After establishing themselves with a wealth of vibrant releases these last few years, emerging duo Deliriously Serious have returned to deliver their expansive self-titled debut album.
Conjuring more of that smooth and groove-filled aesthetic they are known for, their first full-length makes for an incredibly immersive listen. Filled with rich and tender textures, a soaring atmosphere, and powerful hooks throughout, they are certainly looking to cement themselves on the scene with this one.
So with the new LP available to stream now, we sat down with them to find out more about their origins and what has bee inspiring them lately.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Dan: Bass guitar hands down! The intense wattage and power of my first amplifier that I played in my bedroom shook the entire house. It was at that moment…
Luke: First love was bass guitar. I had taken guitar lessons before, but once I got an electric bass, I really started writing my own music, writing out tabs for songs that I wrote.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Dan: Some of my earliest memories of music I really loved was surprisingly country music. Especially 90s country. As well as cajun zydeco. But when I bought my first cds, Sublime, Naughty by Nature and The Offspring…well the rest is history after that.
Luke: My parents listened to country, folk, and classic rock. Stuff like Willie Nelson, The Grateful Dead and Eric Clapton. My mom was also super into musicals, so I got to listen to Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. My parent always played guitar and sang songs when I was growing up, a lot of indie country singer/songwriter stuff, and my mom would sing in Spanish, which I loved since she never spoke it to us. I remember going roller skating as a kid, and the DJ would play all of this awesome music that I never heard at home, Flaming Lips, Coolio, Cake, the Cardigans, the alternative stuff that was coming out in the mid nineties. After that I got into the Offspring, the Beastie Boys and Sublime. The rest is history.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Dan: There were a few but I wanna say Bryan Adams Waking up the Neighbors. And then The Cranberries, No Need to Argue.
Luke: It must have been Hello Nasty by the Beastie Boys or the Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine. Californication came in around that same time, I think that might have been the first album that I bought with my own money.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Dan: Televators, The Mars Volta.
Luke: It’s Called: Freefall by Rainbow Kitten Surprise. I loved the Song “Friend of the Devil” by the Grateful Dead when I was a kid. I feel like Freefall is the counterpoint to that song, where you are trying to be friends with the devil but he doesn’t want to hang out with you. I just love it.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Dan: Do bad habits count? Jk. I tend to light 15 candles and turn on white noise in the background. Jk. Not really…rituals are kind of weird.
Luke: When a song comes to me it just comes. It just fills me up in a kind of perseverance for a couple days until I’m able to get it down. After that, it transitions into collaboration mode where it shares it with other people to add their pieces.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Dan: Ren, French Kiwi Juice, L.E.J.
Luke: Tove Lo has been a big one lately, her songs are so good – I get the same feeling that I used to get as a kid listening to Sublime and stuff like that. There’s a salsa band from Brooklyn called Los Hacheros who are super good, they just carry on the Newyorican sound from the golden era of Willie Colon and Hector Llavo. I always do a lot of Jazz too, Bill Evans and Grant Green lately.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Dan: Red Hot Chili Peppers, and then maybe Laleh.
Luke: Fat Freddy’s Drop, we would crush that show.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Dan: Experiencing musical moments that change you in some way.
Luke: I think it’s being able to share the musical ideas that come through me with the rest of the world. Being able to connect with other musicians and create something that is altogether new and has never been done before it’s so cool, as well as being able to share that with listeners. It is a super special process.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Dan: The feeling that I could be a much better musician if “I did this…” And then never doing whatever that is…like finding time to practise the piano every single day.
Luke: Having an idea and not having the time to get it recorded. Also, actually finishing songs can be another one. Sometimes it takes so long to get a final mastered version of something that I forget how I wanted it to sound in the first place. It’s always worth the wait though.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Dan: Never just take what comes. Always work to improve.
Luke: I have adopted what I called the “James Floyd Method” which is the application of raw musical energy over any regard for sound quality or refined technique. It’s the idea that getting it out there in the moment is the most important thing. You can thank James Floyd for that one.
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Deliriously Serious' self-titled debut album is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.