Interview with Taylor of Daylight

Good luck finding a better record from 2013. Daylight’s debut full-length “Jar” is a tremendous record that will knock you on your back. Another in the long line of Run For Cover Records releases, it’s an album that is surely indebted to the glorious decade of the 90’s – but also one that brings to mind like-minded contemporaries like Balance and Composure.

We did an interview with Taylor from Daylight, which you can check out below. Get to know the band and why they’re a force to be reckoned with in the music scene.

First off, please introduce yourself and what you do in the band.

My name is Taylor and I play guitar and sing.

Your first full-length for Run For Cover records, “Jar”, was leaked 3 weeks prior to the due date. Why did you decide to release the album for $5 through your record label?

Well, it was Run For Cover’s idea to do an early release, and I feel like it was such a smart move. Rather than stress about people downloading a low-quality rip of the record, we’d just make the thing available for $5 and give kids the option to pay discount price for the real thing.

Tell us your initial reaction after it leaked. How did it make you feel?

Our first initial reaction was definitely kind of like “well, damn. That sucks”. But at the same time, it’s 2013 and I feel like that shit is almost expected at this point. So we didn’t waste time being too bummed about it. We just tried to look at it like “Ok, it sucks it leaked, but now we get to hear what people think of this thing we put so much hard work into”. And it ended up working out fine.

How long did you spend writing and recording the record? Was the recording process different than your previous EPs and recordings?

I’d say it probably took us about a year to write the record. We probably scrapped at least 20+ ideas before we decided to record the songs we did. It was our first LP and we wanted that shit to be perfect. So we were pretty picky about what made the cut and what didn’t. Not to mention, we toured an ok amount last year, so we had to write when we had the time. Recording was different in that we were in a real studio, as opposed to Jake’s basement (where we recorded our previous records). And this time we recorded 1 song a day, as opposed to doing all of each instrument at once, which turned out to be extremely beneficial, and I don’t think I will record any other way ever again.

2011 saw you touring the UK with Hostage Calm and Basement. With Basement no longer around, what kind of memories do you hold onto from that tour?

We’ve actually toured with Basement a lot. We did that European tour in 2011, and then a US tour with them later that year, and then ANOTHER US tour last summer. We also played their last 3 shows in the UK this past November. But yeah, they are our best friends and we have a lot of memories with that band. They are truly the best people in the world and I really hope they play again, because they are such an important band to me and our band. Hostage Calm are also really good friends of ours and I look forward to potentially touring with them in the future.

What’s the touring cycle going to be like for “Jar”?

We don’t really know just yet. Hopefully we are able to tour a lot, and play in front of a lot of different people.

Many reviews of “Jar” are quite favorable, comparing it to a certain legendary band by the name of Nirvana. How do you personally feel about that, and what have the responses been like to the album?

While I love Nirvana, I kind of wish people would tone down that comparison a little bit. Yes, I would agree that there are aspects of the record that are reminiscent of Nirvana, but I don’t want people to think we were like “Let’s sound like Nirvana!” when we wrote this record. As far as I can tell, most responses to the record have been really positive.

Who did the artwork for “Jar”? It’s very 90’s themed and personally speaking, reminds me of some of my favorite album covers from that decade.

We did the artwork ourselves, with the help of our good friend, Alex Henery (Basement/RFC Records). We definitely wanted the artwork to reflect the records we all love, but at the same time be relevant to the overall “theme” of the record. Alex took the photo and it all came together great. I’m really happy with it.

The lyrics for the first song, “Sponge”, really stood out to me. What inspired them?

Well, most of the songs on the record are about things involving my family, and dealing with the death of my step father last fall. The record is called “Jar” in reference to my step father’s ashes residing in a jar and how weird that is for me and my family now. The song “Sponge” is about becoming the “man of the house” basically, and how hard it is for me because I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do about any of it. I’m in this band, I don’t have any money to support my mom and my sisters, and I was kind of left with this responsibility that feels like such a heavy thing. The song is basically apologizing to my mother for not being able to do any more for her and my sisters.

What band breakup had the biggest effect on you personally?

Honestly, probably Basement. And I only say that because bands breaking up never really bothers me. I’ve always looked at it like “Ok, this band is breaking up for whatever reason (they don’t want to do it anymore, they don’t like eachother, they can’t write anymore good songs, whatever) and it’s not my place to tell them to keep going, despite their own personal reasons”. Besides, anytime a band thinks about breaking up, they probably should. When they power through the shit that makes them consider breaking up, they usually just end up writing awful music anyway. With Basement, I know those people personally, and I know the only reason the stopped was so their singer could go to school to be a teacher. They all have a great relationship with each other and are still capable of writing great music. And I’m sure when the time is right, they will play again.

Finally, anything you’d like to tell your fans, friends, and family?

Thanks to anyone who checked out the record. Thanks to anyone who actually bought the record. And thanks for interviewing me.