don’t like. In regards to recording, it’s a little all over the place. Usually we start with one track and go from there. It can be all over the place so sometimes it can take three weeks to finish a song. We jump between songs all of the time, we don’t really have a particular pattern, it goes all over the place. Erich and I split up the songs so half of them are mine and half of them are his. We write them together but we are both working on different songs at the same time that come together for the album. It takes a lot of experimenting and messing around.
Elizabeth: How did you start up your analog recording studio?
Daysee: It happened around the time we were starting the band. Erich and Nick both record analog stuff and both had the same type of tape machine and preferences towards recording. They were both already recording on tape and around the same time the band was starting, there was talk of getting a studio together to record whatever we wanted. Erich and Nick found a place to rent out every month and set up their studio. Our friend Jeremy who does his own shoegaze band gives a little money for the rent so he records and practices there as well, but it’s mostly just a personal studio.
Elizabeth: What are your hopes for the future?
Daysee: To be able to keep on recording music and go on tour and make music as a full time day job. Just to keep on doing this and making good music.
Listen to Daysee - TruthInterview and writing by Elizabeth Meyer