The members of local trio Day Trip really like plants. That’s pretty obvious if you’ve caught a glimpse of the band’s debut EP House Plant, which has surreal plant-themed artwork by P. Barnett on its cover. Oh yeah, and maybe you’ve seen a recent show where they filled the stage with plants, or heard stories about a plant named Paul they tried to save.
“We just really liked—and stuck with—the plant aesthetic,” says drummer Lauren DiQuattro. “A lot of our band art is plant-based.”
The album was named House Plant because of the group’s song of the same name, which bassist and vocalist Jillian “Bean” White wrote as they were grappling with identity and change.
“I wrote the bass part and lyrics in my room, surrounded by tons of my plants. I remember finding solace in thinking about how I’ve watched them grow and transform,” White says. “I was thinking, why can’t I just be, even if I’m constantly growing into new parts of myself. It gave me comfort knowing I had something to relate to in that moment. A house plant.”
The song, like the rest of the band’s record, is a jangly indie-pop tune with strong interplay between the guitar and the bass, drums pushing it forward without overpowering the song. The bass and guitar riffs are at times in sync. Other times, they bounce conflicting ideas off one another.
“I think there’s a lot of emphasis on trying to make the most out of those three instruments that we have together. We don’t have the comfort of having another guitar,” says guitarist Franky Kohn.
Though the band have played together for almost two years, they just released House Plant in December. Now that they have some recorded music, they hope to tour soon.
INFO: 9 p.m. Friday, March 1. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $15. 429-6994.
Beautiful songs. Great for a road trip, I can listen to Foo and Desert Song endlessly.
Such a great musical team, these three. Love Day Trip!
Interesting read, love Day Trip!