Daughter Darling

Musical Discoveries: Please tell us about your backgrounds. Why don't you start Nat.

Nat: My musical background is pretty broad. I've been singing ever since I could talk so, obviously I've had a lot of time to think about my future in music. Ive always had this creepy obsession with my "destiny" as a female vocalist. It was like God instilled the desire as soon as I knew what it meant to be a performer, because honestly, I was the shyest child I had ever seen and would have crapped my pants if someone put me on the spot, so I kept my voice a secret. I'm still the same way.

Travis: My brother and I can't play any instruments, so we collect records of people who can. We listen to endless amounts of material and when something strikes a chord in our gut we say, that's it, I want to use that sound. We then rework it, interpret into our own sound using a computer to manipulate it into a digital collage.

I think now people are realizing, a turntable is an instrument, a computer is an instrument. It manipulates soundwaves, just as blowing into a brass pipe with holes does Since we can't play instruments it has formed the backbone of our sound. But I wanted to bring in some talented musicians to make the project "real" and have a soul. Without those live elements than the project would be very sterile and boring.

My brother has the ear for mixing sounds. He will hear a beat and know it needs something else, and he will sort through hundreds of records listening into his headphones, and then with a big smile, he will mix it into the beat and it will blend like a dream, example, the beginning of "Shattered." I have a knack for arranging things. I programmed all the beats except "Sad & Lonely," which Steve did.

How did you develop your vocal style?

Nat: I consider myself really really blessed. This voice of mine has taken years to evolve into what it is. I have a feeling the evolution of it still is not complete. As far back as I can remember, My very first musical influences would have to be artists that my mom listened to: Carol King, Karen Carpenter, Amy Grant, Sandy Patty, Whitney Houston, Sade.

I never asked for singing lessons. I don't think my parents even knew that I had an interest in singing. My interest in music was evident though. I did want piano lessons, but never received them. I understand the basics of playing the piano though. I remember one day, I sat at my grandmothers piano and with absolute determination, I looked at her beginners book and made sense of it all. Then I played "mary had a little lamb" proudly "reading" each note from the page. That is the extent of my training on piano. I did, however, play the clarinet for 6 years. I never really learned how to read music though. I didn't understand it, so I just played by ear. I was actually pretty good.

As far as vocal training is concerned, I can truthfully say that I was trained by myself. I used to pick the hardest--in range and movement--songs off of a female artists albums and play them over and over until I knew the song word for word, note for note. For example, Whitney Houston's "I will always love you". At seventeen, I did attempt vocal lessons. The first attempt at lessons was a disaster and a waste of my time. I had a very stubborn voice and my throat muscles had been trained to work in a completely different way than what "professional vocal training" requires.

In college, I decided to give it another shot. My voice instructor was brilliant and very helpful. She had an admiration for my "contemporary voice" and encouraged me to build on it. After receiving those lessons, I was by no means, Broadway material, but I did learn about breath control and I was introduced to the necessity of warming up.

What artists have been your musical influences?

Nat: These artists are all my influences throughout my life, in chronological order: Karen Carpenter, Sade, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Sandy Patty, Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, En Vougue, Boyz II Men, Keith Sweat, TLC, Alison Krauss Alanis Morrisette, Cheryl Crowe, Dinah Washington, Ani Difranco, Emmylou Harris, Poe, Garbage, Jewel, Paul Oakenfold, Fat Boy Slim, Bjork, Portishead, Incubus, Radiohead, Coldplay, Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Ben Harper, Kosheen, Sneaker Pimps, Massive Attack, Soulstice, Beth Orton, Over the Rhine, Deftones.

Please tell us more about the development of the debut album.

Nat: The result of our first project was actually not what I had planned. When I came into the group initially, I wanted to find a traditional "band" to write with. We attempted to work with a live band and something did not feel right. We then decided to just hire musicians as needed with each song rather than always having the same instruments in the entire album. The album turned out to be much more somber and dark than I had thought it would be. The beautiful thing about it is that Travis, Steve and I were all able to combine our tastes in each song. Every song reflects who we are as individuals. There are certain elements in each song that resemble our individual ideas and thoughts.

Tell us some more about the great photography used on the album cover and within your website.

Nat: We actually had a few photographers for the album cover as well as the web site. Kyle Cassidy shot the photos featured on the image section of our sight as well as the photo of me on the album cover. We had a single shoot with Kyle in the city. His taste is actually fantastic and very simple. I did not want a photographer who would make me act all "sexy" and "show off-ish"… that's just not me. He captured the simplicity of who I am in the shoot and also kept it in the theme of "sweet shadows."

