MUSICIANS OFTEN say in advance of coming to your town to play a gig “Oh yes we’re really looking forward to playing there,” and no doubt it is a line they use to every journalist ahead of every town they play.
American indie-pop band A Sunny Day In Glasgow are different though. When band leader Ben Daniels says he is looking forward to coming back to Galway he genuinely means it. It is a place which left an impression of him, and it is a city where he has friends.
The band first played Galway about two years ago and are coming back to play the Róisín Dubh on Monday May 17 at 9pm. So what are Ben’s memories of the city?
“We had a great time,” Ben tells me during our interview. “We were there during the Galway Races and wound up in this bar where these guys had had a big day and won a lot of money. They bought us drinks all night! We were also just hanging out with the guys who put on our show and the So Cow guys. We’ve kept in touch as well so we are excited to see Tony, Jon, and Brian again!”
Despite their name, A Sunny Day In Glasgow are not Scottish, but from Philadelphia, the city where the US declaration of independence and its constitution were proclaimed in 1776.
“In America you would be hard pressed to find a city with more history than Philadelphia,” says Ben proudly, and in many ways, the city is central to Ben’s own history and musical development.
“Almost everything that’s ever happened to me has happened there,” he says. “All my formative years, everything. Philly is in everything I do I am sure. I’ve lived in several different cities, I currently live in Sydney, Australia, but Philly is the only place I’ve been able to get musical projects done. I have no idea why this is. Comfort I guess?”
However Philadelphia is not solely responsible for inspiring Ben and his music. A number of years in Britain in the Noughties were also crucial, a period of his life chronicled in the band’s acclaimed 2007 debut album Scribble Mural Comic Journal.
“A lot of Scribble Mural Comic Journal was about my time in Glasgow and London,” he says. “In a lot of ways these were the worst years of my life - not because I was in Scotland and England, that was just where I happened to be. But I love it in the UK. Everyone loves music so much there. Everyone is in a band. Everyone goes to shows.”
Britain, or more specifically Scotland’s second city, also inspired the band’s name. “I lived in Glasgow and the weather really affected me,” says Ben. “I didn’t know there was a place on earth, outside of Alaska or something, where the sun would go away for weeks at a time. It seems kind of silly, but it really got to me.”
When ASDIG play Glasgow, how do audiences react to the band and the name? “We’ve played Glasgow twice and the audiences have been fantastic!” says Ben. “I flatter myself and think maybe the music has something to do with it too, but yeah, Glasgow is so good to us. I can’t wait to play there next week.”
The current ASDIG line up is Adam Herndon (drums ); Annie Fredrickson (vocals, keys ); Ben Daniels (guitar/sampler ); Jen Goma (vocals ); Josh Meakim (guitar, keys, vocals ); Ryan Newmyer (bass ).
Ben is the central figure in ASDIG but the band have had to endure numerous line up changes in the past year. Former bassist Brice Hickey broke several bones in his legs when trying to load equipment into his car. His partner (and ASDIG vocalist ) Robin Daniels had to leave to help take care of him. Another member, Lauren Daniels, also had to leave to attend grad school in Colorado.
“This is true,” says Ben. “It’s a huge commitment and just difficult to go on tour for any length of time, but especially for months at a time.”
Sometimes nature can get in the way as well. The volcano in Iceland has been caused flight disruption over the past few weeks and numerous shows by travelling musicians have been affectedd. ASDIG were lucky in that the volcano has not interrupted their current European tour but that did not stop some Scandinavian audiences from making assumptions.
“The only problem we’ve had was in Bergen, Norway,” says Ben. “Everyone thought we cancelled our show because of the volcano. We are not sure why they thought this, but we were there and played a great show.”
The band are currently touring their most recent album Ashes Grammer and the Nitetime Rainbows EP. Ashes Grammer has enjoyed critical acclaim (Pitchfork called it “jigsaw pop music from a group of writers strong enough to keep you humming and courageous enough to make you guess” ) and is an intriguing mix of shoegaze indie and ambient mood music.
The dreamy feel of the album gives it the impression that it’s 22 songs really need to be appreciated as a giant whole, almost like one long track, and not a work where tracks can be skipped or put on shuffle on your iPod. However this was not the band’s intention.
“We put a lot of the breaks in there so people could jump around the album more easily,” says Ben. “I am schizophrenic/ADD with my iPod. I am always jumping to a new song before the one I am listening to is done. We made the album to suit this kind of listener.
“It’s funny to see so many people feel that the album needs to be listened to as a whole. I have come to see the sense in this and it’s really kind of wonderful, but we weren't thinking that when we made it. We did want to make an album with a cohesive sound though. That was definitely a goal from the outset.”
Tickets are available from the Róisín Dubh and Zhivago.
