The Lakefront gets Lush: Chicago’s own Daisychain on their upcoming album, tour, and more
Interview and article by Audrey Strand
On May 19th, I sat down with the psych rock/blues-inspired band Daisychain at 88.7 WLUW to hear a few songs and chat about their upcoming events and releases. Made up of Nickole Regala on bass and vocals, Sophia Williams on guitar and vocals, and Frankie Sripada on lead guitar, Daisychain is Chicago-based and hot off the press with new music. Before I interviewed them, they huddled into the on-air-studio to play some new music live for our listeners.
They performed acoustic versions of their songs “Waste Your Time” and “Rivers” with raw, dimensional guitars and powerful harmonies. Sophia, Nickole, and Frankie have been working on a new album titled All in a Name, their first LP. The record takes on a shoegaze-y flavor but still maintains Daisychain’s signature sound.
They will be traveling the country for their “She’s a Freak” tour this summer, bringing their blues-inspired psychedelic rock and infectious energy along with them. All in a Name comes out June 27th, 2025, but they’ll be performing an album release show on June 20th at Sleeping Village in Chicago.
Audrey (Interviewer), Frankie Sripada (Lead Guitar), Nickole Regala (Bass, vocals), Sophia Williams (Guitarist, vocals)
Audrey: We’ll set you guys up here for a couple interview questions, give you an opportunity to talk about some of the stuff you’ve been working on, and you guys' vibe. We’ve been loving spinning you guys at the station- had a couple things going on here, especially in Chicago, love to get that.
Frankie: Thank you!
Audrey: Yeah! So the first question I have for you guys is you’ve mentioned in interviews before that your creative process involves a lot of inspiration from other artists, was there any specific artist or song that inspired the single “Waste Your Time”?
Frankie: So, for me personally, for some of the instrumental parts, some of the guitar tones, I was listening to quite a bit of like some 90s shoegaze, particularly the British band Catherine Wheel. Super shimmery, obnoxious tremolos stuff, and I wanted to take those sorts of tones and then sort of bring it back to a little bit more rock-and-roll kind of song you know, like a windows super wide tremolo guitar tones, yeah.
Audrey: Yeah, for sure, I love Catherine Wheel, it’s good to see. I feel like there’s a lot of shoegaze stuff going around in music right now, especially in independent music, and it’s one of my favorite genres. I’m really liking seeing a bunch of people take it and make it their own- especially you guys do such a great job.
Band: Thank you! Thank you.
Audrey: Yeah! The next one I’ve got is: you’ve said that “Waste Your Time” is a song about unrequited love, could you elaborate on that?
Nickole: Yeah, I think it’s just, you know, like really wanting someone, and then they just don’t feel the same. And maybe some of the like toxic feelings that might incite, but, you know, it's like all of our responsibilities to tend to ourselves, you know? It can be difficult to- you know, just put yourself out there.
Sophia: (Laughing) You can have those inside thoughts.
Nickole: (Laughing) Yeah but you keep them inside, and you- yeah.
Sophia: You know, we all have them.
Audrey: Yeah, for sure, for sure. This one’s a little more fun. If you had to assign Daisychain as a band to a beverage at a coffee shop, what would it be?
Band: Ooooh.
Nickole: That’s you. (Looks to Sophia)
Sophia: I feel like it would change day to day. It would either be like a triple shot of espresso or like a chamomile tea. (Laughs)
Nickole: I was going to say lavender latte for some reason.
Sophia: Oooh.
Audrey: Yeah!
Sophia: Meet in the middle. A little bit of herbal remedy and a little shot of caffeine.
Band: (Laughing)
Audrey: A little mixture, I like that.
Sophia: Yeah.
Audrey: What do you guys usually order? Like, if you’re just doing it for yourself.
Sophia: Coffee with whole milk.
Nickole: I’m the same, and Frankie gets-
Frankie: Black.
Audrey: Black?
Frankie: Like my heart. (Laughs)
Sophia: Every time.
Band: (Laughs)
Nickole: (Laughing) Not just the coffee, but he has to say that every time.
Audrey: It fits in with the artist kind of, like, brooding moment.
Nickole: (Laughing) It’s his brand, we love it.
Audrey: Nickole, you’ve mentioned that the upcoming album “All in a Name” involved a process of discipline, vulnerability, and humility. How has the making of this album differed from you guys’ other music creation experiences?
Nickole: There was much more of a time crunch here, and there was a specific number of demos required, and you know at that point it felt pretty much like a legit project. Whereas before it, we were kind of just like, throwing some ideas out trying to get a small EP out and it wasn’t really rushed, we could kinda take our time. You know this was definitely much more, kind of rigid.
Sophia: Yeah, like pressure’s on.
All: Yeah, yeah.
Audrey: Had to lock in. (Laughs)
Frankie: Everything under much more of a microscope, versus in the past you know, the only real microscope was the one we would examine on ourselves.