Travis: James Forbes did the layout for the album cover, the website and took all the beautiful photos of the trees. We intentionally focused on Natalie as Daughter Darling’s image. WE did not want to played out bad photos with two guys and a girl standing around. How boring. We also wanted to reflect the mood of our music ... dark and moody, yet not weird or creepy. We think the tree does this perfectly. Also the doll as our icon has a bit of this element too.

Where does the band's name come from?

Nat: I remember the moment that Travis and I decided to go with "Daughter Darling." I was actually in college at the time, so we were online discussing all of our ideas. Each of us listed a bunch of ideas and Travis came up with the name and it just stuck with us. We liked that it reflected my "innocence" [laughs].

Travis: I came up with these random words that really didn’t mean anything. I love little girls, whenever I see a young girl like four or five, when they are beginning to speak well, I just melt. I cant wait to have a daughter of my own, so I guess subconsciously I picked those words because I want this to be my daughter, and in a way it is my first born. My brother hated the name, but it has grown on him.

Who are some your favorite artists and groups?

Nat: I've said this many times before…my taste in music is incredibly bizarre and random. I am a firm believer in keeping an open mind about talented musicians. If an artist has talent … I will most definitely enjoy it. So with that said, here are a few of my current favorites, half of them in which my boyfriend Kevin introduced to me: Deftones, At the Drive in, Thursday, Glassjaw, The White Stripes, Jack Johnson, Radiohead, Coldplay, Juliana Theory, Sunny Day Real Estate, Kosheen, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Soulstice, Bjork, Tori Amos, Beth Orton, Ani Difranco, Over the Rhine, Erin McKeown, Sigur Ross, The Orb, Roksoypp, Goldfrapp, U.N.K.L.E, Chemical Brothers, Paul Oakenfold. The list is absolutely endless.

Where do you draw your inspiration for the music?

Nat: Some of the songs that I have written are painfully personal, while others have no relevance to my lifestyle whatsoever. Take voodoo games for instance … I've never ever had an ex-boyfriend who was obsessed with me and stabbed voodoo dolls to punish me, whereas the song "Sweet Shadows" is all about my true lonliness in a city full of new faces and no familiarity.

Travis: As far as the music, its all about moving people. It cant just be a background, it has to move Natalie to write. We have tossed out several good beats that just didn’t inspire Natalie to write something good. Voodoo games though was kinda a funny spin on that inspiration wheel. I gave Natalie a challenge. I said, "ok, I have this concept of a guy who can still hurt his ex-girlfriend even though he is not in her life anymore, and I want him to use a voodoo doll to illustrate that. And I want him to simultaneously show love and violence to the doll."

And I said, "oh I want this song to be realllly dark. And , she came back to me a week later with voodoo games. I was so blown away by how well she made my concept into lyrics, that we had to match it with a beat that was just as dark and beautiful.

Please tell us how you would describe your music in a bit more detail.

Nat: This question is always the one that I dread and it is the most commonly asked, naturally. Some of my friends have described my music as "Dido on acid." I thought that was a pretty close description. I guess if you were to just take all of the female artists that give you goosebumps--Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan., Fiona Apple--and put them into one girl, I would be that girl. Its not a bragging statement … it's just what people have told me.

Travis: I agree this is a hard question to answer. I would say its melancholy, dark, moody, raw, and emotional. People have said we sound like Portishead, but more accessible. I would have to agree. Beth Gibbons vocals are amazing, but a lot of times nobody knows what the hell she is talking about. Natalie has a very direct writing style, although its not boring at all.

How would you describe your voice / vocal style?

Nat: My voice is beautifully mysterious and feminine. Light and yet booming. It sticks with you. I consider it quite sexy.

Please explain the creative process and tell us about the studios you use in different stages.

Nat: This is a simple answer. Travis, Steve and I recorded the entire album in our own studio. It was what made this project happen. We owned the studio, therefore we never had to leave or pay for studio time. I would write the lyrics of each song in the studio as well, with the exception of a few of the songs: "Absconding, Shattered, You won’t see me."

Travis: Well, its pretty much my job to capture, arrange and polish everything. I work all the equipment. Every song was a different process, but for the most part we would start with a simple loop that would lay down the feel of the track.

We would have to get a vibe from Natalie to go any further. Then Natalie would start writing lyrics, and we would figure out how to format the song, then we would go in and start adding other sounds and making it interesting. "Mermaid" took the longest to record, probably over a month of straight working on it, but its an extremely complex song. That was also the first song I tried using Sonic Foundry Acid. I wanted to see what it could do, so to speak. Every song after that I used acid cause its simply an amazing program.

Do you have a career or work outside music?

