DAYLIGHT DIES – Interview with Jesse Haff (Drummer)

Unique….startling…..and dark. Can those 3 words be in one band? Describe one band?…………and, enough for one band? Daylight Dies is an American dark, atmospheric and doom band. No one haven't heard this band, and didn't fall in love. A band with an unbelievable presence and musical sense.

I got the great chance to interview Jesse Haff (The drummer). No wander the mentality of the band is unique……read to find out!

Hey Jesse. Many thanks for giving us the time to have this interview with you…I fell in love with you guys since I heard your latest album “Dismantling Devotion”….

No problem. Thanks for the interview and glad you like the album.

Yea It's great album. I guess you guys were like, “this album is our blood, sweat, and tear… right?

Yes definitely, this band and the music we make is currently the center of our lives. It's a reflection of ourselves.

And also, Congratulation on the reviews and the success you have achieved so far. I should have mentioned that at the beginning….but I was overwhelmed for you being here with us (laugh)…

Thanks, it's rewarding to see others appreciate the album and relate to it on an emotional level.

Ok…Let's go back when you first started guys. You and Barre are the oldest members (not in age of course) , I mean the original members. How hard was if to get a full-time members in the band?

Our first full-time vocalist (Guthrie Iddings), as well as our new vocalist (Nathan Ellis) and bassist (Egan O'Rourke) have all been long-time friends of ours prior to joining the band. They all shared the same musical vision so it was quite easy to bring them into the band. Obviously since we had been friends prior to them joining, we knew their personalities well. Since we tend to hang around musicians, it made the process of searching for the right musician easier. Our new rhythm guitarist (Charley Shackelford) is a little bit different in the respect that we didn't know him as well as the others prior to playing with him. He had played live with us for over a year, so it seemed the right move to have him join before Dismantling Devotion was released.

How did you end up with Nathan Ellis (vocals) Charlie Shackelford (second guitarist)

I answered that with Charley above. However, with Nathan we were lucky because we lucked out on the timing. After Guthrie left to attend school in California we immediately al knew we wanted to ask Nathan to join. We loved his vocals and knew he could add another level to the vocals.. and thankfully he said yes.

I see that you guys are walking on the line of the atmospheric and doomier tones. I don't know, I guess I never asked this question before, but why did you choose these kind of tones specially? I mean you guys are very talented, with an amazing and brutal vocals….why not anything else? and don't get me wrong, doom/atmospheric has been my favorite metal genre and you guys are doing great…

Honestly our only original goal was to create emotionally honest melancholic music. We are all fans of all “good” dark music in general, not just metal. We've tried to bring in influences from across the musical spectrum and I'm sure that will continue in the future. In general, we all lean towards the sort of dark music which envelopes you in a wall of sound, which is where the atmospheric element comes from. I don't want to make music that someone only has on quietly in the background. The music is created for those times when you eliminate all distractions, turn down the lights and allow yourself to be fully immersed in the music.

Are you intending to change this tone in the near future?

We never have some clear vision of what lies ahead. Since we change as people as we grow older — and since the music is a reflection of ourselves — it will naturally continue to progress and change as well.

Fast question, and the answer should be fast too….”No reply” VS. “Dismantling Devotion”….what's your comment? you know, the difference, similarities…..etc.

I'm proud of No Reply as a debut album. The production doesn't give the songs justice, but if you can get past that — I feel like there are some powerful songs to be found. Dismantling Devotion is of course much more mature, as we grew as song-writers and musicians. We learned from our previous experiences and it resulted in a stronger album. The production is also solid and brings the songs to life.

Egan (bassist) has such an incredible clean voice. How did you find out about this?

I wish we had found out about it earlier! He's a pretty shy guy and never came forward before about doing clean vocals, even though we had all spoken about adding that element even before recording No Reply. When we were writing Dismantling Devotion, there were certain segments (and a song..) which we knew had to have clean vocals… so he sent out a recording of his singing as purely a guide for Nathan.. but we all ending up loving his vocals so much we demanded he do them! Like I said, he was a bit shy about it but we think he pulled it off. We're pleased with how they came out.

Was it ok with Nathan to have with you guys a clean vocals, even if it wasn't Egan?

Yeah, it's all of our goal to do whatever we are attempting the best we can. So if that means one of us has to step into another's “territory” than so be it. Nathan might do a different style of clean vocals in the future as well, who knows.

What If Egan wasn't with you, or even got the vocaling talent, would you consider another clean vocals?

Yeah, we would probably have gotten Nathan to do it. The thing is, we never really even gave him a chance — as soon as we heard the guide-vocals that Egan made, we decided that's who should do them. I think Nathan has the capability to do great clean vocals, even if they would sound really different. We may explore that in the future.

I have to say that your playing became very mature and you have a complete control on your instruments….how does this change since you started? I mean I believe that when you first started (just like any other band), you were like, newbie to the band thing…I'm not saying you were bad, but definitely you weren't as good as now…..right?

Most of us have been playing our instruments for quite a long time. I'm 28 now and have been playing with Barre since I was 15. That's a long time to improve. I would hope we're always improving as musicians.

