Interview: Daisy Press

Congrats on your recent music release!

How did your musical journey begin? What initially sparked your interest in music?

My musical journey started before I was even born: my parents were both touring musicians, in the same band, for 40 years, and, with them, I toured in the womb, a music kid from those very early first cell divisions! It was a pop tour, but I rebelled by falling in love with the violin when I was about 10, obsessed about Bach and Mozart, and started to listen to opera in my teens. Tour life was a little lonely for an adolescent girl/teenager, so classical music became like my imaginary friend. In my teens I also played guitar, then discovered U2, REM, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and Prince.

Can you describe some of the pivotal moments or turning points in your artistic development?

After studying psychology, French, and theology at Sarah Lawrence and Oxford, I realized that the deepest desire of my heart was to sing classical music, so I started that journey at Manhattan School of Music. Once there, I discovered an aptitude for singing all the “weird new” stuff and I loved working one-on-one with student composers there, so contemporary music became my thing, especially composers who were writing with “pop” sensibilities like Steve Reich who could use voice as an “instrument” in chamber ensemble.

Another huge pivotal moment was diving into the world of North Indian Raga with Michael Harrison, who was one of many artists whose artistic life was changed by the virtuoso Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath who introduced the depth of his tradition to American musicians. Indian classical music introduced me to different set of vocal priorities and practices involving intonation, speed, listening, and feeling.

Many years later on, I took a break from contemporary music and used what I liked about Indian music to explore some Hildegard of Bingen chants, focusing solely on pleasure and what felt good to my voice and body. Soon after that, I started performing regularly in a wild Brooklyn nightclub, House of Yes, singing Hildegard’s chants in shows that were an irreverent, sexy, and joyful cross-pollenation of aerial, sideshow, burlesque, and performance art.

At House of Yes I started up “Voice Cult,” an experimental performance art mock church service where I invited roomfuls of people to sing with me, tapping into the powerful healing energy of communal singing.

How have your musical tastes and influences evolved over time?

I’ve been open to all kinds of sounds from very early on in life. Anything goes.

More than anything, over time I have evolved from primarily being an interpreter of composer’s works to an improviser and creator myself. I still enjoy doing both.

Are there any specific experiences or challenges that have shaped your artistic identity?

Growing up on tour had its own unique magic and challenges. it was an incredibly successful pop tour, so it was daunting to think that I could ever become that successful myself in an industry that can be so fickle, complicated, and based on so many things beyond the control of any artist. I needed to become my own artist on my own terms, and I still continue to grow into my own voice that can’t help BUT be influenced by AND and a reaction to what I witnessed as a kid.

What role does experimentation play in your creative process?

Experimentation and play are everything, at least at first, and need to be returned to when the obsession takes too much of a hold. I love exploring the generative power of rules and limitations, and singing/writing inside of those limitations, improvising with non-musicians, playing with stylistic opposites, and taking the irreverent path whenever possible.

Can you share a particularly meaningful or memorable performance or recording session from your journey?

Are there any recurring themes or concepts that you find yourself exploring in your music?

I’m constantly exploring the themes of entrainment, trance, transformation, sacred music that can flip to profane music and then back to sacred, and my own experience inside of it, asking myself: “how much am I actually enjoying doing this?” I like to explore the consciousness that can be encoded in and invoked by a melody, how some songs can carry history and locations inside of them (including the histories of all the people who have ever sung that song), and what it feels like to get really intimate with my own voice in a room of people.

There are a lot of things my voice still has yet to learn to do, likely connected to things that I’m not yet comfortable with in myself.

How do you stay inspired and motivated to create new music?

I’m not always creating new music – I find it comes in cycles. And I am learning that I have to be careful to not use all of my finite daily energy on all the work SURROUNDING making music as opposed to just making the music itself. And especially on the days that I teach and am helping people use their own voices, I have to make a special point of singing for myself, even for a minute or two that day.

I get inspired when I hear a work of music I love (not specifically written for voice) and wonder how I could problem-solve to make it sound great realized as a vocal-only piece. Creation for me is frequently comes down to problem-solving.

Looking back on your journey so far, what are some lessons or insights you’ve gained about yourself as an artist?

I am taking a long time to mature as an artist, and my best days and work are definitely ahead of me. There isn’t a prescribed way or timeline in which any of this is supposed to happen for everyone. Furthermore, my artistic voice moves through my life in multiple ways that aren’t musical, ways that can be just as meaningful as whatever happens with whatever degree of success on stage and/or in the studio. I believe that voices carry a consciousness and wisdom of their own, existing way beyond our physical bodies, our egos, and our perceptions of time. And to give expression to the voice, inviting and allowing it to move through a body, is ultimately a healing and life giving flow.