There’s an overwhelming rush you experience when you revive a feeling you haven’t felt in years – it’s that great moment of rediscovery.
This past Saturday night, students had the opportunity to experience a rush of nostalgia with Daphne Loves Derby. For many, it was much more than a show – it meant going back nearly a decade to when the band first began making music.
From rural Kent, Wash., Daphne Loves Derby has gained major airwaves across the country with their self-titled album Daphne Loves Derby (2003), On the Strength of All Convinced (2005) and Good Night, Witness Light (2007). Currently, Kenny Choi (vocalist/rhythm guitar), Stu Clay (drums), David Sparks (bass) and Spencer Abbott (lead guitar) make up the band.
This was the first ASUCD CoffeeHouse concert hosted by the Entertainment Council this year, which sold out within the first week. The intimate nature of the set up and performance space was charming and definitely relaxed. The band performed classic hits such as “Hammer and Hearts” and “Cue the Sun”.
Daphne Loves Derby also met and greeted the fans prior to sound check and revealed that they were perfectly humble guys (even college students themselves) who just wanted to continue sharing their passion through music.
MUSE had the opportunity to speak with Daphne Loves Derby before the show. Here’s what they had to say:
MUSE: Daphne Loves Derby has played at various universities before, what is it about these intimate shows that you prefer?
Kenny: The whole environment is much more chill than a regular show. We especially like the California shows like UCLA.
Stu: It’s definitely fun to fly out for a weekend and be able to hang out for a night. They’re kids our age so we have a lot of fun doing it.
Spencer: Yeah, it’s a better chance to get to know our fans and get the chance to talk to the audience – it’s great.
You guys got a lot of music circulated and credited to the online websites (i.e. PureVolume and MySpace). How do you feel the digital age and instant access to music has revolutionized the industry and your success in particular?
Stu: I think it’s really beneficial to where anyone can kind of put their music out. You don’t really need a team behind you anymore and you can just do things yourself. If people like it, they like it. And if not, you’re still making music and putting it out there.
Kenny: I agree with Stu. It benefits everyone. It is sad that musicians can’t really make a living anymore solely through music. There will always be kids in garages making music and someone’s going to love it. There’s nothing wrong about that.
Spencer: I think being informal about releasing stuff and not taking ourselves personally or too seriously give us the opportunity to be creative and get a chance to put stuff out there and not worry that everything is on the line or at stake. You get the chance to see what happens and let it take off on itself. It’s a lot more natural that way if it’s just about the music. It’s more fun that way, too.
Let’s talk music. What is your writing process like? Do you prefer to write lyrics and then compose the music/melodies? Or vice versa? Kenny: We usually just jam out to the music first. Someone can come up with an idea. Sometimes it can be like three seconds long. If it’s the right day, we’ll all just kind of feel it within a couple minutes. Or, sometimes we can just work on a song for days or weeks at a time. Something will come together finally.
Spencer: Yeah, it’s true. Sometimes we’ve written songs in 10 minutes and other times, songs have taken a month of stewing on and coming back to.
What does the future hold for Daphne Loves Derby? Do you have any current projects in progress or music being written right now?
David: We actually just recorded an album and we’re working with a label to hopefully release it this summer. It was a good process and we recorded the whole thing in two weeks. So right now we’re still kind of stewing on the extra thing to do with it.
Kenny: We have lives outside of this now. We’re never going to break up but we’re just overall feeling chill about the process now.
Anything you guys would like to say to the fans?
Kenny: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who supported us throughout the years. It was an amazing experience and we think we wouldn’t have any of this without you guys. So, thank you!
UYEN CAO can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.
