Based out of Brooklyn, Little Daylight have used their remixes and original music to propel themselves into the spotlight. Formed in 2012, Little Daylight debuted expressing their unique touch onto the music of trending artists, including Passion Pit, Temper Trap and The Mowgli's, among others. All the while they used the time to gain traction and develop their own sound, working towards the wide-spread release of their original material.
Initially introducing their breakout original single "Overdose" early last year, the song continues to gain popularity at a steady rate. Building off of the success of "Overdose", Little Daylight have turned 2014 into a coming out party, releasing both an EP and a debut full length in the short span. With the latter, Hello Memory, having been released on July 15th via Capitol Records, there is no telling what the future has in store for the harmonizing trio. One thing is for certain, Little Daylight will continue to inspire with their warming touch.
Also note that Little Daylight's run with remixing popular material is still in full swing, recently adding songs from Sky Ferreira, Broods and Bastille to their collection. However, what has changed is that LD now also have artists remixing their own material. Recently St. Lucia stepped in to transform "Mona Lisa" into an aired out and paced remix.
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We were able to catch up with Little Daylight during their busy schedule for an exclusive interview and playlist. The playlist features the group's favorite remixes within recent memory, and the interview outlines some quick thoughts.
EARMILK: Releasing your debut full-length album (Hello Memory) a few weeks ago, would you say that producing and songwriting as a group was a smooth process overall?
Little Daylight: Nothing worth doing is smooth. A friend of ours once said that golf isn’t a sport because there’s no one actively trying to stop you from reaching your goal. There wasn’t anyone standing in our way of writing and recording Hello Memory but we were definitely up against a lot of challenges. The hardest but best part is collaborating as a three person writing and producing team. It’s really untraditional. Usually producers and writers are solo or work in pairs but because we’re sharing all decisions three ways it makes for an intense dynamic. The tension and resolve inherent in getting all of us to agree on decisions is a big part of the sound of our band and this album.
EM: How would you explain the transition from being primarily remix focused and now releasing original music?
Little Daylight: Well, this is actually something that gets misrepresented about us all the time. The first time we got together as a band was to demo out some original songs we had kicking around. It’s just that we were popping out the remixes at that same time. We were less precious about getting the remixes out on the blogs so they hit the public before the originals did. So Little Daylight has always had that dual nature, but it’s about where the focus has been during different times. Now that the album is done, we’re getting back into doing some remixes and even covers and it’s been really fun and freeing to screw around in the studio like that again.
EM: Of your many remixes, do you have a favorite? Maybe one that was the most fun working on?
Little Daylight: We just did one recently for Sky Ferreira’s “You’re Not The One” that came out so effortlessly for us. Sometimes that’s not the case, but we were so passionate about that song and had such a clear idea from the onset it was like we had a magic remix button or something; it just poured out. Another one that’s near and dear to us is the remix of Passion Pit’s “Constant Conversations.” The original is a stellar track and we did that one early in the LD days when we were still getting our world of sounds together. Some of the sonic themes in that remix actually helped us establish what made us tick. We still bring it up in the studio all the time.
EM: Which of your songs do you most enjoy playing live and why?
Little Daylight: We just added a few new songs to the live show: "Be Long" and "Never Go Back." Both have this epic narrative quality but in two totally different ways. "Be Long" is more minimal than we’ve ever been live, and it gives all this space for Nikki’s vocals. I’d say it tugs on our own heart strings up on stage more than any song ever has. And then in "Never Go Back" we build to this hectic electronic frenzy. If we weren’t sweating already in the set we are by the end of that one. And then "My Life" is a serious rock jam for us. We get to leave it all on the stage for that one.
Pick up Little Daylight's new album, Hello Memories, on iTunes here.
Little Daylight
Hello Memory
- Capitol Records
- 07-15-2014
