How is the recent record different from your previous musical work?
Truth About Daisies has been together for almost three years. We had recorded a few demo CDs ourselves, but never felt the sound was professional enough. Even though we liked the performance on the demo CDs, the sound was murky and individual instruments and voices weren’t distinct enough in the final sound. This is the first record we’ve recorded with a studio and the first work of ours that has been professionally mixed and mastered.
We worked with Acadia Recording Company for recording, mixing and mastering. Doug was the primary producer on the CD, but all band members gave feedback during the process. We would all be in the studio listening to different mix options and tweaking the sound this way and that. Then we’d each take home a CD of that version of the mix to listen to for a while, then more feedback and back to the studio for another mix and another CD version. I think we went through six versions of the mix like that until we arrived at what you hear on the CD. It was a fun process. We all have really different personalities and opinions but it never got out of hand.
What inspires the songs your band writes?
Doug and I are the principle songwriters in the band, writing about half each of Truth About Daisies’ songs. As far as inspiration for songwriting, I’m inspired by whatever is going on around me or in my life. I don’t intentionally start writing about something specific, but I often will find myself with some refrain going through my head, a few words and a melody line, and I pick up my guitar and play and sing and a song unfolds from there. At some point, I recognize the theme as relating to something I or someone close to me is dealing with. A lot of images from nature come into my songs, and I don’t want to be in a rut with that. I try not to fall into a formula for songwriting or too much of a repeating pattern with themes or images because I like variety. But I also really love nature so it’s probably the most common thread running through my songs.
While I would say that I’m pretty lyric-driven, I think Doug is more inspired by getting into a musical groove and his lyrics seem to come later. He also writes more about other people, I think, with less songs in the first person. His songs often tell more of a story.
How is the Truth About Daisies experience different live than on records?
We recorded the CD live at USM’s Corthell Hall over two full days. The recording experience was really similar to a live performance as all of us were playing and singing together on stage, only with many more microphones for individual drums and for overall room sound. We initially envisioned keeping all of the live tracks but we ended up re-doing some of the voices and eventually added some solos and other additional parts. We did not want the CD to be too different from our live shows so we only added a few instruments we don’t play at shows on a couple of songs. What you hear on the CD is very similar to a live Truth About Daisies experience.
What is next for the band?
We have enough new music for another CD, which we’re all very excited about and hope to record sometime this year. We’re currently taking a performing break and look forward to more shows in the spring and summer, which we are currently scheduling. We perform around Portland, and you will likely find us playing at The Dogfish Bar & Grille, the North Star Music Café or One Longfellow Square. We also play a lot of outdoor concerts and festivals in the warmer months all around Maine.