← Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
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- [00:01]
Sloan Struble
Taking a Walk.
- [00:01]
Buzz Knight
I'm Buzz Knight and today on Taking a Walk, we're joined by dayglo, the indie pop sensation whose infectious melodies and thoughtful lyrics have captured the spirit of a new generation. As we talk, DayGlo, also known as Sloan Struble, opens up about the creative journey that's taken him from recording in his Texas bedroom to playing stages around the world. Will dive into his inspirations, the stories behind his songs, and the moments of reflection that shape his music. So join us in a couple of minutes here after a few words from our sponsors with one of today's most exciting young artists, Dayclo.
- [00:46]
iHeart Podcast Announcer
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:50]
Sloan Struble
Please welcome aboard the Johnson family. The whole fam's here for the Disney Cruise.
- [00:56]
Disney Cruise Announcer
So you know we came to play. Listen, the adults are gonna have a ball.
- [01:02]
Sloan Struble
First we're chilling in the infinity pool.
- [01:04]
Disney Cruise Announcer
Onto massages at Sense's spa, then gliding into Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge for a toast. We're even gonna kick back with Mickey.
- [01:13]
Sloan Struble
On Disney's private island.
- [01:15]
Disney Cruise Announcer
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- [03:41]
Buzz Knight
All right, Day Glo Sloan Struble, thanks for being on the Taking a Walk podcast.
- [03:46]
Sloan Struble
Heck yeah. Thanks for having me.
- [03:48]
Buzz Knight
So since we call the podcast Taking a walk, and since we're not taking a walk, you and I in person, if you had the opportunity to take a walk with somebody in the world of music, living or deceased, who would you take a walk with and maybe tell us where you'd like to take that walk?
- [04:09]
Sloan Struble
Oh, man, I mean, that is, I mean, that's like an infinite question. I feel like there's so many ways you could answer that. I mean, first thing comes to mind is like, Paul McCartney, that'd be cool to go on a walk with Paul McCartney and just ask him, like, how the heck did all of that happen? You know, like, how did this, you know, I would just love to hear his perspective, like how his life began and then where I would do it, I don't know. I mean, freaking anywhere. If I get to walk with Paul McCartney, I'll walk anywhere.
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Buzz Knight
It doesn't matter, right?
- [04:48]
Sloan Struble
Yeah.
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Buzz Knight
You know, I interviewed a musician recently by the name of Charles Kelly from the band Lady a. And Paul McCartney was, was his choice as well, so.
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Sloan Struble
Oh, nice.
- [05:03]
Buzz Knight
The answers span so many different places. That's why I love the, the opening question. But thank you for, for that. So tell me what your earliest memory of music is and one that made you feel something really special and knew you were going to be connected with a life of music.
- [05:24]
Sloan Struble
I mean, both of my parents, like, they were singers where they would, like, sing in church and, like, I guess, like, that's where my musical talent comes from. But we weren't, like, a musical house. Like, I wouldn't really say, like, instruments were sitting around the house, and it was, like, a thing that was encouraged, especially as a career at first. But I just. Yeah, I mean, I have so many things. Just very early development of, like, pots and pans on the kitchen floor and all that type of stuff. But I think the first time where I just knew it was, like, my career was when I was, like, 10 years old. My cousin showed me GarageBand. We were having a garage sale, like, my family was, and they came over, and he, like, showed me how to use GarageBand. And I was just obsessed with that whole ecosystem of, like, iMovie and GarageBand, all the things that Apple had. And that just completely opened my mind to, like, making stuff, because I think music is the most, like, innate part of me in the most way that I like to express myself, but I just love to make stuff. Like, I'm a really, really curious person. And whether it's video or music or, like, you know, woodworking or, like, 3D printing, like, I have a 3D printer in that closet, and I'm just, like, always trying to figure out how stuff works. And GarageBand was just, like, the immediate hook. And so from that point on, like, I never played video games or I never did any, like, activities like that. Like, GarageBand was my game.
