Daddy Issues (North Carolina)

"Anyone who reads this will realize in short order that Daddy Issues ought to be the new leaders of society. The Greensboro, NC band play a superfun blend of power pop, indie and bad girl slow jams that will melt your heart and stir your coffee. I found them on line and fell in love with them all without telling them. Clearly these are rock goddesses. Once I mustered the fortitude to talk to them, the band was wonderful enough to answer my pathetic questions about their current activities.



How are you today? What is going on in the current world of Daddy Issues?

Lindsey: We’re good! We just recorded an EP this summer and released the first single last week. It’s called So Hard.

Lauren: It’s about boners.

Lindsey: We’re also working on learning some Queen covers for this fundraiser show for Planned Parenthood in September. Basically we’re channeling Freddie Mercury and singing about boners.

Do you cite a lot of the same influences? The songwriting is really concise and melodies on point.

Lindsey: Thank you! Actually we don’t really.

Lauren: Hannah is obsessed with Ty Segall, Lindsey only listens to weird old garage comps, I listen to French yeh-yeh pop and old doo wop, and Maddie’s into punk and doom metal.

Maddie: Also early American folk music. And noise rock.

Lindsey: But when we’re at karaoke we sing Tammy Wynette and Fleetwood Mac. Maybe your true influences are reflected in your karaoke choices?

Yes. Mine are Prince and Bon Jovi. Post 9/11 I used to get free beers singing “Wanted Dead Or Alive” dedicated to Bin Laden at Irish bars. So, What do you love about being a band from your state?

Lindsey: Greensboro specifically is really cool because it’s not expensive to live here, there’s a small DIY scene, and we’re an hour away from the triangle (Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham), which has about a million good bands and nice people.

Hannah: Like Silent Lunch. And T0W3RS.

Lindsey: And See Gulls.

Maddie: And Pie Face Girls.

Lauren: And Free Clinic from Wilmington.

Lindsey: There’s a ton of musical history in North Carolina, too. I mean, Link Wray is from a town two hours away from us. And you have Merge Records and Yep Roc, and now Phuzz Records all based in NC. Things are terrible politically in North Carolina, but musically it feels like something really special is happening here.

What are your plans for the rest of 2014?

Maddie: Make a really sweet Halloween costume.

Lauren: I think Morgan means in terms of the band.

Maddie: Oh, okay, then I want to write some sick bass lines.

Hannah: I just wanna be present. My plan is to find the perfect taco.

Lauren: Get into med school.

Lindsey: Lauren’s serious. She’s studying pre-med. And she already has degrees in English and French. Hannah’s also planning on watching 60 horror films before Halloween. We watched Hellraiser the other night and some weird 60s Italian movie where everyone was getting murdered on this island but the soundtrack was this super relaxed, pleasant lounge music. That was probably the scariest part. In terms of the band, I’d love to get our EP out on a 7” and plan a spring tour.

Daddy Issues 2014

You could combine these interests and make pre-med horror nurse costumes. I think fans would be stoked. Not to sound crass, but do you ever get hormonal at the same time and does it make you crabby towards one another or instead, bursting with manic energy?

Hannah: When you’re in a band with all dudes and you all get horny at the same time, do you like to circle jerk? (boo ya :)

Um, yes. Please name a moment that made you believe that rock n roll was important to you.

Hannah: In high school, my friend Jenny and I would listen to Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin and re-write the words to make them like personal rock love poems. It was probably the only way we knew how to talk about what we were feeling.

Lauren: When I was 5, I saw Ziggy Stardust on VH1. I was hypnotized, not just by the music but by his whole performance/persona.

Maddie: The first time I ever listened to Black Flag.

Lindsey: Maddie’s such a badass. I have all these stories about sitting on the school bus or riding in the car as a kid and crying because an awesome song came on the radio. It happened a lot. I’m sensitive. I remember the first time I heard Wild Horses, I was in my Mom’s car in California and just broke down and started crying. I was like 6. You can’t process or explain feelings like that, they just overwhelm you and make you realize something is important.

