Up-and-coming Sydney-based singer-songwriter, drummer and producer Daphnie has burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion this year, dazzling us with his dreamy pop numbers. After releasing his first vibrant single 'Late' and the energetic 'Sugarcoat', he’s showed no signs of slowing down with newly released 'Dizzy'. Mixing the magic of a relationship with the melancholy, Daphnie has created a bittersweet sound that encapsulates the lyrics perfectly. I was lucky enough to chat with Daphnie about all things 'Dizzy' and what he’s got coming up for us next.
Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me this morning! Let’s start with just a little bit of an introduction of you and your music for anyone that might be finding it now for the first time. How would you describe your music and yourself?
I’d say pretty experimental, alternative pop is kind of where I’d put myself in- it’s very soft boy, and feminine, and all of that kind of stuff which I quite enjoy- if you like ROLE MODEL, COIN, or David Hugo, they’re all similar artists that I think are really awesome. I guess trying to push boundaries and being kinda experimental and weird is a big focus of mine- I don’t like being too formulaic or if I am, I try to flip it a bit. That’s sort of the mission statement!
We love that! Great inspirations as well- love some COIN.
COIN’s amazing!
So your new song Dizzy has just released- coming up on about two weeks out at this point! How did that one come about and what’s the story behind it?
So that one’s kind of a bit sad- it’s about being in a tricky patch in my relationship. We had heaps of differences, different core values, but we still got along really well so it was quite tricky to make it work- Dizzy was supposed to be a “f*ck it, we don’t care about the consequences” song, let’s just stay in this fantasy land with each other and not worry about the rest of the world and the problems we were having.
The verses describe what’s actually going on in the real world- it’s not going heaps well, struggling to make everything work out, and the chorus is like yeah whatever, I love you.
We tried to match the production to the song- the verses feel quite longing, while the choruses are more hype and energetic- with the experimental thing I was talking about before we wanted to like flip stuff so instead of going for big drums in the chorus, it has no drums! Kind of empty but still big.
I guess another thing that everyone I write with likes doing is having the happy bops with depressing lyrics or some mix of the two feelings- it’s not all surface level or whatever the vibe of the music is, it's switched up a little.
Yeah absolutely. Going off that, what do you think your favourite lyric in 'Dizzy' is?
“Cos you’re worth it and I’d burn to hold you if you asked”
Excellent choice- absolutely love the contrasting imagery you play with there. We’ve brushed on this next one already, but diving a bit deeper into it- what would you say your main sources of inspiration musically are in terms of specific artists or sounds you want to emulate? Any particular songs that inspired 'Dizzy'?
So there are those artists that I sound similar to that I mentioned before- but I’m also really into some of the more folky singer-songwritery stuff – like Holly Humberstone and Lizzy McAlpine.
There were two songs that inspired 'Dizzy', the first was 'bored&blind' by Ella Jane. It has the bloopy, percussive synth thing we thought that was really cool and wanted to do something similar to, and the other one was the Clairo and Mura Masa song 'I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again'- we got the crazy distorted bass idea from there- they were the two main elements we wanted to blend.
Amazing! Fantastic songs too. So next up, you’ve shared some clips from the upcoming 'Dizzy' music video on your social media- it looks incredible! What was your favourite memory filming it and what was the process of creating that like?
I think I have two favourite memories! Under the bridge, there’s a bit where James the videographer tried to kick the dust up for an effect, but he was kinda just winging it, and he kicked a bunch of tiny rocks into my face.
There was another moment where it was on kind of like a steep rocky hill decline, and we did a few takes of me walking backwards up that hill while he follows me up with a camera, at one point I tripped and kicked the $20,000 camera and James almost dropped it- that’s actually in the music video, there’s a little bass bloop in the first verse and that shot flashes as I fall and kick it.
Hahaha oh my god! Fun little easter egg.
How it came together was basically just I had a few outfits I wanted to wear, and a few different settings, and we just said let’s just wing it and see what we can do! I wanted it to be quite montage-y and not follow much of a storyline, cause the other two I’ve done have been more story-based.
Less story more vibes!
Yeah. All vibes! We filmed in a couple different locations, including a photo studio where we filmed the darker inside and sitting down scenes, and then drove to this underpass on the M2 in Sydney- it’s kind of like this bushwalk-y area under a bridge, and then we shot some shots in my apartment and in a park nearby the next day, and tried to match the positions up so we could do some cool transitions! That’s pretty much all we planned for it.
How long did it take overall to create the music video?
One full day and then the morning after of filming. James would have spent heaps of hours working on it after that though- somehow he got me a draft in like five days, super quick turnaround.
So what can we expect to see from you coming up?
The tracks I have out so far are very serious and songwriter-y, even 'Sugarcoat' which is more of a playful song. I feel like 'Dizzy' is the best creative art piece that I’ve done- so I didn’t want to try and compete with that, but pivot a little bit- the next song I’ve done is sort of a cheeky stupid version of 'Sugarcoat'- in a more hyperpop way- same situation, same ex.
The reason we broke up was because she was moving overseas and it was kind of an expiration date- so it’s about those three weeks before she left, a final love song kinda thing- tryna be all playful like “Oh just stay! F*ck it it’ll be funny”. And that’s coming out in about four weeks- it’s called 'You’re Pretty Great and I Normally Hate Things'.
That sounds absolutely adorable!! So excited for that one- as well as that, you have your first show coming up?
I do! It’s on the 3rd of September with Sinclaire and Mungmung playing at Waywards in Newtown. It’s my first show as a singer and a frontman. Gonna be fun! Really excited, really terrified.
Thank you so much to Daphnie for taking the time to talk 'Dizzy' with me!! You can stream 'Dizzy' now, and be sure to check out the upcoming show if you’re in the Sydney area. Tickets are available here.
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