- [07:12]
Buzz Knight
Yep.
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Sloan Struble
There's my dog again.
- [07:14]
Buzz Knight
It sounds like it might be a delivery or. Your dog has a question for you.
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Sloan Struble
No, he's like, anybody that's walking on the street, he's just, like, making himself known today. Hey, Benny. Benny, come here.
- [07:30]
Buzz Knight
Hey, Vinnie. You want to be on a podcast?
- [07:33]
Sloan Struble
He would love that. All right. Hey, Benny, come on. Come here.
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Buzz Knight
He thinks he owns the place. Because he does.
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Sloan Struble
Oh, yeah, right.
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Buzz Knight
Yeah.
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Sloan Struble
Yeah.
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Buzz Knight
Well, you're going to take us inside the creation a little bit later on of Super Bloom and some of the influences and creative process. But as you're talking about your fascination with how things work, have you. Have you been someone who likes to kind of reverse engineer things, whether it be, you know, a printer or whether it be, you know, your keyboard? Are you always kind of fixated on just trying different things?
- [08:13]
Sloan Struble
Yeah, totally. Yeah. I think there's definitely a sense of, like, the DIY spirit where, like, I have to prove that I can do it, and I think I'm really just proving it to myself, and I think, like, a really true intrinsic look at it would be like I don't think I can do it. And so I have to prove to myself that I can. So it's like a self worth thing and that goes towards like everything that I create. It's just that sense of like proving to myself that I can do anything, you know, where from the outside that might seem like it's coming from a place of like complete confidence, like I can do anything. But I feel like every time I'm like restarting, thinking I can't. So I have to prove that I can do it. Which yeah, just like gives me a very like explorative spirit of like trying new things. And I'm just like always watching YouTube and just like tutorial things on like very niche stuff and I'm just obsessed with like, yeah, proving that I can do it for better, for worse, you know.
- [09:35]
Buzz Knight
Well, it's a great confidence builder, being curious and it really is, you know, it sparks so many different areas in your life, whether it be the musical side or whether it be with new, new, new technology. What are you taking away these days in the burst upon the scene in the last certainly couple of years of artificial intelligence.
- [10:01]
Sloan Struble
Yeah, I don't know. I mean I'm like, I'm trying to, I don't, I really don't know that much about the AI stuff. Like, you know, it's pretty weird and like people are like making people that don't exist and that type of stuff which just goes into like social media in general. It's just like, I don't know, I don't know if that's really technically good for us at least like this version of humanity. Who knows if we'll like evolved for it to be good for us or something. But I don't know. I mean it's just such a crazy time with artificial intelligence and art and stuff. But I think like Rick Rubin, there was a video and when I was watching it all the comments were like saying what if this is AI? So because he's like saying it's a video of Rick Rubin talking about AI. But then that's the irony. I don't know if it's real. I'm pretty sure it is. But he's like talking about AI and saying that the greatest part of like things that work and art that stands out is technically like unpredictable error basically. And how like that's what the human touch is and like it can't be reduced down to like one thing that code could ever write because humanity doesn't make sense and like we are always making mistakes, and that's what propels us forward, is usually, like, mistakes that end up being a good thing. And AI, like, doesn't want to make mistakes at all, you know, and that's just not how people are. And I feel like that's how a lot of songs that I've made get written is like, I accidentally do something and it's like, oh, that worked. You know, like, the birth of rock and roll was like, they, like, accidentally broke an amp, you know? So I think that's kind of what propels us forward, and AI doesn't have a chance with that, you know?
- [12:08]
Buzz Knight
Amen. Well, take us through the moment you decided to start DayGlo.