Like Reo Speedwagon. I know. So, have you heard the wuss from Twilight might be the new Indiana Jones! what is he gonna sparkle his way out of the Temple of Doom? I can’t even imagine that guy successfully navigating a girly drink let along Nazis.

Lindsey: Dude just don’t watch any Indiana Jones movies that came out after the 80s and everything will be okay. Watch them while drinking some sort of fruity rum thing! A sex on the beach. Trust me.

How often do you get together to play or even hang out when not rehearsing?

Hannah: I am constantly with these bitches. I can’t get them off my dick.

Maddie: Wait, what do you mean? There are bands that get alone time?

Lauren: When we’re not practicing we’re watching Clueless and feeding each other grapes.

Jesus. What would you say if I said I maybe want to have an action figure of each of you and fight with my friends over who is coolest, cutest, smartest, most likely to be a gypsy, etc?

Lauren: If there were an action figure of us, it would be like a four-headed Amazonian warrior monster.

Maddie: With red hair.

Hannah: And great teeth.

Lauren: That always wore big earrings.

Lindsey: And doc martens. And a bone necklace.

Hannah: And its superpower would be super nuclear farts like in Tremors III.

Lauren: Wait that really happens in Tremors III?

Hannah: Yeah. They’re called ass blasters. They propel themselves by farting.

Lindsey: Morgan we would totally give you one of these action figures, except probably no one in the world would want one." - New Noise Magazine

