- Words Ben Jolley
- Photography James Robinson
- Fashion Cecile Huynh
- Fashion Assistant Katherine Nolan
- Makeup Meg McConville
- Hair Phoenix Ly
- Production Studio Notion
Celebrating the release of her debut mixtape, daine gets into the challenges of breaking through during the pandemic, what it’s like to be Charli XCX’s protégé and why this new project feels like a tombstone to her adolescence
Having released her debut single in the middle of the first Covid-19 lockdown, daine has been patiently building her own universe ever since. The Melbourne based Filipino-Australian – who fuses SoundCloud rap, hyperpop-leaning production, early-2000s Midwestern emo riffs and a nihilistically detached voice – was due to support 100 gecs on the Aussie leg of their worldwide tour, but the pandemic rendered such potentially massive exposure impossible. Instead, the teenager kept herself busy with SoundCloud drops including “Twilight Skit!” – a fittingly-titled cute bop about vampires and watching Twilight – and launching her own virtual party, Nocturne, which would go on to host online sets from Oklou, Hannah Diamond, umru and Ethel Cain.
Fast forward to 2022 and daine has Charli XCX as a mentor, signed a major label deal with Atlantic and collaborated with Oli Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon. Now, with the release of her long-awaited debut mixtape, Quantum Jumping, she’s catapulting herself from the underground and into the mainstream. It might be later than planned, but one thing’s for sure: daine’s time is now.
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“MY ARTISTRY IS A BIT MORE SELF-ASSURED AND OBNOXIOUS BY NOW, BECAUSE I’M NOT DOUBTING IF THE PROJECT IS GOOD OR NOT ANYMORE – I KNOW IT’S AMAZING.”
Hey daine, how’s life been treating you?
Pretty wonderfully. I feel super lucky to be feeling so creative and busy!
You’ve spent a lot of time in LA recently – what was that trip like? Tell us about some of the exciting things you got up to.
Not to be clichè, but it’s been like a movie. I had a lot of personal and career milestones out there, but the most exciting highlight has probably just been writing music with my friends and spending time with people I love.
It’s been two years since your debut single “Picking Flowers” was released. How do you think you have developed as a person and artist in that time?
I would say I’m a lot more confident because I’ve had those two years to grow into an adult and figure out what my goals are. I would say my artistry is a bit more self assured and obnoxious by now, because I’m not doubting if the project is good or not anymore – I know it’s amazing.
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Having found an audience during the Covid-19 pandemic, how did you manage to stay connected to fans? Did you have to adapt your approach to being an artist?
I didn’t have to adapt my approach to being an artist because I’ve literally never known anything else. My first single came out in the middle of a harsh lockdown, so, if anything, being in LA and going to sessions and events and meetings has been a shock to me because I’ve never been able to experience these ‘IRL’ aspects of being in music. It’s exciting and fun, though, and I’m not sure I would’ve been ready two years ago, so I’m grateful for the pandemic in that respect.
Your virtual party series, Nocturne, provided a space for community-building during lockdown – how important has the online world and social media been for you as a musician?
It’s been my only world. I still just feel like a niche social media person – it very rarely occurs to me that my music reaches real people. But Nocturne isn’t just for pandemic blues; Nocturne is a tastemaker and community space forever, and we have a lot of plans for real life parties and lineups.
Your music fuses elements of trap, Midwestern emo, hip-hop and hyperpop – why is it important to you to combine so many different genres and create your own hybrid sound?
I don’t really have a grip on genre names. I just know what sounds I like and I try to emulate them in the ways I know how using the tools I feel help me. For example, my relationship with autotune is pretty codependent, but it’s become part of my artistic identity in a really beautiful way that I never expected. But I really love open tuned guitars, too, and these seem like an unlikely combo so you get that “multigenre” sound.
Charli XCX has been a real mentor to you over the past few years. How did your friendship come about? What’s that relationship like? Has she given you any advice?
I think she just noticed that I’m in a somewhat loosely similar situation to what
she was at around my age, both signing to Atlantic at 16. She’s very generous with her advice and guidance. Any imaginable situation you’ve been through as an artist, Charli’s probably been there, done that and conquered. I feel blessed to never have to wonder if I’m alone in the more chaotic aspects of the job.
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You’ve already collaborated with 100 gecs’ Dylan Brady for “boys wanna txt”, Danny L Harle for “Angel Numbers” and Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes for “SALT”, but is there anybody else on your dream list to work with?
At the moment, not really. I feel like I’ve received love and respect from most of my idols and that’s super special to me. I’ll never take that for granted, but I’m not sure who my dream collab is from here. I’ll figure it out soon.
Tell us about your new mixtape Quantum Jumping. What’s the story behind it? You’ve described it as a “tombstone to my adolescence”, can you expand on that?
I wrote the majority of the mixtape around the ages of 15-16, which feels like a long bloody time ago when you’re 19. I’ve changed so much as a person and artist, so the mixtape doesn’t really feel or sound like me – but it’s still great and honours that period of my life. Once it’s out that chapter of my life is over, so it’ll be a tombstone to remember it all.
As a debut project, what does this mixtape mean to you?
It means remembering who I was in my late teens and leaning into all those tumultuous feelings leaving high school. It was an emotionally intense time, so I wrote such sad, soppy music… Which serves its purpose, and I’m glad it turned out the way it did.
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