- [12:15]
Sloan Struble
I was in high school, and I lived in a small town in Texas, and I wasn't around any type of art scene at all. And, yeah, I just, like. Like I was saying, just loved making music, but I wasn't at all, like, connected to the industry of any way, shape, or form. Like, I didn't even know really anybody, apart from, like, one of my friends that even liked music that was like, you know, I care about this band. Obviously there was, like, girls that, like the Jonas Brothers or something, but there wasn't, like, you know, this band is cool, and I like the alternative scene and all that. Like, I. No one around me really cared. Yeah, I was just making music alone, and I decided to start putting it on the Internet just by myself and just put it as the name of DayGlo. Because there was a band or a song that I liked called dayglo by this band called Brazos. Yeah, just, like, release my songs. Fuzzy Brain, my first album was, like, just a collection of songs because I was like, I want to finish an album by the end of summer and before I go to college. And so the week I left for college, I just, like, uploaded fuzzy brain, unlike TuneCore CD Baby or something for, like, 20 bucks. And then, yeah, just the algorithm did its thing. It's crazy. I never thought in a million years that it would be, like, an actual career, especially to the extent that it's been already so super grateful for that. But, yeah, I'm like, Can I Call youl Tonight? And Hot Rod and all those songs. I'm like 17 in them. And it's like, it's just so crazy to think, like, that it's still just propelling my life forward, what I did when I was 17, you know, it's.
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Buzz Knight
Wild and it must be crazy waking up one morning and then seeing the fact that, as you put it, the algorithm had done its job and, yeah, something has just taken off and gone crazy.
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Sloan Struble
Totally.
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Buzz Knight
What is that feeling like.
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Sloan Struble
Man? I think it is a blessing and a curse. Like, it's a virality is definitely a drug. And like, once you get it, it's like very hard to unwire your brain to like, need the viral thing again. And that's just like the way the industry is shaped now. It's like you have to go viral, which that sucks. But yeah, I just remember, like, one day in college I was like getting breakfast and I saw that Spotify had like, naturally put two of my songs on like a new playlist that they made called Bedroom Pop. And then that's like how everything kind of propelled forward. So random and so organic. So that was cool. It was cool that like, it wasn't planted in any way. It was like, really, really organic, which is cool.
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Buzz Knight
So who were the biggest musical influences? You mentioned Paul McCartney at the outset, certainly, but who are some other influen? And how do they shape your sound to this day?
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Sloan Struble
I was 17 when I made a lot of fuzzy Breen, like 17 and 18. And like, I love that music. But like, your music taste changes, especially like in these formative years. And so it's just changed over time, like, and I think people have seen that happen, like, as my music taste evolves, like, the music I'm making is pretty different. And I think the people that are through lines, through all of it are just the musicians of the 80s and, you know, earlier. So, like, I grew up listening to a lot of James Taylor. I love the beatles and Paul McCartney, love Paul Simon. I love Phil Collins, Harmony House. My second album was like very doobie brothers, Michael McDonald influenced. And those are kind of like the true to myself, like Bruce Hornsby, like, true to myself music passions. Then there's also like the alternative indie stuff. So, like, this recent album was like a lot like the Strokes and like Phoenix and just kind of that era of like, you know, 2010 indie pop.
- [16:52]
Buzz Knight
So the project Super Bloom has a fascinating array of. Of songs and. And styles to it. I'm gonna highlight a couple of them here and get your reflection on it and maybe take us inside your mind and your. Your creative process. First of all, the song Broken Bone. Tell me about that one.
- [17:16]
Sloan Struble
It's like a. A jam song. So a band I was really listening to on this most recent record, which is like totally out of left field, but I was listening to a lot of King Gizzard and the Lizard wizard. So they do like, I mean, they. They're known for just releasing tons of music and they have like 25 albums already or something. But it's like generally just like jam rock. And I was listening to a lot of that, just like learning how to play the electric guitar better and with that, like, you know, Pink Floyd and just like epic electric guitar bands and stuff was. I think what I was scared to do and embrace is that like, emotional guitar playing type thing where it's like. Yeah, I don't know. I think Broken Bone is just kind of like facing your fears. And musically I did that as well and just had like this epic psych solo at the end. But yeah, it's a song with like tons of layers. But I'd say just like mostly about facing your fears and letting life happen, like letting things break and feeling the pain of that and then like waiting patiently for them to heal again is generally kind of the ethos behind it.
