We last saw NYC indie-poppers (and dear phriends of PHILTHY) Daisy the Great this past September when the duo headlined the 140-capacity Kung Fu Necktie — their most intimate stop in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection in more than half a decade — on their first headlining jaunt behind the June release of LP #3, The Rubber Teeth Talk. Well, this Friday, June 5th, Daisy the Great will be playing The Fillmore — a room just under 18 times the size of Kung Fu Necktie, which they actually opened for The Kooks in February of 2024 — as support for Australian singer/songwriter Tash Sultana. I recently got a chance to catch-up with Mina Walker and Kelley Dugan, AKA Daisy the Great, and chat about The Rubber Teeth Talk a year on, their most recent single and video (which I find out is not actually so new…), and some of their favorite summertime jams.
Izzy Cihak: The last time we talked was last August, after The Rubber Teeth Talk dropped and a little before your headlining tour behind the album. What do you consider to be some of the highlights of the album cycle since then?
Daisy the Great: Yes! We put the album out in early summer and then went on tour in the fall. It was such a special tour. It’s always so moving to perform the music you’ve been working on for people in a live space where it feels like you’re delivering songs directly to your audience. We played Bowery Ballroom in New York, which was a dream venue. We also played a few record store in stores and it’s so awesome to see them line the walls with your record and to see people buying it off a real shelf. It’s been so cool to be a band for almost ten years and to grow with your music. We’ve been working on something special to celebrate a year of the album being out that we’re going to announce very, very soon and that has also been a blast to work on.
Izzy Cihak: Considering that the LP has been out for about a year, do you currently have a favorite album track, whether one that’s most fun to play live or one that might signal where future sounds might be headed? I realize those are kind of two different things…
Daisy the Great: Our favorite songs change all the time, but we’ve been really liking playing “Sue Me Alice,” “Dream Song,” and “Lemon Seeds” live on this tour. We don’t know totally what the next sound will be like, but we’ve recently been really excited by using some more experimental vocal styles and want to sit and explore that more when we get home.
Izzy Cihak You did just release “Can I Have A Moment,” a sort of breakup song. How do you feel like the song compares to the music on The Rubber Teeth Talk? Does it feel like an evolution of that sound, or were you trying some new things, whether with writing or recording?
Daisy the Great: “Can I Have A Moment” was actually written around 2022 and then reworked while we were writing the album, so it feels like a part of that world but more of a stand-alone song. We didn’t put it on the album, but we love the song and wanted it to exist in the world.
Izzy Cihak: You also made a really cool video for the track with your buddy Jack Haven, who also just did a really cool video with Lowertown, which I was just talking with them (Lowertown) about, and which I know you (Mina) also worked on! Anyway, the last time we spoke, you spent a lot of time talking about using your music videos to help build a world around The Rubber Teeth Talk, so I’m curious if you consider this video to be an extension of that world, or possibly the start of a new world… or just something that you’re exploring in-between?
Daisy the Great: Yeah, we’ve known Jack for 14 years, so it was a real pleasure to get to make this video together. They’ve been in a few of our music videos over the years and a pretty constant collaborator in our lives, so we thought it was about time they directed a music video. We wanted to make something quick and raw and a little embarrassing to pair with the sentiment of the song and it was such a fun video to make. It definitely has aspects of the spirit of how we always like to make videos: something that feels playful and handmade, but it does feel like it lives in its own world.
Izzy Cihak: You just kicked off a big summer tour, mostly consisting of dates opening massive rooms for Tash Sultana. What can be expected of the Daisy the Great show on this run? You’ve told me that you love having big stages to run around on, and I know that you’ve played support slots on a lot of massive tours before, so it’s definitely nothing new to you.
Daisy the Great: This is the first time we’ve ever been on a full tour playing as a duo without our band behind us! It has been so special to be working on the show in this way, it really reminds us of playing together when we were starting out. Getting the chance to sing together like this on these stages definitely helps to put it into perspective how much we’ve grown together but also reminds us of younger us and why we initially fell in love with playing music together. We’re grateful to have the opportunity to show the songs in that very intimate and vulnerable way and to let the raw lyrics and melodies have their time in the sun. We’re also performing our hocket cover of “Tom’s Diner” on the tour and that has been so much fun as well.
Izzy Cihak: And what are your thoughts on Tash Sultana? I definitely dig them, but I’ve, somehow, never seen them before.
Daisy the Great: Tash is so kind and talented and everyone in their camp is so lovely! They’re taking good care of us out on the road. We played Bananagrams backstage with their band the other day and they are, in addition to being super talented, also so, so funny and sweet. Tash plays alone on stage for a good chunk of the set and that has been really cool and inspiring, especially as we’re on our first duo run, to see them build this huge sound with loopers and layers all on their own.
Izzy Cihak: What are you hoping and planning for the second half of 2026?
Daisy the Great: We have a big project that we’ve been working on that we will be announcing soon! That has been all consuming for a while and we’re so, so excited about it. We’re also planning to start writing again too when we get back home.
Izzy Cihak: Finally, not to detract from your own music (although I’m going to, haha), but this tour kicked off the day before Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, so I have to ask if you have any favorite summertime jams that you grew up with or that have soundtracked summers of recent years?
Daisy the Great: Totally. Here are some of our faves: “Extraordinary Machine” by Fiona Apple, “Small Car” by John Lurie/Marvin Pontiac, “Going Up the Country” by Canned Heat, “Fruits of My Labor” by Lucinda Williams, “Letters” by @, “Feisty” by Smerz, “Outstanding” by The Gap Band, “The Thing” by Pixies, “Rill Rill” by Sleigh Bells, “Fuck the Pain Away” by Peaches, “Everywhere” by Michelle Branch, “I’m into Something Good” by Herman’s Hermits, “Cactus” by Sam Evian, “You’re Still the One” by Shania Twain, and the whole Loaded album by The Velvet Underground is also a go to summer album.
*Get your tickets here.
