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Photo by Jamie Rice

Daisy Grenade is an alt-pop powerhouse duo hailing from NYC led by Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittaker. Whether you have come across them supporting Honey Revenge, Stand Atlantic and Pierce the Veil, the duo have broken ground in creating a new sonic identity that is confessional, explosive and true to their perfect balance between fiery, razor-sharp pop and grunge influences. So Much To Say is the duo’s latest EP and is an exciting journey in seeing the band flourish in a project that is a collage of all things Daisy Grenade. Releasing a visual film to accompany the EP, we sat down to talk to them about the creative process behind the project and what’s ahead for them.   

OnesToWatch: So Much To Say is out! Looking at where this project started to now, what is the one thing about this version of Daisy Grenade you’re most excited for people to finally see? Are you excited to play these songs live? 

Keaton: We’re really excited to perform these new songs live. We’ve been touring on two EPs and a bunch of singles for the last four years. It’ll be great to have a new project to perform and build a set around and it feels so surreal to be at the finish line. It’s an eclectic body of work and there’s a bunch of different styles and sounds we’ll be playing with and to be able to build our first headlining tour around it is really exciting.

Dani: This group of songs are really important to us. Some of the tracks were written a couple years ago, some very new and all of these songs together have locked in a sound that we’ve been working towards since the beginning of the band. We’ve tried different things along the way but all of the songs even though they are so varied feel like they are coming right from us which is exciting to share with our fans and audience. The project is intimate and vulnerable while still being powerful and in your face in the Daisy Grenade way. It feels like we’re letting everyone in to take a look inside of us and we’re very excited.

You collaborated with producers Jake Sinclair (Fall Out Boy, Weezer) and POM POM (Noah Kahan, Suki Waterhouse) on this project. What was it like balancing these different artistic styles? 

Dani: We didn’t think of balancing these different influences until we started to put the project together at the end, our time with POM POM was earlier than our time with Jake and we realized that both songs although from different producers shared the Daisy Grenade DNA and grungy sound - even though there’s a dubstep breakdown in the track we did with POM POM who’s amazing, and will try anything with us in the room. Jake was also very similar in that way - even if it meant doing things the longer or harder way, he was committed to getting us into the core of what we were trying to say and create with this. Both of these producers are that they’re both down to clown and that’s what brought these songs together in a beautiful way. 

Keaton: You know when you get too boxed into what you’re trying to do when creating or writing something, that’s when you should pivot and just get rid of any constraints. Dani and I have had millions of ideas and as we were trying to write them, it felt like that original idea was making things much more difficult than aiding the process of creating something. With this project, it’s been interesting to work from a place of total openness to see what felt the best and how each song would be translated the best. These songs originally were not meant to be on the same project, so we worked backwards with songs we really liked and felt that this was the album. Everyone was down to do whatever felt like the best thing even if it was the harder version of it, and because of that it was so interesting to work back from there. Dani and I love to collaborate, and it was great getting work with different producers on this. 

Dani: We also worked with Courtney Ballard and Stefano Pigliapoco on “Emily.” There were four producers across this project which on paper can be daunting finding a way for it to come together, but they all understood Daisy Grenade in their own way.  

OnesToWatch: It feels like a collage of everything that makes up Daisy Grenade.

Dani: I love that you said collage - I don't know if anyone has explicitly said collage before regarding our music and visuals which is the concept for this project. We’ve been creating collages for our promo materials and cover art, and it’s cool to hear that it stands out as that.

Let’s dive into the visual EP. Dani directed the video for the opening track and Keaton took the finale. What was the decision behind dividing and conquering the directing? How do you feel your individual styles shaped the project’s identity?

Keaton: It was a bit of a decision out of necessity to be honest. When we had the idea to do the visual EP, we asked Hannah Klein (Creative Director) if she wanted to direct five videos, which was a lot - and we threw out the idea of dividing and conquering between us, Hannah and Jamie Rice (DP & Visuals). Dani and I were always interested in directing and it felt like the perfect opportunity to give it a shot. We shot all of the videos in four days in one set. Dividing up the videos and giving everyone their own personal stamp on them was interesting and especially seeing how all the videos fit when it all came together, which was the idea behind the songs we chose as well. 