For your listening pleasure and ours, we are SO THRILLED to announce that everyone’s favorite NC surf pop girl band Daddy Issues is helping us ring in Raleigh EOU!! At our grand opening party, November 15th. The party starts at 2 and goes until 7 and then we all after party together at Person St. Bar next door, and it’s going to be so so super.
Read our rollicking good time as we quizzed them about best-kept secrets in NC, the magic of St. Vincent, treats on the road, movie soundtracks, and whether Tilda Swinton and David Bowie are the same person. Thank you Lindsey, Lo, Maddie, and Hannah for being so funny, forward, clever and crass!
What’s the worst thing about touring? Best?
Worst
Lo: Hannah’s car farts.
Lindsey: Wanting to hang out/do shots/have dance parties all night with new friends every night but physically needing to sleep.
Maddie: The time I didn’t get to make out with that cutie.
Best
Lo: Making new band friends. And getting buns.
Lindsey: Definitely band friends.
Maddie: Tour buns.
Favorite hidden gem in Raleigh? all of NC?
Lo: Olive Garden
Lindsey: The mall. The hunting section at Wal Mart.
Hannah: Wherever Derek Torres lives.
Maddie: Toys R Us
What artist or band would you kill to perform with?
Maddie: I don’t think I actually want to kill anyone. But I DO want to play with Swearin.
Lindsey: La Luz
Hannah: Tila Tequila
Lo: I want to kill Aerosmith to play with someone else.
Lindsey: You could kill them and then play a show with the ghosts of Aerosmith?
If you could collaborate with someone outside your genre, who would it be?
Lo: Pharrell or Willow Smith
Hannah: Bey or Blue Ivy
Maddie: The Body
Lindsey: George R.R. Martin. I’ll help him write all the songs in the new books.
How did you choose your instrument?
Lo: The instrument chooses the wizard. **pushes glasses up, quickly pulls bangs over scar**
If you were an instrument besides your own, what would you be?
Maddie: Drums, for sure
Lo: Didgeridoo
Hannah: Theremin
Lo: No wait, I actually want to play cello
Lindsey: Bass
What’s your favorite shitty pop song on the radio right now?
Lo: Club blowin up on a Tuesday! (the rest of us had never heard of it so we pulled it up on Lo’s phone, learned it was actually called “Club Going Up on a Tuesday,” and it’s by Drake. It played for a few seconds and Maddie was like “I kind of like this,” and then five seconds later said, “Nahhh I hate it.”)
Hannah: ….
Maddie: …
Lindsey: The NPR theme song? We seriously don’t even know what’s on the radio right now. Lo’s the only cool one in the band.
Which one of your songs should people be doing it to?
Lo: All of them! The mall song!
Which one of your songs were you surprised people connected to? Surprised people didn’t connect to?
Maddie: Any of them! I can’t believe people are listening.
What’s your favorite movie soundtrack? Movie soundtrack you wish you were on?
Favorite
Hannah: The Virgin Suicides
Maddie: Beasts of the Southern Wild
Lindsey: I honestly really like Forrest Gump
Lo: The Hours, or Amelie
Wish we were on
Hannah: Friday the 13th
Lo: Clueless
Maddie: Mean Girls
Lindsey: 10 Things I Hate About You
Lo: Josie and the Pussycats. I wish we WERE them.
Hannah: Snapped
Lo: Saving Private Ryan
Hannah: Saving Ryan’s Privates
Lindsey: A Tale of Two Titties
Maddie: The Holy Mountain. A Serbian film. A Goofy Movie.
Hannah: Jesus Camp
(at this point we were dying laughing and had to take a break)
Which one of your songs would fit on the GIRLS soundtrack?
Lo: What is the GIRLS soundtrack like?
Lindsey: It’d be something either really dramatic and emotional or like an independence-affirming party song.
Hannah: How about our song, “Pay your artists, Lena Dunham.” Or “Wild Thing”
Speaking of GIRLS, what do you think about Adam Driver playing Darth Vader in the new Star Wars?
Maddie: Who is that person? (we explained)
Lindsey: I’m into it.
If your band was a hit show on TNT, what would it be and why?
Lo: Crawdad Something
Hannah: Girls Gone Fishin
Lindsey: We don’t know what’s on TNT
Maddie: American Ninja Warrior
Lo: Legends of the Hidden Temple, but on TNT!
Lindsey: We could totally take the agro crag
Stevie Nicks or Lykke Li singing “Silver Springs”?
All of us, basically in unison: STEVIE NICKS
Hannah: Is this even a real question?
If Eric Wareheim could direct a video of yours, what would you want it to be like?
Maddie: Lots of crazy lazer things
Hannah: I’d want it to be just like Bat for Lashes except I’ll play Eric Wareheim’s part and he can play the
Bat for Lashes part
Lindsey: A dance party with a neon unitard dress code and lots of intense weird eye contact
Tabasco or Texas Pete?
Lindsey: Tabasco. Sorry, Winston-Salem.
Hannah: Cholula
Maddie: Marie Sharp’s green habanero
Favorite NC brewery?
Lindsey: Probably the Wedge in Asheville
Maddie: Duck Rabbit
Lo: FLAT TIRE
(we all crack up because she ordered “a flat tire” at the bar last week)
Hannah: Full Steam, even though I don’t drink anymore
What kind of treats do you get on the road?
Hannah: Reese’s and pussy.
Maddie: Basically whatever is on sale at deep roots when we’re leaving. (Deep roots is the food co-op where Maddie works)
Lo: Strawberry milkshakes and fries
Lindsey: McDonald’s, because we’re gross. And then Maddie judges us for eating McDonald’s and asks us if we can seriously eat food that isn’t even real while she eats some kind of super reasonable food, like almonds.
How much booty do you get just from being in a band? Has it ever sealed the deal in a situation that might not have gone that way had you not been in a band?
Maddie: All the booty? I probably wouldn’t have met my current cutie if I hadn’t been in a band.
Yoko Ono: misunderstood genius or Beatles ruiner?
Lindsey: Misunderstood genius
Maddie: Beatles ruiner
Lo: Misunderstood
Hannah: I love Yoko Ono
Is Tilda Swinton just another character played by David Bowie?
Hannah: No, she’s a genius. She’s the most perfect human on the face of the earth.
Lo: I think she’s an amazing actress
Maddie: David Bowie is a character played by Tilda Swinton
Who DOESn’t love St. Vincent? Are you mildly annoyed that people are confusing her with this new Bill Murray movie?
We love St. Vincent.
We do too. See you at the party!
Oh HEY. You like these chicks as much as we do!? Learn more and listen to their fugging awesome single, “SO HARD,” here - Edge of Urge

