San Diego based alt-pop trio almost monday has finally unveiled their viral hit "cough drops" in its entirety.
The infectious single, featuring vivid motif-charged lyrics along with unforgettable guitar hooks and bass lines, became an instant fan-favorite when the band first teased it on TikTok. Since then, almost monday has been closing off their sets with "cough drops" across various festivals and international tours. An easy listen polished with fine-tuned production and a smooth-sailing progression, "cough drops" just may be the track you've been waiting for to close off your summer playlist.
Between quite a few successful singles and returning to the road, almost monday had a whirlwind of a year thus far. EARMILK caught up with the band right before their upcoming headline shows in Japan and South Korea. Here's what the trio of almost monday, Dawson Daugherty, Cole Clisby and Luke Fabry, have to say about "cough drops," long-time and dream collaborations, as well as some fun ice cream flavors.
Gomi: Give me a rating of today's weather from where you're at?
Dawson: I'm gonna rate it 10 out of 10. It is very nice today in Los Angeles.
Luke: Today is a little cloudy, so I'm gonna give it a 6.
Cole: I live 5 minutes away from Dawson so it's pretty much the same, I'd give it a 10.
Gomi: I'll start off by asking, how did the idea of "cough drops" first come about?
Dawson: So we were in the studio with our producer, Simon Oscroft, who we've worked with on every thing almost monday. And just like any other day in the studio, we just got in there listening to a lot of music that we all were vibing with, and the chorus just kind of came out of nowhere. I think we just sang out those lyrics without even a thought. This song was unique in that we've got some chords down then just sang out this chorus, and the lyrics basically just stayed the same. So this one was really fun, because I think you're always looking for those magic days in the studio where it just works right away.
Gomi: I was gonna ask, how do you decide which track to turn into a full track, and which track to just say, Okay, this might need some work. But is it mostly just studio magic?
Dawson: We try to finish a song in a day, even if it's not amazing. We really just try to get the idea down and try to get some good vocals. But yeah, you sort of just know, maybe even in the first hour if something's going to be cool or good. We always try to stick with the song throughout the day and try to make it as good as possible.
Cole: Yeah, we've finished songs that we have not been super excited about on the day of. We would revisit them on different days, turn them around, change up the chorus or the verse, then it turns into a song we love. So usually, if you stick through it throughout the day, sometimes it ends up being good.
Gomi: How did that [process] particularly go about with "cough drops?"
Dawson: I think this song was an example of one of the ones that at the end of the day, we were high-fiving and feeling really good about it. Actually, with this song in particular, we were so excited about it that we started playing it live pretty much instantly after finishing it. Playing unreleased music live is kind of a gamble, because people obviously won't know it. We were just so excited about this one we just took it straight to our shows. And there at our shows we found out how much people liked it. It continues to be the song that everybody talks about even though it was unreleased. It even whittled its way to being the last song of our set, which is kind of a weird thing that you would end with an unreleased song; but it's been really cool. This song has definitely taken on its own little story, and the fans that have heard it live really wanted it. So we're really, really excited for this one to be coming out.
Gomi: I want to ask about touring in general because you guys have been doing so many festivals and shows, how has that been? Are you excited for the next few headlines that are in Asia?
Luke: Yeah, it's crazy. Touring has been amazing. It's kind of a generic answer, because of the pandemic and not being able to play live for two years, it almost like we're ramping up again, it just made us even more hungry to be out and playing shows. And it's cool to see people rather than numbers, and actual faces–you start to recognize people that would come to a couple shows and you just make friends. It's kind of funny, we joke about it, but [now] it feels like we're a real band because it's not just on the internet or on whatever. It's cool to build a little fan base that comes out shows and that people are showing up to shows in places that you've never been to. It's really exciting.
Gomi: "cough drops" was also teased on TikTok, so it's kind of like you're virtually teasing it but also playing it live at shows without releasing the song. Is there any similarity between the two? Is there a preference between being a band on the internet and being a live band?
Luke: I think both are important. The best thing about that is you get to see what works. We would play a song that we haven't released live and we can watch the crowd and see if people are into it or not. Similar to TikTok, if people are commenting and wanting to hear more of it, it's a good sign to kind of see and think about what we are releasing next.
Gomi: Both Simon Oscroft and Mark Needham are really phenomenal people in the indie scene. Was there ever a point when it was intimidating to collaborate with other musicians or producers? Or is it still a little bit intimidating?
