We introduced you to one, Will Dailey, 2 weeks ago. Shortly thereafter, we went and checked out his live show at Mercury Lounge here in NYC. We were privy to 20 minutes of Dailey's precious time, and have the following questions and answers for your perusal. Oh yeah, and a hot live track that you can download for freezies.


It's safe to say that Will Dailey has quite a busy 2009 ahead of him. Yes, the year is nearly half over, but with 2 more EP's and a full length album scheduled to come out over the remaining months, the lad has been swept up in a whirlwind of shows, recordings, television appearances, and more artistic goodness that's sure to cement him on the map.

SB: Tell us about your first recording experiences.
WD: The first one was special. We recorded it using no computers...all tapes. We had limited funds so I ended up selling my car to finance the production. After that, the second album had a small budget so it made things a little easier.

SB: Would you classify yourself as sitting in one genre over another, or rather, how would you describe Will Dailey?
WD: First and foremost, I'm just a songwriter, so I don't consider myself to be part of one scene or another. If you go back in time to certain areas of Europe, no one genre can describe a certain place or another, and that's how I view it. I don't want to be pigeonholed into only being able to perform as one thing. If someone offered me the opportunity to perform on a cruise ship in a chicken suit, why WOULDN'T I at least try it? Throw me those experiences, and that way I'm allowed to recognize myself and I get to celebrate it at will.

SB: With the first 2 EP's evoking emotions and spirits of past legends and specifics (The Byrds and the 60s/70s rockers to the people of your hometown, Boston), do you have any immediate plans as to what the final EP will center around?
WD: I'm still kicking ideas around, but I'd like it to center on talented women vocalists; everyone from Joni Mitchell to Regina Spektor.

SB: Have you heard any of Regina's upcoming album? I've heard 4 or 5 cuts and it sounds like she's back on track!
WD: I've heard one of the songs. I'm such a fan of hers so to see her coming out with new material is exciting in and of itself.

SB: Are there any other artists that you draw inspiration from? And to that credit, are there certian aspects of your own music or the industry in general that really pump you up?
WD: Apostle of Hustle, which is a side project of [Andrew Whiteman] of Broken Social Scene is a collective where I really "love the adventure" of the music. Midlake is a great band out of Austin, TX that is like Fleetwood Mac meets Raidohead. I mean, in terms of music in general, if record stores still had the glory of midnight music releases, I'd be there, no doubt about it.

SB: Being on tour, what efforts are you currently going through to make sure your music is heard and on the tips of tastemakers' tongues?
WD: Well, out of the 10 tracks on the album, 7 or 8 of them have been placed on TV shows, including CSI:NY and the new 90210. We're also trying to release videos once a week to keep the name out there. The Lemongello video coincides with the Fashion of Distraction EP and is kind of just a fun take on this fictional character. Radio is so not a "first go to" anymore, so you have to find creative ways to be seen and heard. You have to keep a line connected to yourself at all times.

We couldn't agree more...keeping lines open to fans, readers and the like is super important to us as well, and we have to give a mondo rad big THANK YOU to the super nice and talented Will Dailey for taking the time to chat with us. Stroll on over to his site, check out when he hits your city, and by all means, make every effort to check him out in person.

mp3: Will Dailey - Never Be Your Baby (live)