"Greensboro garage-punk outfit Daddy Issues continues the surf-pop revival and makes this consciously retro style its own. Rather than ride the cute nostalgia at the heart of many ’50s and ’60s-inspired rock upstarts, Daddy Issues riffs on sexually liberated pop-rock." - Corbie Hill, Indy Week

The bill shared by T0W3RS, Daddy Issues and the Three Brained Robot at a house show in Greensboro provided evidence of a new symbiosis in the North Carolina music scene, with the Triad finally finding its gear between the strong poles of Asheville and the Triangle.
It’s thanks to the Tills, an Asheville garage band signed to Winston-Salem-based Phuzz Records, that Daddy Issues sprang to life eight months ago for a bar show in Greensboro. And Phuzz label mate T0W3RS — based in Chapel Hill and en route to Asheville for a show — wound up making his Greensboro debut as a result of snagging a fill-in date.
Daddy Issues, an all-female garage-punk band, formed in January so that they could open for their friends, the Tills, at New York Pizza. They played all of five numbers, lead guitarist Lindsey Sprague recalled. Over the ensuing months, the band has gained notice across the state thanks to a batch of songs that smartly marry melody and ragged inspiration, an instantly graspable concept and uncanny knack for networking.
Derek Torres, as T0W3RS, has been gathering acclaim over the past year after shedding his band and transforming into a mesmerizing solo performer. His use of pre-recorded instrumental tracks affords him the freedom to seize ahold of songs in live performance through a fulsome velvety tenor and grand gestures to match. He dazzled audiences at Phuzz Phest in Winston-Salem in March, and more recently at Hopscotch in Raleigh.
T0W3RS’ forthcoming CD TL;DR, with material that has been receiving a live workout over the past year, promises to be a major leap forward for the artist when it’s released on Nov. 11. Daddy Issues is also making moves, having recently recorded a four-song EP with Kris Hilbert at Legitimate Business and working up a small tour of the Southeast in October.
The proceedings started about an hour after schedule with a set by Greensboro-based Sam Martin as Three Brained Robot in the dining room of a spacious bungalow known as the Hellraiser Haus on the fringe of downtown. Clots of newcomers drifted into the house and huddled around the performers throughout the evening, spilling out onto the porch for cigarettes during breaks between sets. A handful of people maintained a vigil on the porch, prompting Martin to direct part of his performance through the front window.
Through a steady stream of appearances in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, Martin has developed a loyal following for his EDM-cum-performance art act, typically stripping down to sweat shorts during the course of a concert while psychotically raving over pre-recorded dance tracks. Outwardly confrontational, Martin’s show somehow has disarming quality that elicits laughter and encouragement from his audience. His use of fake blood for a rant about sweatshops was suitable for the venue. A dialogue with a prerecorded satanic voice offering suggestions on the “act” was greeted with hilarity.
Daddy Issues throttled into its set with attitude, skill and sheer energy. Their rudimentary playing gives them a unique sound that cohabitates elements of ’60s girl-group pop, garage and punk. On “Sex on the Beach,” Sprague’s chord progressions suggested the Velvet Underground stripped of ennui, while the loud, fast and melodic supercharge of the Misfits came through on “I Can’t Control This Feeling.” Madeline Putney’s propulsive bass and Hannah Hawkins’ locomotive drumming gave the rhythm section a lean, restless and hungry feel. Lauren Holt’s ordinarily winsome vocals were buried in the mix, but her melodic delivery carried through. Crackling mics and other acoustical challenges added to rather than detracted from the overall effect. Add the irreverent attitude and assertive sexuality (see “So Hard”) embodied by the band, and you have an instant impression.
The dual guitar attack by Sprague and Holt on the new “Babehammer,” recalling the Patti Smith Band at its most raw and joyful, was particularly delicious, and Sprague’s well-placed screams on the Pleasure Seekers’ ’60s Detroit garage classic “What a Way to Die” made the song sound current.
T0W3RS demonstrated how to create theatric staging with minimal props; he’s not only a one-man band, but also a one-man crew. Yellow and red floor lights crossed against each other creating warm lighting against a raised platform created from a road case. He changed into his customary tan suede jacket and billowy white shirt in the kitchen before beginning his set.
The tricky acoustics in the room seemed to throw him off at first and it took awhile for the audience-performer chemistry to gel, but by the end of the second song the crowd came through with enthusiastic applause.
T0W3RS’ music sounds almost as if a scientist were tasked with creating the most pleasurable sound possible through a synthesis of glam, disco and ’80s arena rock. What comes out is a streamlined groove that carries a through-line from Roxy Music to Duran Duran.
A consummate professional, he gave props to the other acts and excitedly related how he had told his girlfriend that a place called the Hellraiser Haus existed in Greensboro, adding, “This is a dream come true.”
His set built in strength, culminating in four songs that cinched the leave-’em-wanting-more principle, beginning with the sensuous “Elasticity” and leading into “The Situation,” a wistful confection of heartfelt synth-pop. As the set progressed, the uninhibited gyrating among members of the audience demonstrated one of the many virtues of a T0W3RS show — an ambisexual, communal, even spiritual atmosphere that, if only momentarily, erases caste and clique distinctions.
The populist, revolutionary “Ours,” a crowd favorite, did not fail to excite. T0W3RS’ cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll” streamlined the song into a rapturous dance remix and boiled it down to its essential vocal phrasings, seducing the audience into a chanted call and response.
It was all right. - Triad City Beat

