2020 has posed countless challenges for artists, from album delays to tour postponements and cancellations, but rather than letting the pandemic put a damper on what originally promised to be an incredible year for young Australian act, The Buckleys, they simply found a way to adapt and ended up emerging even stronger on the other side. With their debut album scheduled for this fall, The Buckleys originally planned on hitting the road stateside this year, but quickly shifted their focus and found another way to tap into a much larger market virtually. Teaming up with Live Nation, The Buckleys became one of the first bands to capture a global audience in the midst of a pandemic, with their groundbreaking world virtual tour achieving a ‘virtual reach’ of more than 4.5 million. The band’s virtual tour found them performing individually curated shows for specific regions, starting in North America and adding additional dates all over the world (Latin America, Asia, Europe, India, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa).
Now, The Buckleys have their sights set on the quickly approaching release of their debut album, Daydream, out September 25th. With the album out soon, we caught up with the three young artists – Sarah 20, Lachlan 19 and Molly 17 – to talk about their wild year so far and plans for the future. Read the full interview now below.
Prelude Press: Despite 2020 being an incredibly challenging year in the music industry, you guys have kept busy these past few months by releasing a handful of singles and launching a virtual world tour. What has been the highlight of your year so far
Sarah: 2020 is definitely very different from what we expected it to be, but we have kept busy, positive and excited about music and we’ve had a pretty darn big year even from home! I’d say the highlight would definitely be releasing our debut album! That is such a big moment in every artist and band’s career. We’re so excited for people to be able to hear it, singalong and dance to it! We poured every bit of ourselves into it and are so pumped for it to be out.
Although you weren’t able to physically go on tour as initially planned this year, your virtual tour dates were unique, personalized events for each region and ended up reaching a ton of fans. What inspired you to do something like this?
Molly: We love touring and performing so much and we really didn’t want to lose that, going into the pandemic. Live Nation were absolute legends and allowed us to use their social media platforms all around the world and we put on a bunch of shows from our lounge room (which we dressed up with curtains and lights to make it look kinda like an inner city club!). It had a global reach of over 4 million people which was so unexpected and amazing. It was fun to see the responses after playing a virtual show in each country / region as we had never played in those places before. It was the closest we could get to being there in real life and we are so so thankful for the opportunity and experience.
In the midst of all of this, you’re also gearing up to release your debut album, Daydream later this month! What are you most excited for fans to hear on the album?
Lachlan: Yes! We’re soooo pumped to release our first ever album! “Daydream”. We’re so excited for everyone to hear and hopefully enjoy what we have always wanted to do in the studio, which is to create a body of work where every song on it is one we absolutely love, and love to play!
“Hippie Country” is not only a great way to describe your sound, but also the vibe of Daydream. How do you feel the album embodies this mindset?
Lachlan: Hippie Country is a term that was first used to describe our sound, by our great Nashvillian friends who just started calling us that after hearing what we do. We didn’t really fit into a particular box – it’s country with rock and pop and a bit of soul etc. There’s a lot of different things going on! We love this term because it gives us the freedom to be and create whatever we want and the album Daydream is all of the different things that makes up ‘The Buckleys’, poured into one body of work.
Sonically, was there anything you wanted to accomplish with the album?
Lachlan: One of the goals we wanted to achieve sonically was the live band sound/energy, which is something we believe can only be captured with a live band! And on the album you can really hear the feel of the drummer smashing away, the bass player locking into the pocket and all of us just having a wicked time! One of my bucket list goals is to create something that people will enjoy so much that when they listen to the record and finish it, they flip it back over and play it again. And again! That to me is the best!
What would you like for fans to take away from the album?
Molly: Whenever releasing new music we hope whoever’s listening to it can connect and love it as much as we love creating it.
You also worked with Chad Carlson on the album! What was he able to bring to the table? Did you learn any important lessons while working with him?
Sarah: Chad is such a brilliant producer and songwriter we are so grateful to have as a key part of this project. He is so exciting to work with because he really embraces everything that makes us who we are – all our crazy ideas he’ll listen to and try. It’s all about having fun, experimenting and creating great art. Pushing boundaries and really finding who ‘we’ are and what we want to say as artists. Having a producer that encourages all of that is so fantastic and really what every artist wants to have in that producer / artist relationship. That chemistry is what really makes the magic happen!
The three of you have been involved in music and writing together since you were young. How do you feel that this has affected the music that you’re writing today?
Sarah: Because we grew up in a very musical household, music has always been such a big part of our lives. Listening to so much music from all different genres on vinyl, CD’s and cassettes passed down from our family, plus going to our dad’s shows since we were little and seeing how audiences react to different songs etc. I think we just picked up on things subconsciously and it all feeds into what we write and create now. Musically, we’re all continuously growing and evolving individually and as a group, which is what makes it always exciting!
With the album out soon, do you have any other big plans or goals for the remainder of 2020?
Sarah: Definitely! You’ll be hearing a lot more from us! Keep an eye out on our social media for all the juicy details as they come out of projects we’re working on. Also so excited to get back on the road and play some epic shows as soon as we can!
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Molly: Thank you for having us! We are so excited for everyone to hear this album, it sits so close to our hearts and really embodies everything we are in this moment. It drops September 25 worldwide, mark the date baby!
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