Interview: Daktyl

Daktyl is definitely no stranger to us at the Fox. Starting from his remix work back in 2014 and continuing with that soulful SPTRKT collab "Cyclical", the UK producer has come a long way and today we're stoked to present to you his latest sound journey and our interview with him.

You recently moved from London to L.A. How's US treating you so far?

It's great! Definitely prefer the weather here.. 

How do you think that whole change of landscape, scenery and people have influenced you?

It's definitely inspired me moving to such an important place for music. I think it's also given me a lot more drive and motivation. 

Your new EP The Act of Hesitation was released a few days ago and it seriously caught some people off guard. I absolutely loved the new sound. Was it a tough creative decision?

Not really honestly, I always just create what I'm feeling in the moment, and this happened to be it. 

If you can describe the EP in one sentence, what would that be?

There are no bad choices... to an extent. 

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the EP, if you have literally no limitations on time, era, place, ambiance/setting etc. What would that look like?

That's an awesome question. And a hard question. In a hot tub on the moon! 

Album's artwork is created by Jack Vanzet AKA Thrupence. How did you guys meet and what was the process and story behind it?

I'd been a fan of Jack from when he worked with Chet Faker... so we reached out to him and went from there! The process was great, we had a series of phone calls (he lives in Australia) where I basically went over all of the influences and processes of making the EP, and he came back with the artwork on more or less the first try. The moment I saw it I knew it was the one. 

My favourite track on the EP is your collaboration with Dopecal & Micah Freeman called "Explosions". Really versatile sound and what particularly made me fall in love with the track is the sudden change of vibe throughout the track. How did you guys link up? Did you create the music before choosing them as vocalists or the sound was tailored to them?

That was actually a beat Sweater Beats and I made when we were in London, just messing around recording random things lying around my studio. After that I had a session with Dopecal in LA and we laid down the verses. Finally I got in with Micah to write the hook. It all came together very organically! 

You described the title track as “the most personal song on the EP". Why?

A post shared by Daktyl (@daktyluk) on Mar 28, 2017 at 12:11pm PDT

That track comes from a point where there was a lot of uncertainty and indecision in my life, both with my music and personally. I don't want to go too into detail about it, If you listen to the lyrics you'll get a bit of an idea!

The Act of Hesitation was released via Counter Records. Did you guys discuss the change of sound direction or it was a creative decision you took, went for it and shared with the guys once everything's recorded?

I had a full albums worth of material to show them, over 20 songs.. they came back and said they loved it and wanted to put it out, but to split it into EPs rather than a full length, which definitely made sense to me. 

What is the hardest thing you had to sacrifice in the name of making music?

I've had to put relationships on hold in the past, that was definitely the hardest. 

Can you share the most random fact about you? Something which probably most people around you don't even know.

Hmm not sure.. I used to coach sailing in Maine? 

What's ahead for Daktyl in 2017? Are you embarking on a tour for the promotion of the album?

I'm going to be touring towards the end of the year yeah! 

What's on your playlist these days? Any artist or record we should be checking out?

So much stuff, currently have the new Vince Staples record on repeat, some of the production is amazing. 

Thanks a lot for the interview! Any last words of wisdom?

Do what you love!