Daisy the Great Speak on New Album 'I'm Not Getting Any Taller'

Photo: Lorin Anderberg

A female duo from Brooklyn, Mina Walker and Kelley Nicole Dugan of Daisy the Great took the time to speak with us about how they became a band, their songwriting tips, and their new album I'm Not Getting Any Taller, which is now available everywhere.

Can you introduce yourselves to our readers?

Hey :) We’re Mina and Kelley. Mina's from New Orleans and Kelley’s from New York City. We met in college and now we make music together as Daisy the Great.

What inspired your band name?

We were walking around in Brooklyn making a huge list of ideas and just kept coming back to Daisy the Great because it represents a power behind joy and vulnerability, which we try to investigate in our music.

How did you start creating music together?

We wrote a pop/rock musical together about a band, and then we just decided to be the band in real life. The musical’s on pause for now but will maybe come back at some point. ;)

Your sound is very unique; how would you describe it?

We don’t really think about genre when we’re writing, we just go with what feels right for the song. We love harmony and storytelling, so we play with different layering and vibes until it fits the story of the song best. We still feel like we’re constantly exploring what our “genre” is or could be.

Do you take any inspiration from other styles of music? How do your personal tastes influence your music?

Totally. We have a playlist on our Spotify of some of our favorite artists and songs that have influenced us — check it out, it’s called "songs we love rn and always." The thread between everything is typically the storytelling and the vocals.

As a female singer-songwriter duo, do you think that the music industry is lacking in female representation and power?

The industry is definitely lacking in terms of representation and who is in the positions of power — not just for women but for people of color and the queer community. Inclusivity across the board will strengthen the field completely.

Photo credit: Sara Laufer

Do you have any tips for aspiring musicians and songwriters?

Trust yourself. There’s no right timeline for everyone. Find things to be grateful for wherever you can. Share your work. Know that it’s okay to ask for help. Make music that you like because popularity is so fleeting that if you try to fit a mold you could be chasing that forever. Be gentle with yourself and show yourself love and care.

As a duo, is there a specific artist you’d both like to collab with?

We love to collaborate with our friends and would love to work with anyone on our inspiration playlist that we mentioned. The list of artists that we would love to collab with is so long.

What is the most important song on your new album?

These songs are our babies; we can’t choose a favorite! It was already so hard to choose which songs we put on the album. We have so many songs that we love to play live that didn't even make it on to the record because in building the tracklist for I'm Not Getting Any Taller we started to follow a through-line that was really interesting to us: time. What to do with the time you have, who to spend it on, and how much of it you should give to yourself. Each of the 11 songs on the record approaches that from a different angle — “IDKW” is about reclaiming your time; “Dips” is about lingering in the details during a relationship that you know is only temporary, “Time to Fall” is a mini pop opera about choosing to dedicate your time to yourself again. All of that said, if we have to choose, “Company” is probably closest to the core of what the album is about.

Daisy the Great's debut album I'm Not Getting Any Taller is available on all platforms and streaming services now.

How long did it take to get the perfect take of the album?

We’ve been working on the album since we dropped our debut EP a year ago!

What’s next for Daisy the Great? Can we expect a full tour anytime soon?

We’re playing an album release show January 26th at Baby’s All Right! It’s gonna be a party so come on down. After that, we’re really excited for this year — we’re playing regularly in New York and will definitely be traveling a bit…no full tour dates just yet, but we’ll be opening for the Indigo Girls on a few shows of their tour which is so crazy! March 28-30 in New Jersey and Port Chester. We’re also planning on releasing more music videos and already have a ton of songs written for our next record. ’Til then, you can find I’m Not Getting Any Taller wherever you listen to music.