Sophia: And I guess a thing to add to that too since we had such a time crunch and so many songs to kind of get through and pump out, we just dropped all our inhibitions and were like, doesn’t matter if I think it sucks or you think it sucks, let’s work on it, and some really cool stuff came out of things-
Nickole: Joke’s on us cause turns out none of them sucked! (Laughs)
Sophia: (Laughing) They were all bangers!
Frankie: (Laughs)
Audrey: Yes, no exactly. I think that’s for sure a big change. Having your eyes turned in on yourself, which I know for a lot of artists, that’s the biggest, most critical eye. How would you describe your upcoming album, All in a Name’s general vibe/energy, and if you had to assign a certain color or texture to it, what would it be?
Sophia: Well, we’ve had people call it a blue album, like just the tone blue, and I like that ‘cause the album itself has a lot of different genres that we touch on, and different vibes and moods and tempos and you know it’s just every song is just a little bit different. But I think there’s some sort of common theme that we’ve woven through it and the whole album itself is an experience from start to finish.
Audrey: Yeah. I’m a very visual person where I feel like I imagine a texture or a color associated with songs or vibes. Especially with you guys being psychedelic rock and blues-inspired, I think the blues- I can imagine the different shades and all of that coming into it. Super cool! Next up, I said what are your favorite aspects of live performance, and what are some of your most memorable live performances?
Frankie: Favorite parts of live performance? I mean, obviously interacting with, you know, your fellow bandmates, and your audience. It’s just getting that interaction is always fantastic and just, even after doing it for how many years, you know, the three of us have had the band for almost eight years. And obviously any music we’ve done before then, there’s still always the little perk of the excitement, or you know, little bit of anxiety, little bit of anticipation, when it’s like “alright, go and get your instrument, go out there” and that interaction. And then also you know if you’re recording stuff in the studio that’s its own- it's almost like you experiment around and see what things work, and you can do things as many times as you need or want to. Live, it’s you’ve got your one take, and that just really forces your mind to take a little bit of a different approach. And yeah, that’s really, like, for me personally. You know just having that one take, and there are things that you want to play exactly the same every time, and there’s some things that have a little room for improvisation and that’s the one time it ever happens and never happens again, you know?
Audrey: Yeah, it’s like writing in pen, instead of pencil. (Laughs)
Frankie: (Laughing) Yeah.
Nickole: Yeah, I was just going to say like each crowd feels different, too. And you might play some of the, like, I don't know, I’ve played some of the biggest shows that make me feel awesome to like, four people, you know? And then I’ve also played some really crazy shows that turned out to be way bigger than we thought, and the energy is just like, everybody’s tapped in. That’s what I like too about live music and that also, if you do mess up, you kind of have to on-the-fly improv it, and it’s a good challenge, I think too?
Sophia: And that’s part of growing I think, as a musician just learning how to mess up in a live performance and play it off, like nothing happened. (Laughs)
Nickole: (Laughing) Yeah, can they tell?
Frankie: It’s not that you don’t make mistakes, it's how fast you respond to mistakes.
Sophia: Recover from them.
Audrey: Yeah, no live performances, I can imagine, are a whole different ball game. Because a lot of times I’ll listen to an artist in my headphones, or like on some other sort of media, and maybe I won’t really connect with them, or maybe I won’t think about it, and then I’ll end up seeing them live and be like “this is a completely different band”, or “this is a totally different experience.”
Band: Yeah! Yeah.
Frankie: As far as memorable performances, I mean one that immediately comes to mind is one that we played at 7th St. Entry, on first avenue in Minneapolis.
Nickole: That was a great show.
Frankie: I mean that one was just like, a memorably great show. We played a fantastic show at the Empty Bottle back in February…
Sophia: We got to play Metro last year, which was, as Chicago musicians, a dream, it was awesome.
Audrey: Yeah, I love to hear the Minnesota love. I’m from Minnesota originally, so like, love to hear good reviews.
Band: Yeah! So cool. So cool.
Nickole: Yeah, We love Turf Club, too. Turf Club in Saint Paul is awesome.
Audrey: Yeah- Oh my gosh! No, I love it, I love it. Good to hear glowing reviews of Minnesota.
Nickole: Yeah, Minnesota’s like, awesome to play. People love music up there, when we play there, I’ve had a great time.
Audrey: Yes, good to hear. But you know, I’m a Chicago mover so I love it here too. We’ve definitely got a lot of good Midwest stuff going on. What is your dream venue to perform at, if you have one?
Nickole: Red Rocks.
Sophia: Ooh yeah. O2 Arena in London.
Audrey: Yes!
Sophia: But if we’re talking Chicago, I think Thalia Hall would be really great.
Frankie: Or the Aragon would be incredible. I mean, dream venue to play at?
Sophia: Madison Square Garden, you know? (Laughs)
All: (Laughing)
Nickole: Right?
Audrey: Yeah, where can you pack the most people in?
Frankie: Yeah. The Forum, in LA, or The Greek Theater, I think. The Greek Theater or Hollywood Bowl.
Audrey: Yes. Lots of different places. Lots of different places to go!
