The Buckleys

Building upon a wealth of musical influences and time spent developing and honing their artistry, Byron Bay trio The Buckleys present their debut album in Daydream. Out now (via Petrol Records/Universal Records/UMe), Daydream is the culmination of three young lives that have lived and breathed music, now striding out and embracing their own sonic identity. A fusion of Country, Pop, Americana and Indie, Daydream is a sun-kissed collection of music that embodies the personalities and spirit of the Buckley siblings – Sarah (20), Molly (17) and Lachlan (19) who join Hi Fi Way for a quick interview.

Congratulations on the album, love it, how did you celebrate release day?
SARAH: Thank you! We are so excited for this album to finally be out! It’s such a massive milestone for us. On release day, to be honest we didn’t really know what to do with ourselves! It’s something we’ve been anticipating for so long, working towards, dreaming of – when it finally came out into the world we were just so happy, nervous, excited and then to see such a positive reaction right out the gates was truly incredible. We are so thrilled that people are connecting with it.

Is the best part reading all the comments and feedback from fans?
MOLLY: We are always so grateful when people say they listen to our music and love it, it’s definitely the cherry on top when we hear that feedback but I mean we honestly love every part of what we do – the songwriting, recording, performing live/ touring. For people to be connecting with our music is such a beautiful and exciting thing.

When you were recording the album did you have that feeling that you were sitting on something special?
SARAH: We all went in with a clear vision of what we wanted to do but at the same time, we wanted to keep a fresh, open mind and approach a lot of these songs as a blank canvas we could experiment with and follow whatever inspiration hit us in the studio. Some of the songs turned out completely different to how we expected walking in, and others we got to translate exactly what we were hearing in our heads to the recording. We were really happy with the songs from the get go (as we actually had to cut a lot of songs we loved because we had written so many beforehand! But that’s the ideal place I think – having to cut songs we love so every single song on the record has earned it’s place, rather than ‘searching’ and trying to write enough songs). By the end of the recording, we were really happy because it felt exactly like ‘us’ and what we wanted to do / say. That doesn’t always happen for artists and bands so just that simple fact that we as a unit were proud of it and it was authentic, was a special thing.

What was your reaction when you played it back for the first time
LACHLAN: Playing the album for the first time after recording it is definitely nerve racking however after I listened to the first song I couldn’t stop smiling, I was so happy with what we had done and that it turned out to be better than what we expected.

Who has been your biggest influence/s on you musically?
MOLLY: As a band, we’re really inspired by that 70s era in music with bands like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers first coming to mind. We made the decision that we wanted to record this album almost as if we were making a record back then. With a real band, live in the studio playing ‘together’. That live energy is a big part of why we love playing music so it was important for that to translate and become a foundation for Daydream. We all have our individual tastes and influences though as well, which has a role in making up all the different things that is ‘The Buckleys’ and feed into our music. For myself personally, I’m really inspired by Blondie, The Beatles, Jon Lord (Deep Purple), Norah Jones and Joan Jett, just to name few. Whether it’s their songwriting, vocal/ instrument technique or overall attitude there’s something to learn from all of these legends.

Did you ever think you would end up in a band with your siblings?
LACHLAN: Honestly I never did think I would end up in a band with my siblings however I never questioned it either. It also definitely has it’s pro’s such as being brutally honest to one another, playing/writing music together and knowing how to live together. But at the end of the day we’re pretty lucky to be in the same band and enjoy it immensely.

At what stage did you all realise you should give this a crack and see how far you can go with this?
SARAH: Back in 2011 at the Tamworth Country Music Festival where we did our annual family road trip, we were busking on Peel Street and without realising that automatically enters you into the busking competition, we became Top 10 in the Busking Competition! We were invited to perform on the Main Stage in Toyota Park the next day which was the biggest stage we had ever played on at that point and we really got the bug!

Has COVID slowed the momentum much for the band?
SARAH: Our year has obviously been very different from what we expected it to be with touring plans that were all put on hold etc, but thankfully we kept creating and finding new ways to connect with people and keep the momentum up. We did the first ever World Virtual Tour with Live Nation which was an incredible experience and ended up having a global reach of over 4.5 million people! We released a documentary called Meet The Buckleys and we’ve just released our debut album which is monumentally exciting. Our philosophy has always been to turn any negative situation into a positive and thankfully, in a time where I think people need joy and art and music the most, we were able to provide some of that to people all around the world.

Are you hoping to tour Australia when restrictions ease?
MOLLY: Definitely! We played our first show in a very long time last weekend up in Far North Queensland and it felt so amazing to be able to share and perform our music to real life human beings again! We’re on the ‘Country Road Show’ tour early next year so SUPER pumped for that.

What’s the next challenge for The Buckleys?
SARAH: We just want to keep making music! We’re always writing and playing so I guess, Album 2 (which we already have underway!). We especially can’t wait to get on the road and play shows again and so we’re very excited to be hitting the road for the ‘Country Roadshow’ tour next year alongside some fantastic acts playing arenas and theaters around Australia. That’s going to be off the hook!

Interview By Rob Lyon

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