Interview with Minerva Daisy

Last month, after a last minute cancellation Minerva Daisy joined our Summer Daze Festival at short notice. I was blown away by her performance of upcoming single 'Euphoria' and couldn't wait for the song to be released. Well, that time has arrived. 'Euphoria' was released last week and I caught up with Minerva Daisy to talk about the song, its inspiration and feelings of liberation.

How would you describe your sound to the readers?

My sound is indie pop doused in soul, rock, folk and jazz. I take elements from different genres and blend them together to try to make a concoction to your liking. Regardless, there’s always a piano and a powerful voice.

How did your musical journey start?

It started when I was a kid, I’ve always loved music and I’ve grown up in a really creative and supportive household. My dad is in a band, the frontman and guitarist so I had a leg up there, I’d sit and listen to him playing his guitar and just loved it, I’d always be singing along and doing my own little performances. We moved into a house when I was 6 that had a piano sitting in the hallway and I just fell in love, so I guess that’s where it all truly began. From there I played piano and started to write my own lyrics.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

I always find this such a difficult question because I could name so many artists who have influenced me in different ways over the years but here are a few of my all time favourites: Etta James, Queen, Florence and the Machine, Bjork, Nina Simone, Muse and of course : my Dad.

Your new song ‘Euphoria’ is out now! How was the process of making this song for you? Did you come across any challenges due to the pandemic?

The song process its self was slightly delayed due to COVID and having to find time to get into the studio safely, The track has a more relaxed tone to it than “Substitute” so it was quite relaxing to record, it its as emotional as the prior track. It was really easy working with the producer James Kenyon too, he has helped turn the song into what I was imagining!

‘Euphoria’ has been described as thrilling, cheeky and liberated, can you explain more about this?

The song initially started out about being with someone who doesn’t care about you. When this was first written I was a lot younger and immature, I think I had this unrealistic expectation of a relationship and in turn had unhealthy and toxic relationships, however as time has gone on and I’ve progressed as a musician and a person, its now from the perspective of someone who’s unsatisfied within their relationship on a number of levels its less about not being enough for someone and instead more about realising you deserve better than someone who treats you that way.

What was your main inspiration for the lyrics in ‘Euphoria’? Do you have a favourite lyric or line in the song?

The lyrics don’t have any main inspiration, I think themes of greed, lust and confusion were definitely prominent in the initial stages of writing it. My favourite line of the song would have to be the bridge “Let’s hide away under duvets and mistakes of our broken hearts” It was about the childlikeness of the relationship, hiding away from the problems and covering them with the fun times.

You have planned an incredible launch gig for the song, can you tell me more about that?

Yeah! So the launch is something I’m super excited for. It’s on July 25th 2021 at Lions Den, Manchester and doors open at 7pm!

I wanted to put on a gig that would be the medicine we needed after a drought of live music for so long and so I thought , let’s throw a party! I already had some artists in mind I knew I needed to have performing but then I decided to hire a DJ and throw an afterparty, but if people bought tickets to this they will get a lot of goodies! You’ll get access to the afterparty, a free drink, a merch bundle and an exclusive live performance of my next secret single all for just £10. All of the money from the special access packages goes directly back to the band and really will help us out. I had been planning a merch launch for a while and this just seemed like the perfect time for it.

You have released a few songs now, are these part of a bigger project for you?

They’re definitely the start of something bigger, I tested the waters out with my debut single and more recently “Substitute” and I really enjoyed the process of creating and releasing the tracks. All the songs released are clocking on now and il love to start releasing my newer material.

What can we expect next from Minerva Daisy?

Well, there’s a secret single planned to release in august, and I’m in talks about a potential EP. I’m also going to be releasing my merch officially online on my website and hopefully will be creating my very first music video!

And lastly, what music have you been listening to recently? Anything you can recommend to us?

I have been listening to a lot of new music recently, sometimes ill type in a random word into the search engine of Deezer and see what comes up, here of some of my recent favourites.

I’d recommend listening to these few songs:

Bahamas - Own Alone

Easily - Bruno Major

To Love Somebody - Nina Simone

Ship to Wreck - Florence + the Machine.

Thank you so much to Minerva Daisy for taking the time to answer these questions for us, it's really appreciated. Make sure you go and give 'Euphoria' a listen and save it to your favourite summer playlists, I know I will. You can follow Minerva Daisy on her social media as well, all linked below, and if you are in the Manchester area on the 25th of July then I highly recommend going along to the 'Euphoria' launch gig.

Listen to 'Euphoria' on Spotify here.

Follow Minerva Daisy on Spotify here.

Follow Minerva Daisy on Instagram here.

All After Midnight links here.

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