Band: Yeah!
Frankie: As far as place, like, clubs? I’d love to play like the 100 Club in London.
Audrey: (Humming in agreement) Yeah!
Frankie: Honestly it’d be cool to play somewhere that hasn’t had a rock band from America play. You know that would be really a cool experience. But, always looking forward to the next show, you know, we’re road dogs.
Audrey: Yeah, for sure. There’s lots of good places to go, and dreams to fulfill. What inspired the album title All in a Name and also the tour being called the “She’s a Freak” Tour?
Nickole: Those are actually both from lyrics in the songs, so "all in a name" is from our song Shadowfax and “she’s a freak” is from Rivers, which you just heard.
Audrey: Yeah, I didn’t even notice that! Is there any reason why you guys chose those specific ones to be the title of the album or the name of the tour?
Sophia: I think with All in a Name we just wanted something that encompassed the vastness of the album and that just really stuck with us, and I think we liked that it was a lyric in one of the songs, you know, sort of like an easter egg sort of thing.
Frankie: Our last EP had the same sort of origin in different shades, you know, it’s a lyric from our song “What Color”. So if we’re able to find a lyric from a song that captures the essence of the album, that’s a cool little tradition to go with, if we can.
Audrey: Yeah, and as a listener, I love when I can go “oh, I know that!” too. It’s like a cool extra connection with the lyrics.
Sophia: Yeah, it’s like you’re part of the exclusive thing. And “She’s a Freak,” I think we all really liked that lyric and we didn’t want to give away the name of the album before it came out or before we announced it, and it’d be a fun summer tour to get out there and- (laughs)
Audrey: It’s a good one, it’s a good one. Then I have: What does independent music mean to you guys, or how have you interacted with it?
Frankie: I mean it’s all we’ve really done, we’re a completely independent band. What does it mean? It’s to do things exactly the way that you want to and, I think, having more direct and personal connections with your fans versus everything being put through a prism of, you know, yes you might be signed to a label, or have live nation booking a tour, but everything with that is put through a different prism. It’s very much put through a financial industry kind of prism of things. To where at points it seems like “how good is the music?” and “how cool are the performers?” seems like it takes a backseat.
Nickole: Hey, you can’t win if you don’t play, you know?
All: (Laughing)
Audrey: For sure.
Frankie: I mean, yeah, that’s what it means to me. More of a direct connection with your fans and other musicians.
Audrey: For sure. And I guess I ask that because that’s one of our core values here at this college station is making sure that there is that connection and there is that bond between “okay we’re playing these artists”, but also you can look them up and there’s a more direct connection between the lyrics, and it's just easier to visualize yourself in their shoes.
Sophia: For sure, more relatable. And we’re all just trying to process the human experience and to document it, yeah. And having people being able to relate to that is just, you know, the point of art.
Frankie: And yeah, I mean concerts and music is really, in so many versions of trying times it’s a place for people to meet and feel community and organize and, you know, oppressive powers of scene music can be used against them, so it's cool to be able to provide a place for people to gather and feel welcome and be a part of a community.
Audrey: Absolutely. Another question I have for you guys is, I know you’re going on tour soon, is there anything, any tour rituals or snacks, or just things that you do on tour that are really exciting or things about touring in general that you’re looking forward to?
Nickole: Peanut butter pretzels.
Band: (Laughs)
Frankie: Ah, I was about to say the same thing!
Sophia: We kinda rough it on tour. We bring camping food, and just try to eat as well as we can. A lot of gas stations all the time. (Laughs)
Audrey: I love those peanut butter pretzels that are like, the filled ones?
Nickole: Yeah! It’s a meal in one. But we all have our separate pre-tour rituals, as far as packing and getting stuff ready. We’re out of town for almost a month so you have to make sure all your ends are tied up, and all the bills are paid, and animals are taken care of, and plants are watered.
Audrey: Yes.
Nickole: (Laughing) Yes, the mundane. Then we get to go be artists!
Audrey: Yes, yes! I feel like watering the plant is the number one- gotta make sure. And I always forget it, too! I’m like, “No! My plant!”
Sophia: It’s always the worst to come home and like, womp womp. (Laughs) Another one! I’m so sorry! Such a bad plant mom.
All: (Laughing)
Audrey: Well thank you guys so much, if you have anything else you’d like to plug or talk about?
Sophia: Well, we have our album coming out called All in a Name. It's our first LP, our first full-length album. Out on June 27th, and we have an album release show in Chicago at Sleeping Village on Friday June 20th. And that’s the next time you’ll be able to catch us in Chicago.
Nickole: Yeah and thank you for listening, and thank you for having us! It was super cool just to play in here!
Frankie: Thank you so much, and our upcoming single “Rivers” will be out May 30th and we’ll be announcing some more tour dates as well.
Nickole: Woo hoo!
Audrey: Yes well thank you guys so much! This is 88.7 WLUW, we just had Daisychain on air here and we will see you guys next time. Thank you so much.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.