The pairing of Adam Dawe and Karl O'Shea, Daylight Ghosts is a Brisbane-based project that finds both participants exploring sonic territory outside their previous band experiences.
A landscape that traverses indie folk, dark pop-noir, post-punk, and acoustic arrangements as well as bleeding into electronic tones, Daylight Ghosts have released a string of singles across the previous year or so.'After The Flood', 'In The Glow', 'Delirium's Refrain', 'Golden Hour' and 'Hook, Line' all showcase a brilliant breadth of musicianship, the scope of diversity a highlight that also heralds Adam and Karl's intrinsic understanding of the other's musical prowess.
That connection has led to Daylight Ghosts' debut studio album, 'Urban Umbra' which was recorded with producer-engineer Matt Dodds (who became a third member of the group during the recording sessions) at an AirBnB in Kenmore.
From indie folk to post-punk, acoustic arrangements to avant-garde electronic flavours, the sonic scope of Daylight Ghosts is expansive – was that something you wanted to focus on with this project to have a range of soundscapes and textures to explore with the songwriting?
Adam: It definitely was not the intention to begin with.
The original idea was for it to be a much more traditional sounding 'folk' project, with the emphasis on vocals and acoustic guitar and maybe the odd piano part or string arrangement thrown in.
We toyed with the idea of throwing a drum loop on our second single, 'After The Flood', and once we heard how that worked it really opened up the floodgates for us to incorporate other styles within the arrangements.
Karl: It's very much a case of us working this out as we go. I'm a big fan of bands who blend multiple styles or always try doing new things, and I guess it was inevitable that love would eventually bleed into this project.
Let's face it – I'd probably get bored really quickly if every song was a stripped-back acoustic ballad.
You've mentioned that this project is a 'massive departure' from your previous bands/projects; can you expand on that and what motivated the switch of styles?
Karl: My background is in heavier music, most notably in Balloons Kill Babies, which is the band I'm most known for.
BKB has a whole mix of metal, prog and post-rock so I'm used to a lot of riffing, big pedal boards and weird time signatures. Daylight Ghosts was born from a need to try something very different and, to a lesser degree, wanting to play music that required much less gear!
I have a ridiculously eclectic taste in music and this band is a great way for me to explore some of my other influences and push myself as a musician and composer.
Adam: Similar to Karl. I've normally played in heavier rock bands where the emphasis for me was more on performance than necessarily hitting all the right notes.
I've always loved singer-songwriter styles of music, so when the opportunity to be a part of this came up, I jumped at the chance.
Going back to the start of the group, Karl placed a Facebook ad in 2019 and Adam was the best response that was received to form the project... how were those early sessions, exchanging ideas/ influences? Did you think from the outset that you had stumbled across a creative partnership you saw a future in?
Karl: One of the most important things for me when it comes to music is collaborating with people who have strong work ethics and open minds, which is 100 per cent the vibe I got from Adam after our first meeting.
From there, it was a case of sharing my ideas and sculpting the songs together in rehearsal whilst getting to know each other. Honestly, one of the smoothest creative relationships I've ever had with anybody.
Adam: I knew it was going to be very different to anything I'd previously been involved with musically, but it was also something that felt very natural to write and collaborate for.
'Urban Umbra' is Daylight Ghosts debut album... it came together across two years of songwriting, arranging, recording and collaboration with engineer Matt Dodds; given that timeframe, was it a project that was constantly shifting, evolving, mutating with its sounds, styles and lyrical direction?
Karl: Once we'd worked on 'After The Flood' with Matt, it gave me a much better idea of how I wanted to approach the rest of the songs.
The emphasis started being placed on blending the acoustic and electronic in a way that sounds organic, and finding an individual personality for each track.
Adam: The lyrical direction was pretty set from the get-go. It took me a little while to 'crack' the particular story I wanted to tell and the voice I wanted to tell it from for Daylight Ghosts. Once I found it, the rest came along reasonably easily.
The introduction of electronic elements and arrangements into the music occurred during the making of your second single 'After The Flood'; was that a happy coincidence or had the move into electronic spaces already been floated previously?