Nat: My life is crazy right now. I just had a baby on June 14th. Her name is Phaedra Elizabeth. I’ve been very busy falling in love with her for the past month. I was pregnant while we were finishing up the album, so my voice did change a little and I had to really work hard to get it to sound the way I wanted it to. I had to work to make ends meet when I moved to Philadelphia in February of 2002 at a restaurant called the Bistro St. Tropez. If you are ever in Philly you should go eat there. The food is fabulous. Anyway, I did not work anymore once I was about six months pregnant and now am just enjoying motherhood. We will begin playing out in the fall, so I will be pretty busy with getting things prepared to put on a breathtaking show for our fans. In my spare time though, I will be going to cosmetology school starting in September.

Travis: I do competition car stereo installations. This has given me the ear for what good recordings should sound like. I get paid very well and it has enabled me to be able to afford to bring this project to reality. My brother has his own landscaping business and has contributed half to the studio. We hope to make enough money from our music to be able to do it full time.

What about your live performances and the audience's reaction to your on-stage persona?

Nat: The times that we have performed live are few and far between. I feel like people react really well considering the fact that I am not incredibley entertaining on stage. I have always just figured that my voice would enetertain. I get kind of annoyed when performers try to do stand up comedy or waste a lot of time talking on stage. I have an understanding that when people pay to hear music, they want to hear some damn good music. So that is what I try to live up to.

Travis: I am talking to some people about setting up a live webcast concert. Since we have a lot of fans overseas, I wanted to figure out a way to be able to perform for them. Since our online presence is very strong I figured we could have an online concert as well. I would like to rent out a camera crew with dollies, tracks, and good quality recording equipment. We would perform here in Philly in front of an intimate audience with a nice setting. I was thinking of selling tickets through online music sites at $5 a piece and give the site about $1 cut of each ticket they sell. Hopefully I will be able to organize some schools and universities to set up a viewing room for many people to watch the webcast.

How about video work?

Nat: We would love to do a few videos in the near future. It's just a matter of having the budget to do so. Things like that obviously take time, but I do have a director in mind that I would love to work with. His name is Steve Miller and he lives in Chicago.

Travis: Doing a music video is the ultimate though, when the budget allows we are definitely going to do a video, and its going to be amazing or I wont do it at all. Very slow motion gorgeous details, makes you think.

What are your plans for 2003?

Nat: I, personally, would like to start writing for the second release. Touring locally is a big goal in mind. I would also like to expand my musical horizons by showing interest in other local female acts. It's important for me to seek out other talents in the region and befriend them.

Travis: Promotion, promotion, promotion. Natalie likes to get ahead of herself, she is already talking about the second album and we have lots of work to do with this one! I would like to land a movie soundtrack deal. Right now Im trying to talk to Blinding Edge Pictures, M. Night Shyamalan's production company, into using one of our songs. That would be our big break.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the label, their origins and their plans?

Travis: Plain Jane Records is my baby. I created it because the music industry cares more about how pretty a girl is, than how talented she is. I care about the talent. Music is meant to be listened to. I want to give all amazing female singer and female fronted groups a chance to be heard. I am hoping that DD’s success will bring Plain Jane respect, and women will trust us to develop them, and market them.

I am very anti major label, and I feel that independents are the way to go right now. Plain Jane Records.com is in development right now. It will be a place where female musicians can post lyrics, read articles, submit demos, and network, and just blow off some steam. I am hoping to make it as interactive as possible. James Forbes, who did the DD site is doing our Plain Jane site.

You have a great flash website. How has the internet influenced your musical career and the promotion of your music?

Nat: The internet is the way to be heard and seen now. Hopping in your van and living off of instant mashed potatoes is not really the way to do it anymore, even though it would probably be quite an adventure. I never wanted to be a "starving artist." I just wanted my voice to be heard. And people are always always searching on the internet.

Trip-Hop is a fairly new Genre and there is a good amount of people out there hungry for more of it. And there are only a select few trip-hop web sites with the latest news on what is out there now. We got lucky. Before this music becomes a pop fad, we have had the pleasure of rising above the others and being noticed as a true talent. Life is good.

Travis: What can I say about the internet--where do I begin? We wouldn’t exist without the internet. I wouldn’t have met Natalie, we wouldn’t have been able to reach thousands of fans all over the world. Every month our website gets hits from just about every country in the world. That’s an amazing feeling. To have the whole world validate what you are doing builds you as an artist tremendously. We also have given "Broken Bridge" and "Sad & Lonely" as gifts to our fans because we know having full length songs to enjoy means we will build a very loyal fan base. And it has worked tremendously.

We want to exploit this medium to its fullest. While the majors are freaking out saying it’s killing their sales, DD is smiling all the way to the bank. We have put our blood, sweat and tears into this album for over two years, and in a few clicks, the whole world can hear it. All I can say is, I feel lucky to be in this moment in time.