Day Wave

Photography and interview by Heather Hawke.

Day Wave aka Jackson Phillips released his debut EP Headcase in 2015 followed by his Hard to Read EP a year later. Three years after his debut LP The Days We Had (2017), he’s back with a new EP entitled Crush out April 24 via [PIAS] Recordings. The EP was produced, mixed, and mastered entirely by himself in his new home base of Los Angeles. “I was really just trying to make sense of things for myself with this EP,” he explained. “It’s easy to feel isolated, like your thoughts don’t matter or that you’ll never be good enough, but writing these songs was my way of trying to rid myself of those toxic ideas and open myself up to a better way of living. It was my way of trying to figure out who I really was.” The first single “Starting Again” features mesmerizing guitars, jubilant synths and a sense of hopeful optimism while the second single “Potions” is a dazzling lo-fi tune that features divine urgency which makes it feel like it’s over in a blink of an eye.

Since the release of his debut album he’s performed worldwide headlining sold out shows and shared stages with the likes of The Shins, Spoon, Two Door Cinema Clubin addition to landing festival slots at Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, Life Is Beautiful and Bottlerock.

Hi! So we did the portraits for this interview in the beginning of March, right before the entire U.S. went into isolation, my oh my how times have changed…As a music/producer/creative, what are your feelings right now? Anything you want to talk about / get off your chest?

I know that day we took photos was one of the last days I spent outside my house. As a musician and producer, I spend a lot days inside normally, but this has really added a layer of anxiety to it. So much that I’m having a hard time working on music these days. But I just think it’s really important that everyone stay inside, and isolate themselves. It can be good opportunity to work on art, and passion projects.

I want to start from the beginning. What was it like growing up in the bay area? What was your childhood like? Did creativity play a big part of your childhood?

I was born in Santa Monica, but moved to the bay area when I was three. I’m glad I grew up in a small town. It left space for me to discover things on my own, without it being pushed on me. I grew up skateboarding around town, playing baseball and begging my parents to take me to ‘warehouse music’ every weekend.

Tell me about your musical upbringing. What music did you grow up to? When did you first become aware that music was going to be a part of your life? What was your formal / not formal music education like growing up?

My parents played a lot of music in the house, I remember a lot of Beatles and Beach Boys as a kid. They always encouraged me to play an instrument but I was always more interested in just listening to CDs. Eventually I started taking drum lessons when I was about 9.

Let’s talk about your formative years. What was the very first concert you attended? Did you play any sports / go to summer camps? Were there posers on your wall when you were growing up?

I think my first concert was No Doubt, at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. My sister was really into to seeing concerts from a young age, and at some point I started tagging along. I did have lots of posters on my wall when I was in elementary school, probably a couple of Blink 182 and 2pac.  

When you were old enough to start seeking out music, where did you regularly find yourself (a certain record store / internet site / friend)? Who were some of the artists you found / were always on the lookout for?

My sister showed me a lot of music when I was growing up in the 90s, and I think she was learning about bands from tv shows like My So Called Life. When I was a little older I continued to learn about bands from her, and they always seemed to come from movies and tv shows. Those early Sophia Coppola movies had great soundtracks.

Describe your path to becoming involved with music. What’s your very first earliest musical memory?When was the first time you felt super inspired by music?

By the time I started learning to play drums, I was already obsessed with listening to music, and learning about bands. It was just sort of a hobby until  8th grade when I met my friend Henry, and I started playing in a band with him. He introduced me to a lot of music that had a higher bar of musicianship, and that inspired me to take my drumming more seriously.

I remember one of the first time’s I heard about “Drag” was from Mark Hoppus (who was later featured in your music video for “Stuck”). I think it’s so cool to see bigger, more prominent artists promoting others who are just starting out or who don’t yet have a fanbase. Got any artist’s to share with us?

Yea that was crazy when Mark first tweeted at me. Especially because as a kid I was so obsessed with Blink. They were like my idols when I was in 4th and 5th grade. A couple artists I think are underrated are Fog Lake, This is Lorelei, Kenny Hoopla, and Drug Store Romeos.

 I want to talk a little bit about your first two EP’s – Headcase (2015) andHard to Read (2016) – and then your debut LP The Days We Had (2017)….How long were they in the making? Did you have any parts off of The Days We Had that dated back to before the EP’s?

About half of the songs on The Days We Had were written around the time of my first two EP’s, and the other half I wrote before recording the album. I still have all the original demos of the album. I’d like to release them sometime.

What was your favorite part about the writing / album creation process of The Days We Had?

MakingTDWHwas a process I wasn’t really used to. I made demos, then re-recorded those demos in a studio, then took the new versions to Mark Rankin. Mark mixed them and helped add some final production. The whole process took a long time, and I sort of feel like the original inspiration can become stale during that time. So it was definitely a challenge to keep it fresh. But it was rewarding, and maybe that was the best part of it.

Do you find it helpful to be intentional when it comes to writing the lyrics / music? Like “I’m going to sit down and work on a song.” Or is it more ephemeral, like you’ve been kicking something around in your head for days, weeks, months, and then suddenly it comes spilling out? Or is it a mixture of both?

I like to let lyrics just come in a stream of consciousness, I try not to be too thought out at first. I just want it to be natural with the melodic content. From there I usually record and tweak them as I go. I sort of collage it together until it feels right, and I’m saying what I want to say.

As your new single “Starting Again” is your follow up to your 2017 debut, The Days We Had, what mindset did you have going into the creating / recording process?

With “Starting Again” (and my new EP in general), I was trying to get back to a place of raw songwriting. I didn’t want to over bake the songs, or over produce them. I really tried to keep the inspiration pure, and not let it die in the process of production. that’s why these songs have a much more raw sound than my last album.

I feel like the music industry has shifted even more so the last couple years, between your releases, how has it felt as an artist? Has it been freeing? Is it scary trying to question how to approach music making and then releasing of it to the public?

The industry is definitely shifted a lot since I started Day Wave, and especially since I put out TDWH. It’s definitely daunting putting out new music in such a saturated market, but I just try to do it for myself. I feel like it’s the only way to be happy regardless of how successful it is.