Acoustic along with the electric at the same time, in my opinion this helped to bring up the more sad and melancholic tone you guys wanted to throw on our ears, I know you are the drummer ,but I just wanted to ask, how did you guys end up with this kind of, you know, harmony?

We've actually had acoustic guitars on every Daylight Dies recording ever made, including our demo “Idle”. So it's always been part of our style, but I think on Dismantling Devotion it was more pronounced. Barre also studied classical guitar at a university, which is played on acoustic guitar. So he's always been interested in bringing in more acoustic guitar alongside the electric, as adds another layer of texture and dynamics. We try and give a lot of attention to the detail of textures in our songs — multiple layers of instruments where you may not notice everything on your first listen.

Dismantling Devotion…the track…..why have you decided to make it only instrumental?

The music really spoke for itself, so we felt any vocals would only diminish it's impact. That's a song I actually wrote almost all of the guitar parts for and I guess I never had vocals in mind. On this album I began contributing more guitar ideas than I had in the past, so I just focused on having the music tell the whole story in a way.

Was it on purpose to make it the last track, coz it left me staring at my computer screen listening to track ending……seeing my jaw on the ground….can't move….hear-beat still (laugh)…

Once the song had been demoed and completed, it was pretty clear nothing could be it as a last song. It has a different feeling than the rest of the album, yet it sums up the emotional weight of the album. Somehow it seems to demand pure introspection from the listener, which we felt was a good way to end the album. Your left thinking you felt and heard in the previous 7 songs.

An honest question, I know of course that in each other's life, there 'Dismantling' feeling…is that why you play with such a sad sense, and I'm talking about Jesse..

We play this type of music for two reasons basically.. one, is we all love dark and moody music. It seems more “real” and can have such powerful qualities. Another is that it's a healthy way of releasing all these dark vibes that build up through experiences in life. Some people get it out by talking with friends, or playing sports.. we get it out by writing songs.

Which song on the album that means a lot to you, and why?

The title track, because it's the first song where I wrote all the main riffs.. so of course it has a special connection to me. But honestly I really like all the songs, and I'm pleased with how the album came out as a whole.

As an amazing drummer and one of my favorites, you have contributed much on this album, but who helps in the progress of writing and composing?

Barre and I have typically arranged all the songs together. Barre also writes the majority of the guitar parts and Egan also writes all his bass lines and has helped a bit in arranging lately as well. Nathan writes all the lyrics. As I said above, I also contribute guitar ideas which are in a few songs throughout the album.

Have you ever thought that one day you will be where you are right now?

I don't think about the future very much.. for better or for worse.

Your site looks pretty cool, I knew also that you are the webmaster. You do this as a hobby or way of living? You know, designing, graphics?

Thank you. I do make a living being a web producer. I actually work for a film company and usually make film sites and various graphic and grassroots online community organizing type activities. So it began as a hobby — making sites for bands I loved, during the early inception of the internet in the 90s.. and now it's just sort of continued and turned into the way I pay my bills.

This will bring me to this questions, what else you guys do for living?

Barre works at music store and teaches guitar lessons, Egan runs sound for all sorts of bands/plays/etc. that come to town, Nathan works at some online advertising agency and Charley has all sorts of odd jobs here and there.

What about your spare-time? If you have this word in you dictionary…(laugh)

I don't seem to have much spare time as I grow older, unfortunately. But when I do, I try to pick up the guitar and see if I can come up with anything worth a shit. Or maybe listen to music — that will eternally be one of my greatest pleasures.. or watch a movie.

Bands that influence you?

All over the spectrum nowadays.. from the early 90s European scene — No Fashion Records, W.A.R Records stuff. Stuff like Eucharist, Katatonia, Opeth, Sentenced, Anathema, Paradise Lost, Unanimated, Tenhi, Death, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Red House Painters, This Empty Flow, Nick Drake, Saturnus, Slowdive, and so on.

Drummers?

I don't think of drummers as direct influences, but I really love Henry Ranta, Gene Hoglan, Daniel Errlandson (Eucharist days), Martin Lopez, Peter Stjarnvind (Unanimated days)..

Wow! They are my favorites too….Tell me, What do you think of the Amercian-metal scene?….I knew many bands weren't so pleased with what the scene has nowadays….

Of course the popular form of metal here nowadays is “metalcore”. It's true none of us are into it, but in a way it's nice to see some heavy bands gaining some real success. One could always complain that the real successful bands aren't exactly those they want them to be. There are some other good bands from the U.S., especially if you look over the last decade or two. We've always been more into the European scene and still are. I feel like Europe has more room for a variety of metal bands and a greater acceptance for more sophistication in their metal. The U.S. is so intensely media driven that only a narrow sliver of a style is given any attention by the masses.

Well….I know probably you will break a vase behind me after ending this interview, but really I have to say, it has been a pleasure and good time having this interview with you…you have the final words….

Take care and thanks for the interview.

Official Site:
www.daylightdies.com
Official Myspace profile:
www.myspace.com/daylightdies