Adam: I recall it being a moment of 'what if we try this' and then we did try it and it worked so, we kept it.
It was something we had talked about potentially exploring later on for future releases, but when we heard how good it sounded in 'After The Flood', we knew it had to stay.
You've released five singles so far... how many of those feature on 'Urban Umbra' and how has the group progressed sonically and lyrically since those early songs?
Adam: All five singles are on the album. We floated the idea of releasing only the non-single songs as an EP, but in the end we both felt all the songs belonged together and should be heard in an album format.
As far as progression goes, you should be able to hear it in the first three songs on the album. It starts of very stripped back with only acoustic guitar and strings, and then progresses through to a much more electro-influenced sound by the third song.
You recorded the bulk of the album in an AirBnB; that's so 2021-2022 haha... aside from that uniqueness, what else did that space contribute to the songs, overall feel-tones of the record?
Karl: The setting wasn't so much an influence but more of a relaxing way to record than the standard studio setting.
Not having to worry about a ticking clock and spending hundreds of dollars each day made the stress levels a lot more manageable for me. I don't usually enjoy tracking, so I'm all for anything that makes that process less painful.
Plus, being able to veg out on the couch and watch '30 Rock' made me happy.
Did you get any weird-strange looks from neighbours as you loaded in the various recording equipment?
Karl: If there were any curtain-twitchers about, I definitely didn't notice them.
Adam: We may have gotten some strange looks from the neighbours when we brought in a box of chains to do percussion for 'No Man's Land'. And I can't imagine they enjoyed the sound of the spring drum reverberating through the halls in the middle of the day (Google spring drum sounds for an idea).
The role Matt played as engineer; was he akin to a third member for the group, sharing ideas, offering advice to bring the album to life?
Karl: Definitely. Not only was he responsible for the engineering, but we collaborated creatively as well.
He's got an interesting and diverse taste in music, which means I can reference certain dance music sounds or even heavy metal-based ideas and he'll be onboard.
You'll be launching the album with a local show in early May; how do these songs transfer to the live setting? And will it be a faithful recreating of the material or do you allow some free-form, ad-libbing to occur when onstage?
Karl: We are actually presenting the songs with all the bells and whistles for the very first time in a live setting. It's a little nerve-wracking but I'm excited to offer folks a different live experience than what we've done so far.
Adam: We'll also be playing the album in order from start to finish just to add a little extra special touch to the launch show.
The music video for 'Golden Hour' looks like it was a lot of fun to make with the 'crow dancers'; it must've been good to focus on another creative outlet to express Daylight Ghosts?
Adam: Karl came up with the concept for the video, which was fine-tuned with the help of Rhys Tyack (filmmaker/ cinematographer) on the days of shooting.
It's definitely cool to have a different visual interpretation to the song out there. Plus the video looks absolutely amazing. Rhys really out did himself.
Karl: The concept came to me quite easily which doesn't always happen. From there, it was just a matter of bouncing ideas back and forth with Rhys and buying props, coming up with scenes, briefing dancers etc.
I need to shout-out the dancers – Kristian Šantić, Emma Langfield and Jade Brider. Amazingly talented folk who were so easy to work with and did a lot with very little.
Do you plan to include more music videos with future releases?
Adam: Absolutely. Not sure if it will be for this album but definitely for future releases.
Karl: I have some ideas percolating for some future, yet unrecorded songs.
After the launch show, what's next for Daylight Ghosts?
Adam: We have a couple more shows lined up, but the main focus for the later half of 2022 will be writing. We're probably 75 per cent done writing the next batch of songs.
Once they're complete, we'll be taking our box of chains, spring drums and all other manner of odd instruments back to the AirBnB to record again.
Thanks for your time; anything else you'd like to add?
Adam: People can listen to our album right now via most streaming services and watch the video for 'Golden Hour' on YouTube. If you like what you hear, throw us a follow on social media to stay up to date with all things Daylight Ghosts.
Karl: What Adam said. Plus, peace and love and all that stuff.
Daylight Ghosts launch 'Urban Umbra' at It's Still A Secret (Brisbane) 6 May.
