A far from elaborate venue is the setting for this show at the (medium scale) London Islington O2 Academy but that doesn’t stop the crowds crashing in with smirks on their faces, as their excitement is hard to hide. Which is not surprising as this is the setting for Daisy Piper’s first solo gig - former member of the popular indie band ‘Daisy and the Daffodils’ who recently split stating the generic reason of “musical differences”. But the far more apparent reason being that Daisy didn’t need the not much more than average musicians. Her popularity made even more clear with every fan making comments of their love for her not even mentioning the previous members of the band, whose names most people probably can’t even remember. Some fans even went to the extreme of queuing for over five hours to be that bit closer to the stage and of course their icon. Although this might seem outrageous the atmosphere in this concert hall is so high powered and electrifying that even if you aren’t a fan of Daisy you can’t help but get excited. As the wait goes on and on for Daisy to come onstage the crowd starts to get restless- making ear-piercing screams at any chance which starts to get rather annoying. But just as this is starting to get ridiculous the lights shut out and Daisy strolls on to the stage like the laid back rocker she is but er yet more ear-piercing screams are let out. The mass of fans continue to go crazy throughout the night as Daisy does renditions of her new solo material with songs such as “My Leftovers” “I’m Your Favourite Drug” and “Someday” making appearances. In all of these songs Daisy shows off her flawless multi-octave voice even through her grunge style proving going solo was her best move so far.
After watching Daisy’s show we caught up with her backstage to find out how she feels about the success of her recent solo album, her plans for the future and the real reason she split from The Daffodils...
Wow! That was quite some show, how did you find doing your first solo gig?
“That was just crazy, my new material is just so different to the stuff I did with The Daffodils that I wasn’t sure if people would like it but the reception was really good. Doing a solo gig is quite weird because I’m not used to it but it was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to doing more of it.”
So, here comes the obvious question, what were the real reasons behind the split from The Daffodils?
[Laughs] “I knew that was coming! Well there was some truth behind the statement we released we all had a new musical direction that we wanted to follow and none of us could agree on the same one so it kind of seemed like the most obvious thing to just split up.”
What other reasons were there?
“There was just so much tension within the band, the guys couldn’t deal with the fact that I was the one in the limelight. I guess it had kind of sparked from day one because the record label only ever wanted to sign me but I refused to sign without the guys. But they always found this hard to deal with as they felt they weren’t needed or wanted. So it lead to them taking it out on me a lot, I was in a band with four people that were against me for no apparent reason. It was so hard to work in that situation that I just got to the point where I was like why am I even doing this anymore?”
What finally made you leave?
“I’m not sure of the actual reason because there wasn’t a specific event that made me do it, it just all built up over time. I couldn’t deal with the fact that I was in a band with people that seemed to hate me because I was the one people wanted to hear. I just wanted to be in the band because I loved it but then it got to the point where they wouldn’t let me be involved in the music we wrote because they just wanted me out. I couldn’t do the music I really wanted to perform and it was just making me hate what I did. I never wanted to hate it because I’ve loved singing all my life. But then I realized there was nothing stopping me from making music on my own, doing the music that made me happy. So I left.”
Are you on good terms with the guys now?
“Sadly no. We haven’t really spoken since I left, I think they have a grudge against me for it. It upsets me that I lost my friends over this, but then I have come to realize that it’s the way this industry works. People become different from who they were and it all becomes about the fame.”
Would you say your one of those people who only care about the fame?
“Not at all, I do this because I love it and for no other reason than that. The fame is just something that comes with the job.”
The new album “Guilty Pleasure” is so different to your old music but is proving to be a big success, what do you make of that?
“I’m so pleased with the amount of people that love the album I was never expecting it because it was such a risky move making it. I’m so known for the loud grunge sound that I had with The Daffodils that I didn’t think people would like the acoustic style on this one. But I wanted this album to be more heartfelt and have more emotion because it was something I was never able to do before. Yet people still seem to love it.”
You have done so much already this year, how does this increase in success make you feel? Where do you think it will take you in the future?
“Sometimes I find myself feeling on top of the world and then sometimes I feel really lonely. So I just try to not focus on the hype because then there’s no-one for me to relate to. I’m so privileged to be where I am that I just want to enjoy every moment of it. Well the future I’m not quite sure of yet. At the moment my focus is on touring this album and just getting out there and performing it as much as possible because that’s what this is all about. But I can say that this album will not be the last of me.”
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