This past Thursday, I had the honor of interviewing Sloan Struble of the band Dayglow. Sloan is a 20-year-old musician hailing from Aledo, Texas, but Dayglow came to be while Sloan studied in Austin at UT. If the name Dayglow rings a bell to you, it may be because they won BYX’s Battle of the Bands this past March which gave them a spot to perform at BYX’s Island Party later that same month. 

Right before the members of Dayglow had gotten to the venue, they had driven from St. Louis to Aledo to Austin. They are currently on their first official U.S. tour and will be joining Hobo Johnson during his Europe tour in December. Even after spending hours and hours cooped up in a van, Sloan was still as kind as can be. I decided to get the band some flowers as a good-luck for their performance, which they later brought on stage with them and seemed to enjoy. 

Sloan is always able to get the audience dancing with his happy-go-lucky performances and upbeat songs from his 2018 album, Fuzzybrain. Dayglow is the perfect indie-pop mix creating a versatility that has lead to such success. 

Anna: So my first question is, you were a freshman at UT last year, what was your career plan if your music hadn’t blown up?

Sloan: Yeah, I honestly don’t even remember what I thought I was gonna do. I was an advertising major. I think my goal was to advertise my music, so music has kinda been the end goal. I guess I just had high hopes that it would work, and it has!

A: What do your parents think of you being a career musician?

S: They’re super supportive of it. I think it’s been obvious its something I’ve wanted to do like, for as long as I can remember. They’ve just been really on board and supportive. They’re coming tonight! Yeah, they’ve been awesome. I have great parents.

A: So I’ve seen in one other interview and I think you put this on your Instagram the other day, but you started messing around with GarageBand when you were ten, right?

S: Mhm!

A: So what other musical things were you into? When did you start playing guitar?

S: guitar hero… I was big on. I don’t know if that counts but I loved playing rockband with my brothers. I think that initially sparked something in me. And then GarageBand, and using the pre-made loops and just like putting songs together was so addicting to me. I just kept going from there. I took guitar lessons when I was 10 and quit almost immediately, I just didn’t like my teacher. I re-taught myself through youtube.

A: I guess that leads to another question: how has social media played a role in your music career? Do you like being that close with your fanbase?

S: Yeah I mean I think it’s incredible that social media exists. It makes so many things possible that wouldn’t be in… normal reality. I totally have to give all my thanks to Spotify because it all started ultimately with algorithms and organic growth through that. I didn’t have any press or any team behind the music it was just kinda on the internet. Then Spotify’s Discover Weekly spiked listeners randomly and it’s been growing since that. I don’t know if Spotify is “social media” but that’s just incredible. The internet has been everything so far. So this being my first tour, I’ve been super excited to meet whos actually out there and you know, what everyone’s like. I haven’t really gotten to meet fans yet, but it’s awesome that I get to now! I’m very thankful and grateful and it’s awesome, but I’ve been waiting for a long time to make it feel human because it’s all just been on the internet.

A: So when did you start writing songs for Fuzzybrain? 

S: It was pretty much all written during my senior year of high school, so two years ago. I just wrote a bunch of songs during that time and during that time I was just waiting for change to happen so that’s kind of the theme of all the songs. There might’ve been some that were before that but for the most part, it was all written and finished and conceptualized during my senior year.

A: Are there any events in your life that have shaped your songwriting and your music style?

S: Definitely. I think my songs are personal. Writing music is really therapeutic to me and I’ve just always found relief in writing songs and kind of getting things off my chest. Really everything I’ve gone through I’ve tried to use songwriting as the medicine of what I’m going through. There have definitely been a couple of changes. I didn’t like the school I was at, and yeah I think that shaped a lot of Fuzzybrain, just wanting to be somewhere new and with other people. 

A: Ok so ACL. That’s crazy, you played ACL! How was that, when you found out you were getting to perform?

S: It was awesome. I got a call from my managers while I was swimming at my friend’s house and we just got really excited. Its been a dream of mine to play ACL. I would’ve gone to ACL regardless, I just love the festival. I don’t know I kind of felt like I just won a lottery or like a radio call where you get free tickets. It’s kind of how I viewed it and then I was like “oh we also are like, playing.” It was a very milestone experience to get to play.

A: So I guess ACL might count as this, but what has been your most memorable show so far and why?

S: I would definitely say ACL. We haven’t had too many shows yet so I’m sure that’ll change down the line. But yeah ACL has been like a big goal for me and its crazy that it’s in the past now. Now we’re on tour, driving around. It’s just all so awesome. But I think ACL is definitely the most memorable experience just all around

A: So who or what is your biggest musical inspiration?

S: Oooh um. I listen to a lot of artists. I listen to a lot of 60s/70s Americana like James Taylor’s earlier stuff, the Carpenters, Jim Croce. My parents listen to a lot of that so that stuff just feels the most sentimental to me. But I don’t think I have one singular artist that I’ve thought of and realized “this is who I really want to be,” which is a cool place to be. I don’t know exactly what that is yet. I love The Beatles, I think The Beatles are great. But yeah I don’t know yet, it’s kind of exciting.

A: Ok I have a couple not-so-serious questions. What is your favorite meme?

S: Favorite meme? Um,... I’m trying to think of ones that are trendy to use. There was one we [the band] were just talking about it. Dr. Phil? We were watching a lot of Dr. Phil videos I don’t know if that leads to a meme. I love Dr. Phil, I don’t know if that counts. I kind of watch his youtube channel in the spirit of… meme, so that’s what I’ve been watching a lot lately.

A: Yeah, I think his general vibe is pretty… meme-ish.

S: Yeah and he’s so self-aware of it now too. I don’t know if you've looked at his youtube but they’re getting so, the titles are getting very clickbait-ish. It’s just weird to think that Dr. Phil is doing that, you know?

A: Yeah. Ok, TikTok or Vine?

S: Vine. I loved Vine. Yeah, RIP.

A: What’s your favorite song right now? If you had to pick one.

S: One song? Um… Happy Birthday because its Noorie’s birthday. He plays keys. Yeah, we’ve been singing that a lot.

A: My last question is: is there anything you want your fans to know about you that they don’t know already?

S: Uh, I don’t know. I guess we’ll just find out as time goes. I don’t really have like fun facts I can think of.

A: A man of mystery! 

Written by: Anna SolisPhotos courtesy of Anna Solis