Dani: We shot at my grandparents’ house which was fun and difficult - we were shooting five videos in four days and trying not to destroy their house with a very small crew since it was our first time directing. We wanted to create an extended visual accompaniment of our work but we hadn’t released a project until this came about and we were a team of filmmakers, and it allowed us to explore a different side of us as artists. Directing was hard for me but I’m glad I did it!

It’s really awesome to see a project so collaborative and a really clear throughline between each of the videos on the visual EP despite different styles and influences. But one symbol across all of them stood out, the cassette tape. What inspired this?

Keaton: Since we were working backwards on this project, we had to find what linked each of the songs together - even though at the time it wasn’t fully a sonic throughline, we decided each of the songs felt like getting stuck in a loop, and stuck in this feeling of replaying things. And so when we were discussing it we realized that the record was about relapsing in its many different forms, the cassette tape came from needing a visual representation of something you can’t get away from and our discussions on what we wanted listeners to take away from this project.

Dani: We first created the tour ad-mats before the full scope of the video came out, and we had the tape player as the hero object in those visuals because we had had been discussing the concept of the So Much To Say, and the themes of relapse, we realized that the cassette was something that you can rewind and it was right there. All the pieces were falling into place perfectly which is exciting.

Let’s talk about the 'Girls Are So Lucky' video. Literally a fever dream that is so Y2k. What made you lean into that aesthetic and how did you find a balance between homage and carving out your own style?

Keaton: Dani and I have had a tough time relying on anything that feels like nostalgia, I feel like that’s easy and doesn’t have much staying power. So when we do call on moments like that it has to be very intentional and we chose to do that because of where the video is set and capturing the feeling of coming back into your childhood bedroom. We wanted the look of the video to have that sense of arrested development being stuck in this bedroom that is clearly for a teenager without trying to put on and make it look like we are teenagers because we’re not. 

Dani: Yeah, it has the eclectic visual aspect of a Y2k aesthetic with a darker underlying story. This isn’t a fun, kitschy story - we’re stuck here reliving this moment and going back to how you are when you’re stuck at your parents’ house which isn’t a great situation for most people. We wanted to play with the duality of everyone loving the Y2k aesthetic but there is this darkness occurring underneath it when you explore what that is.

As the project comes to close, 'It Must Be Me' feels like this ultimate exhale. When you were building out the tracklist, was that always the plan for the finale, or did the song find its place as the rest of the project came together?"

Keaton: The finality of that song was very clear to us earlier on. We weren’t sure it was going to be the last track at first, but as we were building out the project it felt like it should be and there wasn’t another place for it. The song is coming to a realization after fighting yourself to maintain not being self-aware, and coming to terms that you are the problem, which felt like a satisfying way to wrap up the narrative of the project. 

Between your headlining and Warped Tour this year you guys are on a crazy trajectory (and so well deserved!!) What are you most looking forward to experiencing with the fans in person?

Dani: We got a taste of it for the first time on our tour with Honey Revenge and when we started the set the crowd knew our lyrics. We were so used to being openers and being put in front of large groups of people who don’t know our music and who we are, and eventually we hope to win over but that was the first time we saw people singing back every word back to us and I just can’t imagine what it would be like on a headlining tour which is really exciting, and for them to know the words to the new EP by that point. It’s going to be pretty surreal and I’m looking forward to sharing those songs live with all the folks who come out to support us. 

Keaton: We were so used to opening for bigger bands which has been such a blessing. It can feel like an uphill battle when no one knows who you are and the odds are stacked against you at times, particularly in crowds that aren’t fond of women singing. As Dani said, we got a taste of it last summer when we toured with Honey Revenge because we share a large fanbase which is really cool, and I’m excited to hear what people think of this EP! We intentionally buried the lead of what the EP is going to sound like by releasing the “Girls Are So Lucky” single which isn’t indicative of the rest of the project. I’m excited to hear what people think about and take away from it. 

Listen to So Much To Say below: