“Our camaraderie shines through on stage,” Fyn Slarke of Daisy Park said in an interview with Happy Mag.
Daisy Park blessed listeners last month with Something Real, an indie-rock gem that saw the Perth band reflect on living in the moment.
Adorned in jangly guitars and rustic vocals, the track brought fresh flairs to the indie genre, establishing Daisy Park as one of this year’s most promising bands.
Now, fresh off the release of Something Real and with “future announcements” we caught up with Daisy Park vocalist Fyn Slarke for a chat about the band’s origins, artistry, and affinity for Mario Kart.
Catch out full interview with Daisy Park below, and scroll down to listen to their new single Something Real.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
SLARKE: Nothing too exciting. I’m eagerly waiting to hear back from a job interview I did last week and I also need to return a tee-shirt that unfortunately does not fit me. Other than that it’s looking to be a pretty cruisey one today!
HAPPY: Tell us about where you are from? What’s the scene like in your neck of the woods?
SLARKE: Myself and the rest of the band come from Perth, Western Australia. We’re all spread throughout the city.
Our drummer Tex is down near Fremantle, our bassist Vanessa and lead guitarist Mitch are both located up in the Northern suburbs, and I’m neatly placed in the middle in the inner city area.
We are all so passionate about the Perth music scene, we’ve all been raised through our teenage years listening to Perth artists and attending local gigs and festivals. I truly believe that Perth has some of the best new Australian acts coming up.
I often think about how different it would be trying to gain traction as a band over east, and I think that starting out in Perth has helped us quite a bit.
Because the scene over here is relatively small, I think that there is more incentive for new music to be recognised and more opportunities for new musicians to get there name out there, whether that be through gigs or word of mouth.
As well as that, a smaller scene can be good in terms of forming relationships with other artists. I think that there is such a large sense of community in the Perth scene, everyone is willing to help each other out and lend a helping hand as we’re all in the same boat.
HAPPY: Describe an average day?
SLARKE: I recently graduated high school so I have a lot more free time than I used to, which is nice but it also can be quite daunting.
I’m trying to write some music everyday, whether that be a chord progression or a verse of a song. I’ve found that getting into the habit of writing consistently is really useful as a songwriter.
It doesn’t matter if a lot of it is bad, if you’re writing everyday, you’re bound to stumble upon something good! Other than that, we’re all just trying to get together as much as possible to work on new songs or practise the set.
HAPPY: How did you come up with the name “Daisy Park”? Is there a story behind it?
SLARKE: The name of the band is always a funny one to explain. There’s no real interesting story or profound meaning behind the name. Mitch and I knew we wanted to start a new project and we obviously had to come up with a name for it.
We were just going back and forth with names that could be abbreviated and consisted of two words, and we ended up landing on Daisy Park! We ran it by our families and they all thought that it was the winner.
HAPPY: Something Real seems to explore themes of living in the moment and dealing with anxiety about the future. Could you elaborate on the creative process and inspiration behind this song?
SLARKE: I wrote this song at the start of summer of 2022, and I was about to go into my final year of high school. Naturally, the realisation that I was about to graduate dawned on me.
This was exciting but also terrifying. I never liked high school so I thought when the time would finally come for me to leave I would feel nothing but excitement for the future, however I had never been more stressed about it.
I felt like the question of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was being thrown at me from every angle, almost like I couldn’t escape the existential dread of the future.
While writing the song, I attempted to give myself reassurance that just letting go and trying to live in the moment is all I can do right now.
I’ve always really connected with songs that have an upbeat and bright musicality, but when you delve deeper into the lyrics they actually have a lot more to say beneath the surface. This was my attempt of recreating that vibe.
I still struggle with spiralling out about the future from time to time, but the sentiment of this song and performing it still holds true and is a reminder to me that I don’t have to be in control of everything. I’ve been learning to take things day by day and put one foot in front of the other.
HAPPY: What’s the dynamic like when you’re all in the studio working on a new song? Any funny or memorable moments you can share?
SLARKE: The few times we’ve been in the studio together, the energy can get a little hectic due to everyone just being excited to get all the ideas they can think of into the song.
Thankfully, our producer Andy Lawson is always there to bring us back down and focus on the task at hand. Having said that, once we get into the swing of things, we all really bounce a lot of great ideas off each other.
By the end of the sessions for ‘Unfair Game’ and ‘Something Real’, the songs had evolved more in three days than they had in a year. I think the general vibe of the studio just gets everyones creative juices flowing.