- [18:42]
Buzz Knight
It's. It's a great one. I want to ask you about another one that I really like called Cocoon.
- [18:48]
Sloan Struble
Say. Yeah, so Cocoon's kind of the same driven feeling of just like, just like a high energy song. Like a lot of the songs on this record just my heart was racing and just like, let's Go and like using high energy music to like, meet your anxiety. So like, I always thought like, you know, if you're feeling anxious, you should like, listen to calm music, which is probably true. But when listening to King Gizzard, it clicked for me the connection that people have to like metal and high energy, like, rock music and how it, like, makes them peaceful people. Because a lot of people that like, listen to that type of music are like, calm and like, chill. And that just never made sense to me until making this record where I was like, trying to make these songs that were like, addressing and powering through my anxiety. And I think Cocoon has that same message as like Broken Bone. I'm just like facing your fears and just rocking out at the same time, you know.
- [19:57]
Buzz Knight
You know, a lot of your music, I think, showcases that you have so much wisdom, but you're a young, a young fella. And one song that really strikes me in that way as well is the one called Old Friend, New Face. Tell me about that one.
- [20:18]
Sloan Struble
Old Friend, New Faces. I had had that instrumentation, like the instrumental for a while, and production wise, I just wanted it to like, really embody that 2010 MySpace Indie Pop thing where like Passion Pit and Two Door Cinema Club and those kind of bands sonically. But lyrically it's Like, a song about facing and embracing, like, change in other people, I guess. Yeah. I mean, most of my songs are just about, like, growing up and changing and dealing with change. And Old friend, New face is, like, processing change somebody else is going through.
- [21:06]
Buzz Knight
So what role do you think community, whether it's friends or family or fans play in your creative life?
- [21:15]
Sloan Struble
Creative life. I mean, fans, for sure. Like, I think I have a great connection with my fans. I think my fans are really unique in the way that they're, like, really chill people, but they're also, for the most part, young. Like, I've never had any moments with my fans that are like. Like, they idolize me in any way. Like, I definitely feel like I have fans, like, look up to me and they care what I have to say. But, like, if a fan sees me in the street, it's never, like, freaking out or something. Like, everybody's super chill. I feel like I'm friends with all my fans, which is really cool. And so, yeah, I just always keep in mind, like, how they'll perceive what's going on. Yeah, just like, the live show and how that'll translate. And having people in my life as well that just know what's going on and are there beside me is incredibly important. I think, like, creatively, it's awesome to just have fans that have, like, grown up with me because, yeah, like, a lot of my fans are my age and we're 18 around fuzzy brain. And so, like, we're all kind of growing up together. And I have, like. I'm kind of like a spokesperson in some ways, and so I'm, like, just trying to make sure that I. And making good music at least, you know.
- [22:43]
Buzz Knight
You must be excited, taking these new songs to the road.
- [22:47]
Sloan Struble
Yeah, no, I'm stoked we don't have, like, a tour planned right now, but really hope, and I'm sure we will soon, but yeah, I love playing live. Like, I love playing shows so much. Yeah, it's the best.
- [23:06]
Buzz Knight
Well, it's been so great to talk to you. I want to congratulate you on Superbloom and all your great work and your just your creative process. Thank you for sharing it. It's really just fantastic to meet you. Dayglo, Sloan Struble. Thanks for being on Taking a Walk and sharing your story.
- [23:24]
Sloan Struble
Oh, yeah, thanks for having me. This is great. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends and follow us at so you never miss an episode. Taking a Walk is available on the.
- [23:39]
Disney Cruise Announcer
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