Dawson: I was pretty intimidated when we first met Mark, because he's this guy in this industry that makes these iconic records and we were in high school. We were this random band from San Diego. So meeting him was intimidating in a good way, like, Okay, this guy knows what he's doing. But in terms of our relationship with Simon, he's been the only producer we've worked with from the get go. When we first met him, we just had such an amazing connection. We always joke that he's the secret fourth member of almost monday. He has become one of our greatest friends. I think something that's cool with a relationship like that is you just build a lot of trust. You get really comfortable in a good way where you can try things and you're not worried about looking stupid or dumb. So that relationship for us has been so important, because I think it helped us figured out who we are. Not only do you have that comfortability, but you also have a friend to celebrate the victories with. We love that guy. He's a massive talent.
Gomi: I want to talk about the music video for a bit. I definitely noticed this kind of identity from bands from San Diego. So I want to ask you, when it comes to music videos, and maybe even single and EP arts, how do you approach it?
Cole: We're just trying to elevate the song and pair with what the song makes us feel. A lot of times for our music video ideas, we would start out by hanging out with our friends who helped make, direct and film all our videos. And we would be talking about the song and literally coming up with really dumb and ideas that maybe we wouldn't be able to achieve, but then we reel it back from there. Similar with the artwork, it's just one of our friends that we've grown up with and we just got on the same page with him. I feel like with whoever you're collaborating with, as long as they're on the same wavelength of your aesthetic and the vibe of what you're going for, that's the best place to be.
Gomi: For "cough drops," was there ever an initial blueprint for the music video?
Cole: We wanted to do more of a performance video for this one and we haven't done that before. We actually had an idea while we were on tour in Mexico City. There was an architect who designs really cool houses there. I had been to Mexico City before and toured one of his houses, it was really inspiring. When I showed the boys the photos of it, we were all like we have to shoot a music video here. We didn't end up shooting at the house but we were able to use this park that he designed–it was 20 years in the making to design this park. So we were super fortunate to be able to go to it and film a performance video there.
Gomi: How would each of you describe the sound of almost monday as a whole?
Dawson: I would say probably driving with your friends, windows down by the beach. Those are the ones people have told us before and I think that's nice.
Luke: It's really hard to describe, it's kind of like describing your own personality. Sometimes you don't have a perspective of what it is, you're just trying to write what sounds cool. Hopefully other people interpret it in somewhat of a positive sense.
Cole: I guess if I had to put it into a box, it's like, bright, uplifting. I wouldn't say it's dark or anything. Maybe one day we'll venture into that.
Dawson: The dark side of almost monday. (laughs)
Gomi: Because you're touring so much and doing so many different tours with so many different artists. What's an ultimate collaboration for you? Or like a dream tour lineup?
Dawson: We were actually just talking about that. I mean, and this isn't a hot take at all, but Kevin Parker is just one of the best producers in the world. That's obviously a pipe dream there, but doing a collaboration with Tame Impala would be insane. That would be very, very cool.
Cole: Gorillaz would be a cool one, too. Damon Albarn does a lot of collaborations, at least as of recently. He's just a genius and anything he touches is amazing.
Gomi: I was doing like a slight–it's not even that deep of a dive, just a little dive–I found that there was a remix with the Knocks. Was there ever direct communication with that remix at all? How was that working experience?
Dawson: Yeah, our producer Simon is really good friends with Ben Ruttner from the Knocks. So we got to hang out with him, and we are huge fans of them. That was truthfully a huge, very cool moment. I remember when we heard the first cut of it, too. We were just freaking out and super stoked on how it sounded. And Ben is a super cool guy. It's always cool when you get to meet them or hang a little bit. That's kind of the dream. I know Kevin Parker's gonna be reading this interview, so when he is reading it, we'd like to hang, Kevin, and do a collab. Thank you. Hit us up over here.
Gomi: Well, we've talked enough about "cough drops." If you can describe the next single using an ice cream flavor, what would it be?
Dawson: We'd be we'd be lying if we told you we know exactly which one is the next single, there is definitely a pool of them that we're considering right now. But I'm thinking of one in particular, and I would go with… What's that one flavor where it has everything in it? Luke probably knows…
Luke: Is it sherbet?
Dawson: Yeah, sherbet is what I would call it. Actually, Luke knows a lot about ice cream, which is cool. Tell her about the convention you went to.
Luke: Well, it was a festival. So yeah, my palette has been refined. But I think if I had to choose, again, like Dawson said, I don't exactly know, but there's this place close to my house and they have one called "The Blue Monster." It's my favorite flavor, so I'm just gonna bet the next song after "cough drops" will be my next favorite song.
Cole: I've heard legends of "The Blue Monster." I still need to try it. I think I would throw in a classic mint chip. No reason around it. Mint chip.
