Your new album MODERATION has a layered meaning—reflecting both Aidan’s struggles with moderation in life and the minimalist approach to the album’s production. Could you walk us through how these themes shaped the album?
Carson: These themes made us only keep what was necessary to the song. Not overcrowding the music and allowing the vocal to be the focus to tell the story.
Aidan: Yeah we had a list of “audio rules” up on the wall while writing which were:
- Minimalism must be practiced and emphasized at all times
- Melody is the most important part
- The core pillars are vocals, bass, and drums. In that order
- Simplify.
Growing up in Vernon, BC, and starting in music from a young age, how have your small-town roots and early musical journey influenced the direction of MODERATION? Has this transition to Vancouver shifted your musical perspective?
Carson: Growing up without video games or a ton of things going on, we were gifted with the opportunity to put our all into learning our instruments, production, and how to work as a group. Without any of that, we wouldn’t have the same focus or love for the craft, which I feel is a huge reason we sound the way we do.
Nolan: I think that spending so much of your formative years in a place where you basically have to create your own entertainment has allowed all of us to enjoy when the world around us is quiet and we’re able to be focused solely on creating. Moving to Vancouver allowed us to value that quiet even more. We always fantasize about going to beautiful places that have a lot of space and few people to work on music now that we live in a bigger city.
Aidan: It gave me a really meaningful relationship with nature, but also an interest in how that contrasts with the rest of the world. I feel like that contrast between natural and man-made is pretty prevalent on MODERATION. To me, it’s like having a distorted, auto-tuned vocal over an acoustic guitar, or a piano. It’s the juxtaposition that makes it interesting.
You collaborated with Grammy and Juno-winning producers Chin Injeti and T-Minus, known for their work with major artists. What was it like working with such industry heavyweights, and how did they shape the final sound of MODERATION?
Carson: It was the easiest experience I have ever had making a body of work. Everyone understood their place in the project, and there was a very strong sense of respect at all times. We wouldn’t have had the same result without Chin or T-Minus and I’m forever grateful for their willingness to jump in on music with us.
Nolan: More than anything Chin allowed us all to feel confident in expressing our own sound and ideas. He was always there guiding us and listening with unbiased ears without trying to change what we were doing too much. It was extremely liberating.
Aidan: Chin was the great simplifier, always helping to hone in on an idea and getting to the core of it, to the most interesting part. It gave us a lot of faith in ourselves, and honestly made the process so fun.
One of the tracks “AUTO” sounds like it had an unconventional origin, starting with a TikTok video. Can you tell us more about the creative process behind this track, and what inspired the term “Auto-Destructive art” in this context?
Nolan: Aidan started this song in a hotel room in Edmonton while I was taking a nap in the bed right beside him. The main riff is a sampled and slightly altered TikTok that sounded super heavy and distorted which was something we had been looking for to match the colour red that we chose to use as a visual through line for this album. Aidan said he chose the name auto because he was reading about auto-destructive art and this song sounded like it was trying to destroy itself from the inside out. I agree with him. And we love this song for that reason.
Aidan: Auto-Destructive art is a term created by an artist named Gustav Metzger. Destruction is part of the process of creating it, like painting something with acid. I felt like it just fit the sound and the feeling of the song, because when it would hit the chorus it felt like all that distortion was ripping a hole through the song. Metzger also said something along the lines of how it’s “never merely destructive”. He said you “destroy a canvas and you create shapes”, that really influenced me to experiment more with distorting and skewing the sounds and vocals we had.
You hinted that MODERATION can be seen as “MOD ERA,” a time of change or modification. How does this album reflect the changes in your lives and music, and what do you hope listeners take away from this new era for daysormay?
Carson: A lot has changed in us as people, and in the world since we started making the album. For me it’s just to focus on what can be, and what can when it feels like the wrong thing, change is the catalyst for growth.
Nolan: We’ve all grown up a bit since the last album. This album for me has themes of wanting to be a better person for yourself and for others and in turn, all of the darkness one can feel when we really try to better ourselves. For me it’s saying that’s followed me around during this album rollout and it’s served as a positive mantra for me to keep going, to see what’s next and to see what we are capable of. I hope it’s able to make others feel the same way too.
Aidan: For me, it reflects how hard it is to grow up and try to be true to yourself in a world that seems to constantly reward the opposite. I feel like this is about trying to be a better person in the face of the internet, and trying to maneuver around the poison that comes with it. I hope people understand that this is the start of me trying to better myself and to be completely honest: take my life back from the hands of the internet. And to me, that means being honest always, in the writing, in the interviews, in the visuals, just being a vulnerable and as true to myself as possible. So I hope some people can see where I’m coming from with that.
With MODERATION now out, what’s next for daysormay? Are there any new themes or directions you’re excited to explore in future music?
Carson: Go listen to MODERATION! We are always working on new songs and sounds but this project is still so recent! Keep an eye out for shows and more!
Nolan: We basically just want to hone in even deeper on this sound. Simpler and more straightforward with great songwriting to lead the way. But yeah like Carson said this album has only been out for two months and above all else we want the world to hear it so go listen to it in the meantime.