C60 in Conversation: Daisy Coburn

As part of the C60 Club, we here at austerity will be catching up with some of our favourite artists of the underground music scene. This month, we’ve spoken to recent AUS signing & someone we’re quickly running out of superlatives to adequately describe - the one & only Daisy May Coburn…

Hello Daisy, & welcome to the C60 Club (& austerity records!)

D: Thank you greatly!

As an artist that has performed in various musical capacities over the years, your journey towards joining austerity has been a long & interesting one. How does it feel to finally release your long-awaited solo material into the world?

It feels amazing. I feel blessed to have met such a wicked little team. Alongside the austerity crew, recently meeting Nick (Nicholas De Carlo - who mixed my tracks) through Johnny Goddard (who made my video), a very cool & solid little line-up has evolved - pushing the project in the right direction. It’s awesome! So in that respect, it feels like it was meant to be & I can’t wait to see what 2021 brings.

With the blend of pop, swing & elements of psych, your sound is one of the most unique out there. What inspires such an individual sound?

I suppose it reflects the years I’ve been playing music & the material I have made & listened to in that time. I adore swing & jazz from the 30s, but I also absolutely love 60s & 70s psych etc.The pop sensibility definitely comes from my Dad - he’s a bit of a pop tart (all the good 80s stuff, of course).

The “No Love” EP is a very personal & inward-reflecting collection of songs. The lyrics,especially on lead single “Fire”, hint at the idea of letting go & moving on. Do you see this release as a fresh start of sorts?

Absolutely! It’s an act of liberation & self-love. Having the confidence to stand behind your vision takes time & valuing your self-worth. We don’t always get taught this when we aregrowing up. You kind of have to figure out that when you respect yourself, you have the ability to function & communicate your essence relatively pain-free! Tortured artistry is a thing of the past (for me, anyway). It doesn’t have to hurt to be real.

The video for “Fire”, which premiered on Backseat Mafia last month, is incredible. The image of yourself alone with your guitar while the world is burning around you is extremely striking.Take us through the inspiration for the video & how it came to be.

Thank you! I guess it boiled down to what could be achieved in a small space & quickly without doing an awkward, run-of-the-mill performance video. Johnny Goddard of Youth Hymns did the heavy lifting on this one for sure - hours of editing green screen to make such a magical atmosphere. I only saw the video the day before it came out - it really was a process of trust & I knew he would deliver something great because I love his work. He’s very good at what he does!

In a bit of foreshadowing, you played a live set at the austerity launch party in Hastings two years ago. With the promise of a more normal 2021 just around the corner, are you looking forward to getting back in front of an audience?

This would be wonderful. I played one live show the week before lockdown with my band & there was so much to take & learn from it, it was a real shame that exploration was cut short. But in that time I’ve been able to put this EP out - which wasn’t on the agenda before lockdown - so I am grateful for it, & I feel like having done so has solidified the identity of the project, which may be easier to navigate live when we are able to get back out there.

Following on from “No Love”, what lies ahead for Daisy Coburn? The future looks very promising indeed.

I feel like I’ve broken the ice & have a great team behind me to continue building the DNA of this project. I would love to release a string of singles next year & maybe another EP in the autumn. But playing shows would be essential in promoting the releases this time around - the timeline may be dictated by this - but I will be preparing the music & visuals in order for this to come to fruition. Busy hopefully!

Daisy Coburn’s “No Love” EP (AUS-C03) is now SOLD OUT. Click HERE to listen on Spotify.