Daezy’s Daisy Bateman on swapping AFLW toughness for musical vulnerability.
Fresh from sold-out hometown shows and supporting iconic acts, Naarm’s indie-pop-rock force daezy is poised for their biggest year yet.
Having dropped their sophomore EP, Take It From Me, on January 29, the trio reveals a more intentional and vulnerable chapter.
Following the resonant success of their 2025 debut, this new collection embraces risk, experimentation, and raw honesty, weaving between pop, rock, and folk.
Coinciding with an east-coast Australian tour, the EP marks a confident evolution for the band, whose high-energy live presence has become a hallmark.
In this candid interview, frontwoman Daisy Bateman reflects on transitioning from AFLW to music, the band’s relentless work ethic, and the profound joy they find in forging genuine community through song.
HAPPY: What’d you get up to today?
DAEZY: We all worked our full-time jobs during the day, then about to meet up to rehearse for our upcoming Northcote Social Club show.
It’s currently 40+ degrees in Melbourne, so work was a bit of a grind but we now get to the fun stuff! It’s pretty unglamorous, but it’s how the songs actually make it into the world.
HAPPY: Tell us a little about where you’re from, and what you love about it!
DAEZY: We’re from all over Victoria. Daisy and Jack grew up in Melbourne’s south-east, Jackson’s from Morwell, and Josh grew up in Geelong. So we’ve got city kids, a regional kid, and a coastal kid in the mix.
Melbourne’s an amazing place, one of my (Daisy) favourite parts of the city is that there’s always somewhere you haven’t been. The live-music has actually opened my eyes up to the amount of amazing venues we have over all parts.
HAPPY: Daisy, you transitioned from a professional AFLW career to fronting a band. How does the mindset of performing on stage compare to competing on the field?
DAEZY: Such an interesting question. On the field, the goal is to be physically tough and emotionally controlled, whereas onstage it’s almost the opposite – you’re trying to be as emotionally vulnerable as possible and hoping no one notices your voice cracks.
Competing in the AFLW taught me all about resilience and discipline and music has taught me how to sit with emotions. The mindset has shifted from proving myself physically to being honest emotionally.
In saying this, AFLW has helped me deal with the nerves before performances. You’re always aiming to perform well under pressure in both fields (no pun intended).
HAPPY: The band’s live show is noted for its high-energy, emotionally charged presence. What can listeners expect from your upcoming show at Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on February 14th?
DAEZY: Our live shows are really intentional. We do work really hard at our individual and collective crafts so that naturally we have the freedom to be raw and present on stage.
Nothing is accidental, but we never want to be too polished or rehearsed, the emotion of our music always comes first.
At the Northcote Social Club we want the room to feel connected, like everyone’s in it together, rather than just a performance. We want our songs to land properly and for people to feel something real.
HAPPY: Your debut EP See Me Standing resonated deeply with listeners. What did you learn from that release that you applied to creating Take It From Me?
DAEZY: See Me Standing taught us the value of honesty and restraint. With that release, it was all about learning how to record together, what works best, what doesn’t work.
We also learnt a lot about putting ourselves out there and trusting our instincts for the first time. Seeing how people connected with our lyrics and made their own stories out of ours showed us that vulnerability was the strongest part of what we’re doing.
Going into Take It From Me, we leaned into that even more. We were more intentional with our writing, more comfortable leaving space in the songs, and less afraid to sit with uncomfortable emotions than trying to solve them.
It feels like a more confident, focused version of who we are, still emotional but clearer about what we want to say.
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HAPPY: Can you tell us about the title Take It From Me? What central idea or feeling does it capture for this new collection of songs?
DAEZY: ‘Take It From Me’ felt right because these songs come from a place of lived experience and emotional weight.
It’s a phrase that people say when you’ve been through something and it’s left a mark. You don’t have neat answers, just the truth of how it felt.
This EP sits with love, grief and repetition. The way certain experiences stay with you long after they’ve happened. Rather than trying to wrap things up or offer closure, the title reflects acceptance, taking things as they are, and carrying them forward. It’s an honest reflection of where we’re at.
HAPPY: You’re described as drawing inspiration from artists like San Cisco and Middle Kids. Who would be a dream artist to collaborate with, and why?
DAEZY: It’s honestly so hard to pick just one. The past few months have been really special for us, we’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredibly experienced collaborators, and even had long-time San Cisco producer Steven Schram mix our latest two songs.
Moments like that really remind us how much talent there is out there and how generous people can be with it.
We can best answer individually:
DAISY: Adele, just for the emotion and storytelling she brings to everything she does.
JACKSON: Sarah Blasko, for the love of her poetic nature of her lyrics matched with her almost haunting voice set against piano driven melodies. A true Australian icon
JOSH: Dermot Kennedy, because of how raw and powerful his writing feels
JACK: Theo Katzman, for his insane versatility around different instruments and crazy vocal range
HAPPY: Looking at your rapid rise, from packed local rooms to sharing a stage with Daryl Braithwaite, what has been the most surreal “pinch me” moment so far?
DAEZY: I think it’s hard to go past supporting the Rions at the Forum late last year.
It’s truly a dream come true, given how many times we have all stepped foot in there as a punter let alone dreaming that one day we would play on that stage.
It gives you a taste for it, and I think it adds to the drive to hopefully one day sell out a show there of our own!
HAPPY: What’s the biggest ambition or hope you have for Daezy in 2026?
DAEZY: Definitely releasing more music, we are currently working away in the studio to further elevate our sounds which is really exciting. I think working towards a bigger type of release given now we’ve released two EPs is a big ambition of ours.
Another would be to connect with our audiences and new audiences further. We’ve just finished two stops of our tour in Sydney and Brisbane, meeting people that have listened to our music has been extremely rewarding and partly ridiculous (haha).
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy?
DAEZY: Playing music and making it, silly!
Over the last year we’ve really learned how to stop and appreciate the moments we’re in. Realistically, we’re four people who never expected to get the opportunities we’ve had, and that alone feels incredibly special.
You can spend so much time chasing a future ‘moment’ or milestone, but you never actually know if it’s coming – or if it even exists.
What we’ve realised is that the joy is already here: turning up to rehearsals, playing music with our mates, meeting new people, meeting fans, and feeling that connection through the songs.
That’s the shared love at the centre of everything we do, and it’s the reason we started in the first place. Being present in that journey has made us happier than any goal ever could.
