In a Daydream - Sound In The Signals Interview

Alexis Haggitt

I recently had the opportunity to interview Bryan Porter of In a Daydream. We discussed an early interest in music, the recording process, what to expect from upcoming music, a favorite musical moment from latest single, “I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents”, tour plans, and more. Check it out below.

First, thanks for the interview.

Thank YOU for performing the mostly thankless task of interviewing unsigned DIY bands! The world needs more of what you do.

Can you tell me how you formed the band for those who may be unfamiliar with the band? How did you initially become interested in music?

I formed the band as it stands now by first writing and recording our first record pretty much on my own, meaning I worked with a couple producers who sound engineered for me and I recorded everything except drums. Then I sent the recordings to various friends I had made in other bands by either playing with them or interviewing them on my DIY music podcast (cough cough it's called Invite The Neighbors cough cough), and I was able to find just enough people who were into the songs and wanted to play them, and those people ended up being the current band members.

I initially became interested in music when my dad would play me bands like Danzig, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Metallica in his Ford Ranger cassette player when I was just a little kid. Then in 7th grade I started playing guitar and soon after that, I realized I was better at that than anything else I had been into previously, and so I naturally just stuck with it. It feels good to be good at things, ya know? Making music in a lot of ways was the path of least resistance for me as an adolescent, because it was the only thing that felt that natural.

You are currently in the studio working on new music. How’s the process going so far?

Very slowly, lol. Studio time is expensive, and I also like to let the songs breathe as I craft them over time. So I'll do a couple days one month, then I'll listen to those recordings a bunch and really think about what I feel the songs are missing or what needs to be changed, etc. I like to make a point to write a lot of secondary parts on the spot in the studio, both to challenge myself and to go in knowing that a lot of the finished product in each song was the result of my own organic reaction musically to what was already there, and adding things reflexively without overthinking them too much. So it's kind of a weird, ass backwards process, but I'm happy with how things are sounding so far.

Do you know when we can expect to hear some new music? If not, what can you tell us about it so far and/or the songs that could potentially be singles?

I definitely plan on releasing one to two more songs in 2023, or maybe one song and a music video. I still haven't decided if I want to release a bunch of singles or wait and release all of it as once as a record, so that's still up in the air. But in terms of the sound and what to expect, I think the new stuff is a lot more fun than the old stuff. I mean, all of it is fun for ME, but I think in general the new stuff has less of a dark cloud hovering over it than the last album and I think it will be more accessible to a larger amount of people, while still feeling like we were the only ones who could have done it this particular way.

You released “I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents” last October. It was your first release with a full lineup. How has that lineup impacted the songwriting process?

I think it has made the songs themselves better overall, but it has also made the process a bit more difficult for me if I'm being totally honest. It's not that I don't like working with my bandmates, but rather it's just something I haven't been used to doing, so there was an adjustment period where I had to work on letting go of certain things and making room for my bandmates to take their slices of ownership in the songs. And now that we have some finished products from working in the new system of collaboration, it's easier for me to trust that process because I can clearly see that the end result is still something I'm really proud of, and it still feels like they're my songs. I still write pretty much the entirety of the song structures and the chords/lyrics etc, but now the periphery is filled with the input of several people instead of just me, and I think the result is a lot cooler than what I would have come up with all alone.

<a href="https://inadaydream.bandcamp.com/track/i-was-a-victim-of-a-series-of-accidents">I Was A Victim Of A Series Of Accidents by In a Daydream</a>

Do you have a favorite lyrical or musical moment from that song? Why?

I think the part where the Dead Poets Society movie clip plays right into the guitar solo is one of the coolest things I've ever concocted, and I don't have a great reason for that other than I just think it flows and hits so well at such a good time, and I love the movie quote. Lyrically, I don't know that I really have a favorite moment, but I will say that I love singing the end the most. I mean it just feels great to belt that part live, ha. I love when people notice things in my lyrics, but I always feel weird singling out things I wrote because it feels a little narcissistic. I think I'm being paranoid. Next question!!

You have a tour coming up with Danny VanZandt. Do you have any surprises planned for your set? What can fans expect in terms of the set list?

No real surprises, unless I break a string or something haha. But yeah maybe I'll pop in and play some guitar on one of Danny's songs or something. Danny is full time in our band now too, so it makes touring with him a no-brainer. As for our set list, we want to play pretty much half old, half new, and maybe throw in a cover or something. I think our choice of cover might surprise some people, so hey! Maybe we do have some surprises after all.

Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?

Thanks for having me! I do want to add that we have a music video out for "The Romantic Egotist," our first single, and that is up on Youtube, and that anyone interested can follow our IG for show and album updates, @inadaydreamusa Thanks a lot!