Going in to record the past two singles was definitely one of the highlights for myself in Daisy Park. Having the privilege to be able to grow with these songs that have been with you for so long, and then to transform them into a fully fledged body of work is something so special, and it is something that I will always love about creating music.
View this post on Instagram
HAPPY: What’s the one song in your repertoire that you feel a special connection to, and why?
SLARKE: It’s a relatively new one that I brought to the band a couple of months ago. The track is called ‘On Your Own’ and it’s about how you want to be there to support your friends but you can’t quite give them what they need until you support your own mental health.
When we demo’d this track and showed it to the full band, we all knew that there was something special about it.
The lyrics are maybe the most emotive I’ve written and it’s also such a fun song to play live. We may or may not be heading off to record it as our next single, but you didn’t hear that from us…
View this post on Instagram
HAPPY: When you’re not making music, what do you enjoy doing together as a band?
SLARKE: We wouldn’t consider ourselves to just be a band, we are literally all best friends, so when we’re not making music we’re most likely just going to be hanging out.
We love playing a little bit of Mario Kart and going on the occasional bush walk. But above all we just love attending live music and experiencing as many things as we can together. We’d like to think that our camaraderie shines through on stage in being super comfortable dancing around together!
View this post on Instagram
HAPPY: Is there a dream venue or festival you’d love to perform at someday?
SLARKE: Speaking for myself, a venue that I’ve always wanted to play is Fremantle Art Centre. I’ve grown up going to so many shows there and it’s just such a beautiful venue.
Also, it’s right next to my, Mitch, and Tex’s high school, so we always used to go there when we had a free period or needed to get some time away from school.
We used to sit on the grass area where the stage usually is and try and visualise the crowd looking back at us. As for festivals, I think it would be safe to say that we’d be happy playing any festival that we’re lucky enough to be offered.
However, the absolute dream for me would be to play at either Falls or Glastonbury. The lineups at those two never disappoint me!
View this post on Instagram
HAPPY: Are there any artists or bands you’re currently listening to that you’d recommend to your fans?
SLARKE: It’s so hard for me to narrow it down to one, but if I had to pick three artists that are influencing me the most at the moment it would have to be Sam Fender, Radiohead and Jeff Buckley.
Sam Fender’s melody and dynamics of his songs are infinitely catchy and memorable, Radiohead’s songwriting and creative flexibility is just something else, I can’t quite put it into words.
Jeff Buckley’s voice is on another level, I could listen to it forever. A new discovery I have made however is a band called Slow Pulp.
They’re sort of a mixture of Julia Jacklin an Phoebe Bridgers with a little hint of heartfelt shoe-gaze sprinkled in there. I would highly recommend!
HAPPY: What’s the most surprising or unexpected thing that’s happened to the band on this musical journey so far?
SLARKE: Making the Triple J Unearthed High Yearbook for 2023 was a massive achievement for us as a band. When we uploaded our first song to Unearthed we had no idea it would even be played on the station, let alone making the yearbook.
Getting played on Triple J for the first time was also a bit of a trip for us. As lovers of Australian music we’ve been listening to Triple J and the Hottest 100 since we were little, so to get recognition from them was a really special moment for us!
View this post on Instagram
HAPPY: Could you share any upcoming projects, gigs, or releases that fans can look forward to?
SLARKE: Of course! We’ve got a good ol’ single launch happening in Perth at Old Habits Bar on November 17th to celebrate the release of ‘Something Real’!
We’ve got an absolutely stacked lineup joining us on the night, with performances from the legends at Coco Elise, Centre, and King Blue! This will be our last headline show of the year, so it isn’t one you’ll want to miss.
We’re also heading back into the studio in early November to record our next single so keep an eye out for future announcements or sneak peaks!
View this post on Instagram
HAPPY: Lastly what makes you happy?
SLARKE: Having a lot more spare time recently has allowed me to reflect on more things like this. I think that the first thing that comes to mind for me would be creating and playing music.
Music is my greatest passion in life and it truly enriches and fulfils me as a human. However, it’s also the smaller, everyday things in my life that make me happy.
I love my dog, I really enjoy clothes and fashion, I love indulging in TV and film, I love making sandwiches, and I love spending time and creating meaningful relationships with friends and family.
When life can seem to be getting a little bit busy or stressful, I always know that I have these things to fall back on and use as an outlet to express myself and my feelings. Thank you so much for having us Happy Magazine, it’s been an absolute pleasure!
