Head Automatica
Silent Uproar: How is someone supposed to classify the music of Head Automatica? It seems to defy classification.
Daryl: I don't know, electronica on crack.
SU: Did you feel the album would have not turned out the same if you hadn't of hooked up with Dan?
Daryl: No definitely not, he had a big effect on the record with the songs he did the beat on. He took them in his direction with his beats.
SU: I wasn't sure how much you brought to it and how much he had?
Daryl: When you hear something that sounds Automator then he did that and that was a huge part of the outcome of that record. I knew I had come into the record having written 60 percent of it. I was just going to come in and get some beats and some production from Automator. I needed to have him fill in that gap by putting a lot of faith in his beats and I think he came throgh. The party songs are definitely party songs.
SU: It seems like with press, and I know he's not touring with you, that a lot of it has been left up to you in terms of the spotlight out there. I know he was important in the creation of hte album, but do you see him as more part of the band?
Daryl: I mean as part of the studio band and for the record of Head Automatica, Dan was part of it. He was very much a part of it.
SU: Do you think people are really getting the music? The feedback that I've read is kinda mixed. Are the people that aren't into it looking for the wrong thing or just don't get it?
Daryl: I don't know what they are looking for. Maybe they just don't like the music and maybe it's not good to them. I don't know, I wouldn't know what to think for them. I try not to think about the people who don't like it. It's their perrogative and it makes no sense to me.
SU: Did it turn out like you hoped it would? Does it sound, when you listen to it now, like this is exactly what you were thinking about?
Daryl: Yeah totally. It's better than I could have hoped. I'm very happy with it and the outcome. It's really close to what Larry and I envisioned initially.
SU: What do you have in your pockets right now?
Daryl: Right now, I'm in a towel and I have no pockets.
SU: What took so long for the record to come out? I know it's been done for a while and it seems like it had a release date at one point and then was pushed back.
Daryl: Well the thing is, the record, when it was "done" 8 months ago, it was still very much not done. There were things being added and mixes being done and remixes. A few songs were added two months apart like "The Razor" and "Beating Heart Baby"). So it was still a work in progress.
SU: Did you have any difficulty getting Warner involved or did they seem to support it from the start?
Daryl: I had no choice really. I had a record in my head and I wanted to start recording it with Larry. Before I can actually do anything, they have first dibs on whatever I do. I figured it was going to be done on an indie label. There were two indie labels that I was talking with at the time and Warner was super into it right off the bat. It just never got to that step. They were overly enthusiastic which was both interesting and amazing. I'm very happy, they've always been good to me.
SU: It's cool you came from something completely different in the past and that they would want to pick up this new band like that.
Daryl: Yeah absolutely, they didn't fail us. It didn't matter if it was written, unwritten, didn't matter, they just wanted to hear a song. And they heard songs then they wanted it right then. I'm glad that they got it.
SU: Well if you look at Amazon.com, it shows what other albums were bought by the same people who bought Head Automatica. Down the list there are obvious one's such as Glassjaw, but then there's Atreyu, Scissor Sisters, and The Stills. Do you find it odd at all that it appeals to this wide range of people?
Daryl: No, I knew that it would. I knew off the bat, which is something that excited me, that those people would be there. The people who listen to the Scissor Sisters and The Shins and whatever other bands out there, I actually looked at that the other day. It said bands like The Strokes, then on iTunes The Strokes was the most popular album after the Head Automatica one from those people. I had that vision and I had hopes it would appeal to people like that. I see it at the shows and it's funny to actually see it. I do see that makeup at the shows which is great.
SU: I'd imagine it's quite a different audience than touring with Glassjaw.
Daryl: Well some are just Glassjaw kids that moved with the times. Those kids planned on carrying over or moving and being super fashionable. I think those kids were carried over, but I think there some of those kids that dressed the dress and were in with the now and they moved over.
SU: I've been a Glassjaw fan for a long time and I really love this record too. I think it has a lot to do with your vocal style and delivery. Once you get get into it, this record carries it further. .Even though the music has a different feel, it's you vocally and that's what people are really into.
Daryl: Thank you, thank you.
SU: What pop culture figure would you like to publicly tell off?
Daryl: Umm...I don't know. I don't like assaulting people like that, I don't have anybody. I think if I say something then I'll see them and fuck it up. Then my man Eric will have to beat the fuck out of them and it'll be crazy. I wouldn't even be like, "I want to slap Britney because she has big tits." Then I'll probably see her somewhere and then I'll have to fuck her and her men up. I was kidding that was a joke.
SU: When looking at your past tours, you started with Dashboard Confessional and now The Cure. How has that worked out in terms of audience reaction? Especially in terms of Dashboard Confessional, which seems like an odd match.
Daryl: I don't know, I've been used to that, and how Glassjaw was. Glassjaw had managed to tour with the Deftones but we also toured with Shadow's Fall and New Found Glory, it's how to dish it. We toured with Hatebreed and then some other super childishly melodic band, I'm sure.
SU: Do you do that on purpose or that's just how tours work out?
Daryl: Just because of how the music is, all of those bands manage to link up. Everything we managed to be a part of was always across the board. Especially when getting to work with Glassjaw; we all listened to the same shit growing up and we managed to make it so that we could tour with heavy metal bands and we did.
SU: With Glassjaw it seems like there is, lyrically, a lot of hate especially in the early material. With Head Automatica you seem happier and more positive, it's just a completely different tone. Is it nice to be able to break out of that old mood of hate and frustration?
Daryl: I didn't take this record too seriously lyrically. This record is just a rock record, it's just a fuckin' crossing a rock record with Blade Runner. It's lyrically and visually what you get. I don't know, I'm not in that spot where I just want to spit about being negative all the time right now. I'm sure when Glassjaw starts writing again, I'm going to be angry as fuck and that's pretty much how I know that band will stay. Right now it's just some storytelling rock shit. It's a pop rock band.
SU: Who's idea was the artwork for the album?
Daryl: I hired my homegirl, Jane, who works at Bantho Designs and she's amazing. I'm a huge fan of her, I love her shit. I think she captured the essence of the record. I love it and couldn't love it anymore, I think she's amazing.
SU: Do you think the packaging and the website and all these non-musical things are an important part of conveying the feeling of the music?
Daryl: Yeah absolutly, it's part of the music. It's an extension. That's what those things are, extension that you build onto the music and sound.
SU: I know Beck does a lot of the Glassjaw merch, which always looks great, has he worked on any Head Automatica stuff for you?
Daryl: No, it's never come or anything. We drew all our Head Automatica stuff. My guitar player, Brandon, pretty much he did a lot of the artwork.
SU: Glassjaw has been through quite a few band members over the years. Do you see this break as a way of keeping the band happy and together, or do you think someone might drift off during the down time?
Daryl: I don't know, haven't really thought about it. I think that we are adults doing things in our adult lives. That's how things go. We've been playing music with no pauses since we were 12 and 13. That's no big deal, we've got to do other things. With Glassjaw, we get to eat, breathe and sleep it. It's part of growing up, I'm 25 now.
SU: I don't mean so much for you and Beck, but after this last bit of touring that Glassjaw did, it seemed like it had gotten a bit intense. It was either a much needed break or do you really want to jump back that in?
Daryl: I don't think anyone is really thinking about it right now. When I'm done in a few months, we'll just when happens. Well not a few months but when this record is done we'll just have to see what happens.
SU: Do you see Head Automatica as a long-term thing? After this tour do you think there is another album or two in you at some point?
Daryl: Yeah definitely, I mean it's my band, one of two bands that take up a big portion of my life.