On The Rise: The Gutter Daisies

We had the chance to speak with up-and-coming 3-piece rock band, The Gutter Daisies. Based in Los Angeles, the three piece rock band consists of Doug Rockwell, Miles Franco, and Mike Diggs. We are so happy we had the chance to speak with singer Doug Rockwell about the band’s newest release, “American Pie.”

For our readers who aren’t familiar with you or your music, can you share with us how you began your musical journey?

Mine started at a very young age. I grew up in a family of musicians and music lovers, so I was surrounded by instruments and records from day one. When I was 8 years old, I was watching MTV and “Basket Case” by Green Day came on. I remember walking up to the TV completely mesmerized. I remember thinking to myself “This is what I’m gonna do when I grow up!” I just knew. That same year I started playing guitar and it’s been tunnel vision ever since. There were never any other options. I formed a few bands throughout my high school years, and then right after graduation I started touring with a band called Someday Never. We were signed to a small indie label based out of New Jersey and did fairly decent in the pop punk scene for a few years. Eventually we broke up because of stupid things kids do in their early twenties like drinking too much alcohol, cheating on girlfriends, smoking too much weed, fist fights. The usual stuff. I started getting more involved in producing and writing for other people. I focused the next few years on honing my craft, spent time in NYC writing for EDM DJs, and kept building my credits. Around 2010 or so I met Mike Diggs. I was recording a band called Mercer Ave. at my studio, and Mike filled in on drums. I was blown away and was like “who the hell is this dude?” We exchanged information to keep in touch, but were never on the same timeline. It took about 2 years but finally things lined up, and him and I formed a band called Lovelectric. We did some pretty cool things and had a few covers do well on YouTube, but, as bands do, we broke up. But this time it wasn’t because of cheating or drugs or fist fights. I had gotten an opportunity to work for a producer out in LA that was one of my idols growing up. I packed up my life, left my girlfriend of 4 years (who was supposed to move with me), and moved to LA with barely any money or a place to live. The job lasted for about 3 weeks. It was a total disaster. This guy was not who I imagined him to be. I wont go into detail, but 3 weeks into leaving everything for what I had thought was my “golden ticket” left me broke, on a couch, didn’t even have enough money to get back to NJ. My girlfriend broke up with me. Nothing felt like it could get worse. I stuck it out though, because I felt like I was out there for a reason and couldn’t turn back now. I kept working, I met as many people as I could. I wrote with a ton of people. About a year later I signed my first publishing deal with Disney Music Publishing. It was more of a “Oh Thank God” moment than anything else. A relief. That I wasn’t crazy about pushing forward. And here I am, fortunate enough to write music for a living. And believe it or not, that’s the short version.

You guys just recently released your newest single titled, “American Pie.” Can you take us behind the scenes of the song and the creative process? What does this song mean to you three?

This song was written out of complete frustration with how certain things in this country were being handled and neglected. Things weren’t changing, and horrific events were becoming “just another..” People who had the power to make a change were turning their heads, forgetting that this was happening time and time again. This song was a big release of emotional turbulence that we felt a lot of other people were dealing with too. As far as the creative process goes, I usually come to Mike and Miles with most of the music, lyrics and melody finished. Then once I get the “Hey, I like this” from both of them, we flesh it out as a band, and they write their parts.

Transitioning from your song, “Celebrity Suicide,” to this new release, “American Pie,” how do the two differ from each other and what are the similarities?

I think out of our catalogue, these two are actually the most similar. Lyrically, they’re angry and sarcastic, and shed light on serious and specific issues. Musically they’re also in the general vicinity of the same tempo and power. Both have somewhat dreary yet playful verse progressions while the choruses’ purpose is to wake people the [creamed corn] up.

How has your guys’ sound progressed since your first release back in 2017 to now?

