Home » Blog » 2007-07 » The Daylight Titans Interview
The Daylight Titans Interview
From September 2006
- We'll start off easy... SUV or sports car?
Sports cars all around. Two of the guys in the band actually drive in amateur races (one has a Honda S2000). I also can't imagine driving an SUV with gas at $3 a gallon. I actually have a minivan, which fits just about all of the band gear plus a couple of passengers and gets 20-25 MPG in town. - Off the top of your head, name a song that you've been listening to the most recently.
Man, there's a few: "Always Love" by Nada Surf (on Weight Is A Gift), "Soon Enough" by The Constantines (on Tournament of Hearts), "Goin' Against Your Mind" by Built To Spill (on You In Reverse), and I've been a bit obsessed with Chuck Berry's "Maybelline" lately. The groove on that song is incredible. - Do you ever watch television? If so, what's your favorite show & why?
I'm not a big TV watcher and don't even have cable, but I like the Amazing Race a lot. The footage of foreign countries is always great, and it's interesting watching people respond to different types of stressful situations while traveling. I also try to catch Craig Ferguson's opening monologue on the "Late Late Show" as often as possible. He's hilarious and seems to be able to get away with being really caustic because of his Scottish accent and the fact that he regularly makes fun of himself. - Were you excited to learn your music would be aired on Veronica Mars?
We were thrilled. The show was still in its first season at the time, so it wasn't as big a deal as it has become, but it was really validating for us as a band. - What impact has it had?
We used the stipend we got from it to finish and release our full-length debut record. The appearance, even though it was really short (like 15 seconds) has introduced us to people who would probably have never heard us otherwise, especially fans in Europe, Asia, and Australia. It's very cool to be associated with a show that has such a devoted following around the world. We'll ride those coattails as far as our 15 seconds of exposure can take us. - When people listen to your music, how do want them to react to it?
First of all, one thing I firmly believe as a songwriter is that once you make a song available to people, you relinquish all control of it. The listener will respond depending on so many unique, individual pieces of criteria that you can't have any expectations. The song almost takes on a life of its own.
But having said that, I hope that people will be compelled enough by what they hear that they want to hear more. For me, the music that I love the most gives me a visceral, emotional reaction and actually helps express feelings or experiences in a way that words can't. So that's the ideal, but it's the listener's decision whether or not we even come close to achieving that. - Have you always known that you'd want to create music?
Yeah, pretty much ever since I was about 8 or 9, I wanted to play music. I've tried not to on several occasions, but I always felt a nagging need to be in a band. - Have any funny stories about performing or touring on the road?
We played a run of shows a couple of years ago that were plagued by bad weather. It seemed that every time we would get something promising lined up, there would be torrential rains before we played. We had to cancel one gig because an ice storm arrived about two hours before we were supposed to play and we couldn't get to the gig because the streets were like glass. In colder climes, that wouldn't have been a big deal, but in Austin, the road crews didn't have all of the salt and sand they needed becuase it happened pretty quickly.
So once in December 2003, we played an early gig at a club on like a Tuesday night or something, so we didn't expect a big crowd but usually this particular bar has some people in it during happy hour just hanging out. But on this night, a nasty cold front blew in, so there were literally no patrons in the bar when we started, just the bartender and doorman.
So we played our first set to a totally empty house. For a couple of songs, there was a homeless guy in the doorway cheering us on. Then during the break between sets, this guy walks in and has a beer. When we start playing again, we ask him his name and say from the stage "We'd like to thank Jim Bob (or whatever) for hanging out with us, and this song goes out to him." And he's standing in front smiling and pumping his fist in the air. Then about 20 seconds into the song, he turns his fist pump into a wave and he bolts straight out the door. Nothing like running the single voluntary member of the crowd off. It was hilarious. - You're stuck on the proverbial island and of course there's only one CD with you. Which one would it be?
Something very long and very musically dense, like Godspeed You Black Emperor or something. A Fela Kuti collection might also be good. Something you wouldn't get sick of the third time you heard it. Either that or some good Tom Petty retrospective. - What are your hopes for the coming year?
We are writing a bunch of new material, which will hopefully comprise our next record. So I hope that we can record and release a new record within the next year. A big goal will be to get some sort of European release/distribution thing happening, so we can possibly tour over there. We've had some radio exposure over there and also know some bands who would help us with gigs. Of course, if a hip, financially stable label came along, we'd at least let them buy us a few drinks.
Buy The Daylight Titans music at iTunes or at Amazon.com and support TV Show Radio.
Visit their website (daylighttitans.com) and their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/thedaylighttitans)
