Glasgow rockers Dalmatic are out with their highly anticipated debut single ‘Daemon’ released on 18th April.
The rising band are already gaining popularity across the Glasgow music scene, and performed at multiple local venues including Ivory Blacks, Nice N’ Sleazy, and The SWG3 Poetry Club. I was lucky enough to catch Dalmatic supporting Blue Violet at King Tut’s back in February, and was hooked by their guitar-driven tunes and stage presence live.
‘Daemon’ starts with their signature layered guitars, gradually exemplifying in intensity before the first verse. I chatted with Ben on the run-up to its release; who said “the time feels right now” to have their first single released out to the world.
It can be hard for several artists to release music, due to perfectionism and internal creative pressures. Ben illustrates: “Releasing it to the public kind of forces you to accept the recording with all its imperfections and just get on with it.”
Performing live is important to Dalmatic – with an incredible stage presence and live sound, it was key for Dalmatic to make sure listeners could get a true feel of this in the studio version of ‘Daemon’. Ben says, “it’s got a good energy to it and sounds very close to how we do live.” When you press play, “it kind of sounds like we’re playing on a stage right in front of you,” says Ben, and you can really feel the energy through the track resonating with their live performances.
Dalmatic take musical inspirations from a mix of Blur, Brian Johnstone, and Oasis. However, Dalmatic have already created their own original signature rock sound, which you can hear through the release of ‘Daemon’ as well as in their live shows.
The recording of ‘Daemon’ was a quick yet “pretty frantic,” with a number of hurdles to face. As an unsigned band, they could only finalise the recording within a couple takes, and the whole process was done within 24 hours.
Despite these challenges, the finished studio version of ‘Daemon’ is incredible – and definitely worth a listen. If you like powerful, layered guitars, vocals and punchy drums, this track is for you.
For a debut single, Dalmatic have certainly outdone themselves, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next in store for them.
Dalmatic played a headline gig at McChuills on 22nd April – those lucky enough to catch their set heard ‘Daemon’ live for the first time since its official release. Supporting acts The Urban alongside TXXTACHE also joined the bill.
Read the full interview with Ben below:
Q) Congrats on ‘Daemon’ being your first released single! How does it feel to have your first track out for the world?
A) “It’s good to finally have something out for people to hear. I suppose we’ve left it quite a while before putting out our first song, but the time feels right now. Releasing it to the public kind of forces you to accept the recording with all its imperfections and just get on with it. When you listen to your own music, you listen in such close detail that you can’t really be objective. So, I guess you just get to a point where you say, “fuck it” and move on. I’m buzzing off the song though, it’s got a good energy to it and sounds very close to how we do live.”
Q) Walk me through the inspirations that influenced this track, are there any specific artists you look up to musically?
A) “This song originally started out with a very psychedelic home demo that sounded a lot like something off Blur’s ‘97 record or ‘13’. Then the outro went full on shoegaze, and I thought it maybe sounded like some later Brian Jonestown Massacre stuff. Once you put that through the filter of the rest of the band though it just ends up sounding like us. That’s a good thing, though. I wouldn’t want to put something out that sounds like it’s trying to be someone else.”
Q) I love the energy infused into this track, especially the instrumentals at the end. What was it like creating this track, and spending time in the studio?
A) “We’re an unsigned band so we don’t have a lot of time in the studio to relax and consider sounds etc. You kind of just have to only move forward and do everything in 3 takes max. This was all recorded in a day apart from the vocals. The recording for this was actually pretty frantic. We were really up against it time wise, and we knew we had a lot of guitar tracks to layer. I was really sick on the day as well.”
“The energy in the recording comes from how live it sounds, I think. It kind of sounds like we’re playing on a stage right in front of you. Omar at Dystopia did a great job recording it. Then it was mixed by Alex Newport who we wanted to work with because of his work on a couple Pissed Jeans records I really like. He kind of took the recording and ran with it in a different direction but I really like how it’s turned out. The production kind of sounds like ‘Definitely Maybe’ and I’ve not heard too many recordings that sound similar.”
Make sure to check out Dalmatic on socials below:
