interview med The Daydream Chronicles
What is the name of your band? The Daydream Chronicles
What made you call the band "The Daydream Chronicles"? Our previous band was called The Mixtape. This time around we wanted something that stood out and was marketable.
How was the band formed? We've all been playing music together for a long time now. After a couple of jam sessions we decided that we had the potential to really make something of the project. It's been nothing but uphill from that point on.
Can you briefly introduce your band and who you are? The Daydream Chronicles is a rock/alternative outfit from Buffalo, NY. We're just a bunch of guys who love to play music and have been fortunate enough to extend our fan base all over the map. We're all about high energy performances as well as connecting with every fan that we can at a real, emotional level through our music.
Where are all bandmembers from? Who does what in the band? Our band is made up of Josh Szary (Vocals), Justin Juzdowski (Guitar), Ben Cansdale (Bass), Trevor Wirth (Guitar) and Josiah Leroy (Drums). All of the guys except for Josiah are from a small town called Lancaster just outside of Buffalo. Josiah is from a smaller town called Cheektowaga.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? Our goal was very simple. We wanted to write a solid album to release. We accomplished this in 2012 and have been playing shows all over the East Coast. Our ambitions now have taken a broader view. Some of our goals include getting onto a national tour as well as getting our music to the ears of people who have connections to record labels.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Our music could be classified as rock/alternative but that's just too simple. Our songs are all big and epic with ambient, slow, fast, soft and heavy aspects to them. It's all inspirational, feel good music.
Where was your first gig? Our first gig was at a small local bar called The Forvm. We played with a couple of local acts as well as Sparks The Rescue and Kingsfoil. Kingsfoil features Frankie Muniz (Malcolm In The Middle, Stay Alive, Big Fat Liar) on drums.
Where was the latest gig? Our latest gig was at a large local venue called The Waiting Room right in the heart of the city. We played with Head North, Real Friends, Young Statues and Man Overboard (Rise Records).
Who writes your songs?/ who writes the music who writes lyrics? Our songs are written collectively by the band. Usually Justin or Trevor will lay down a pre-production demo and send it to the rest of the guys. From there, we start jamming on the song at practice and then when it's finally finished Josh writes lyrics. After we feel like we've got the song completely finished we take it to the studio.
Who has the best since of humor in the band? Honestly, we're all goofballs at heart. It'd be hard to choose just one of us.
What genre do you feel you are? Everything going on with TDC right now is definitely a good thing. We just got out of the studio and recorded a new single that we'll be releasing sometime before 2014 and plan on releasing a music video for it. You could best classify our genre as Ambient Rock
What are your songs about? Our style was chosen by the way we all jammed together. It combines the strengths of every single member and gives us a sound that is both catchy and unique in it's own right.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? All of our music is original, though we will play a cover at a gig from time to time.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? Currently we have one album out. It is a self titled album and it has 8 tracks on it. You can download it for free via BandCamp or Soundcloud. It is also available on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon.com just to name a few.
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes we do! If you search The Daydream Chronicles on YouTube a ton of live videos from past shows are the first things that pop uip.
How old are you? What got you started in music? All of our members are between 21 and 23 years old. Personally, I just picked up a guitar one day and started messing around until I learned something. All of us are self taught musicians. I believe this gives us an edge because we're playing our own style.
At what age did you start playing? I started playing guitar around 17 years old.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? The first time we stood on stage we were probably 15-17 years old.
What year was the band started? The Daydream Chronicles was formed in May 2012
How old were you the first time you saw a liveband play? My first concert was NSYNC and Britney Spears when I was 13 years old
How old were you at your first gig? Best/worst gig you've played? I was 17 when I played my first gig. The best we've ever played was our show with Cute Is What We Aim For and The Dangerous Summer at The Waiting Room a couple of months ago
What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? In the immediate future we'll be playing in New Jersey, New York City and Florida
Where have you played from then till now? We haven't played since January 26th
What songs are in your live set's? Our live sets consist of the whole self titled album as well as a couple songs from The Mixtape's self titled album.
Is it always the same set's live? We do our best to keep things interesting, so no. Playing the same set live every time wouldn't be any fun for us or the crowd
Have you had any bigger tours from start till now? As The Mixtape we went on tour with Sunday Night Scene (Hollywood Records). We went from Pennsylvania all the way up to Maine, it took a week and a half and we played about ten shows. As TDC, we've played New Jersey and that's the only out of state show we've played so far.
How big crowds do you usually play for?
We've played for crowds of 20 people and crowds of 700 people. It all depends on the show we're on really
What are the plans for the rest of the year? For the remainder of 2013 our plans are to get back into the studio to record another single, shoot a music video and hit the road for a couple of shows
Where do you usually play? In Buffalo we usually play at The Waiting Room. When we played in New Jersey we played at a venue called The Saint
How do you get psyched up for a gig? Usually we'll just hang out together, maybe have a drink and share a couple of laughs. Once we touch the stage, it's game on
What are your goals with your music? Our goals are to eventually get signed and to be able to have a sincere connection with all of our fans on a personal basis. We love meeting new people and some of our best friends are people we've met from playing shows
When did you decide to go all in for the music? Once we realized that we had the talent and potential to possibly do this for the rest of our lives, it really sunk in. Being a musician as a career is truly living the dream
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Our inspiration comes from all kinds of bands whether they're from the 60's or 2014.
What are your sources of inspiration? Along with other bands, our friends and family are a huge factor in inspiring us to keep going. Without the love and support that we get from our fans, we wouldn't be able to even play like we do now. It's truly a blessing.
What's the first step when making a new song? The first step is to hear the song in your head. After that, it's all about figuring out exactly how to play what you heard in your head
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Our personal view on it is that we just want our music to get out there and touch as many people's ears as possible. We always give our fans the option to download our music for free, or they can pay .99 cents a song from any site like iTunes
What would be your dreams for the band? Our dreams are simple. To play for a sold out stadium, to make a difference in someone's life, and to meet all of the people that we've looked up to musically since we were kids
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? We all listen to a little bit of everything. Djent, Metal, R&B, Rap, Rock, Alternative, Electronic, EDM, Acoustic, Folk, Country. Everything.
What would be your greatest fears for the future? Our greatest fears for the future include our music not getting to it's full potential, not being recognized by people of importance, and having an album completely flop.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Our biggest fear on stage is to have something terrible happen at the venue either to one of us or to someone who came to see us play.
What songs and what years were they released? Our 8 songs were all released in May 2013.
Have you been part of any other projects? All of us have been parts of other projects at some point. Currently, our drummer Josiah also drums for his good friend's band called Cause For A Her
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Outside of the band and music, we all have day jobs so we can pay the bills while we're working on our music.
What would you do if there was no music? Go crazy
How important are your fans? Our fans are the single most important thing in our lives when it comes to music. Without the dedicated fans coming out to shows and promoting us to their friends we would be nothing but a couple of kids playing music in a garage
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? One of our fans made a full size poster of our logo for her dorm room and in the background she had every lyric from the self titled album.
How often do you rehearse? We usually practice twice a week, Wednesday night and Sunday mornings
Where do you rehearse? During the spring and summer we practice in Justin's garage, and when it starts getting cold we move all of our gear off to Trevor's basement
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Squirt Guns with Real Bullets and The Author are probably two of our favorite songs to play live
What do you feel is the best liveband you've seen? It's a toss up between Memphis May Fire and Story Of The Year.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? The drive could come from anything, but mostly hope. Hope and no small amount of courage and determination
Do you have any webpages? We are on Facebook, SoundCloud, Twitter, Purevolume, Instagram, Vine, YouTube, Sonic Bids and many more.
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Just be yourselves and write the music that you love playing. The fans will come with time. The better your attitudes, the more attention the fans will pay
Describe your show, visually and musically Our live shows are very high energy, lots of synchronization and bouncing up and down. We just try to have as much fun as possible. We also pride ourselves on being as tight as we possibly can live. Our set is always aimed to sound just as good if not better than the album versions of the songs.
How do you view the musicindurty of today? The music industry today is fueled by Independent Artists and Indie Labels. With the technology now a days, anyone can download a couple of programs and make a pretty kick ass recording from home.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? The biggest obstacles are maintaining complete trust in each other as well as working together no matter what's going on in your lives outside of the band
What is best/worst with playing the clubs? Playing clubs is a ton of fun, there's usually a bar so we can sit down and have a couple of drinks with the fans after our sets. Tickets are usually reasonably priced and the shows are always promoted very well.
Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? Our show in NYC is one that no one should miss. It will be our first time playing in the city so you better believe we'll be going as hard as we possibly can. We aim to make a lasting impression.
How would you describe your sound in one sentence Feel good rock music for good people.
Whats your Pre-show ritual? Pre-show usually consists of tuning up our instruments while the band before us plays. Josh warms up his voice outside or in his car (Usually to The Dangerous Summer) and before we step on stage, we always huddle up and wish each other luck.
What do you feel a band/muscian should spend their money on? More musical gear. If you don't need new gear, save up for something that will make your live show stand out.