I think our first EP was a little faster and raw. We were also trying to figure out who we were as a band. But that’s also the fun part. We still love those songs so much, but what’s really fun for us is listening back and comparing us then to us now. That EP feels like a 2-dimensional version of us. I think we’ve done a lot of growing since then and have uncovered not only more dimensions to our music, but the right ones. We’re still growing and learning. We always will be. But I think we’ve figured out which version of us we WANT to figure out. If that makes sense.

Your influences hail from 90’s rock acts such as Green Day and Weezer to name a few. What led you to create The Gutter Daisies? Who are some of your individual favorite musicians that you believe to have influenced your taste in music?

So about a year after I moved out to LA, Mike did too because he missed me so much and his life was falling apart without me and he fell into a really weird habit of eating only Kashi brand cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but with cottage cheese, not with milk. He grew a beard that became a home to 4 kookaburras that he fed throughout the day. He named each one of them “salad” yet somehow each bird knew which one he was talking to. Eventually after his mom caught him hoarding her leftover meatloaf in his closet, she forced him to get his life together. He moved out here smelling like 3 month old warm Panda Express, wearing nothing but a stained bathrobe and a hat that said “Cool Ethan.” He was a mess. Nah I’m just kidding. He never ate Kashi for breakfast. So anyway, where were we? Right. I was writing for a lot of other artists, TV and film projects. I started feeling disconnected, and something didn’t feel right. I realized it was because I wasn’t writing for me anymore. I spent my whole life playing in bands and writing about things I was going through to help cope. And I didn’t realize how important that still was to me. So me and smelly Mike started a band. We met Miles through a mutual friend, and it was pretty much magic. We all wanted a break from pop politics, and felt like we needed our own voice more than ever. We decided to go back to our roots, and write what mattered to us, without caring who liked it, what people expected of us, no intentions, nothing. And it was so freeing. We have so many influences, and a lot of which would probably leave people scratching their heads, yet they still make their way into our music without people even noticing. Some artists that were a big impact on me personally besides the ones you listed would be Phish, Seal, Nirvana, Guttermouth, The Offspring, most of Epitaph’s early punk-o-rama CDs, Incubus, Less Than Jake, Pulley, Dillinger Escape Plan, mostly anything on Pandora’s Soundscapes channel, a handful of Broadway show tunes, I mean, the list goes on in so many directions. Mike is a huge funk guy. We both bonded over Phish, Vulfpeck and Cory Wong. Miles is a pop punk kid at heart.

What is your creative process behind your work? What usually comes first? A melody? Some chords? Lyrics?
If I’m writing for The Gutter Daisies, I’m usually jamming out on guitar singing melodies and gibberish words until they start to form actual sentences. That’s usually the template. I’ll write lyrics last 99% of the time. A lot of times, titles will come out of the gibberish temp lyrics too, and that’s what I’ll base the subject around. I look at myself as a vessel, and whatever is floating around in my metaphorical musical space at the moment will be channeled, and that’s what comes out.

We are almost four months in to 2020, what have you all already accomplished/finished? What else are you hoping to complete throughout the remainder of the year?

We’ve released two songs that we’re really proud of, and that’s it. Everything else has been put on hold unfortunately. We’ve had to cancel shows for everyone’s safety. Right now all we care about is getting through this horrific pandemic safely with our loved ones. If we can all start playing shows at some point this year, that will be a success to me.

Where do you guys see yourselves as a group, musically, 5 years from now?

We’d be thrilled if people are still singing along, wanting more music, and coming out to see us. That’s all that matters. We’d love to be on bigger tours too. We’ve always felt that we are able to show people exactly what we are when we play live. The first record we did was live. The more people we can play in front of, the more we have the opportunity to share what we love with new friends. The fact that we get to do what we love is already a blessing, so if we’re still doing it in 5 years, I’m happy.

Do you guys have a message for your fans? And do you have a message for people who have yet to discover you and your music?

To the people who have yet to discover our music, know that Mike Diggs really isn’t a gross meatloaf hoarding beard man. To all of our fans, you all know Mike Diggs is really a gross meatloaf hoarding beard man, c’mon.

Be sure to keep up with The Gutter Daisies on Instagram || Twitter || Spotify