Spunky and sexy, the single from Greensboro’s Daddy Issues is a the catchiest song about your making your man, well, “So Hard” that’s hit our ears, probably ever. This foursome sounds sweet enough with a retro-inspired girl group ‘tude, but with a hook this wicked we imagine know these ladies pack quite a punch. - The Grey Estates

Within recent years the Triad region has begun to develop quite the bustling music scene. While folks who hear that statement may immediately jump towards Winston-Salem and the burgeoning scene being developed with the help of Phuzz Records, it'd be unfair to write Greensboro out of the picture so soon. The city hosts a truly eclectic mixture of acts, bands like Holy Ghost Tent Revival serve as the scene's figureheads while The Collective and Lowland Hum are gaining steam with their beautiful melodic folk. Although their orchestral tunes get bukus of focus, Greensboro has always been home to a more raucous rock scene as well. Venues thrive on DIY atmospheres, you're able to find a nationally touring act inside of an I Love NY Pizza and frankly few other cities can make that claim.

One of the acts coming out of Greensboro that's set on slowly building a name for themselves through no-frills, hooky surf rock is Daddy Issues. The female-centric surf-punk quartet is comprised of Lo Davy, Lindsey Sprague, Maddie Putney, and Amethyst White. Together they craft unabashed rock n' roll with the same tenacity of any grizzled band of unkempt dudes you can find. They toss out any preconceived notions of an entirely female rock band with their latest single "So Hard," a song that's literally about making a dude's dick so hard that he's miles away. The band are unapologetic in how crass and straight forward their songs can be, and that's what makes them so great. If you're looking for some stereotypical songs about love, boys and other ridiculously gendered topics then you can get the hell out and go listen to some Best Coast or something. If you're looking for a band that prides themselves on being original, authentic and honest as hell then look no further than Daddy Issues.

Daddy Issues fits right alongside Triangle rockers like Gross Ghost and Ghostt Bllonde (despite their lack of a spooky ghost name) and have bukus of promise lying within these simplistic songs. The band will be performing at ReverbNation's Hopscotch Day Party on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Deep South alongside Hammer No More The Fingers, Jenny Besetzt, Iggy Cosky (of The Lollipops) and thefacesblur (of Body Games). - The Bottom String

Hoy queríamos hablar sobre todo Daddy Issues, pero es tal la hiperactividad musical de una de sus componentes, Lindsay Sprague, que vamos a acabar hablando de varias formaciones, como Trashettes o Space Brain, otras de las formaciones donde podemos escucharla. Empezemos por Daddy Issues. Son de Greensboro -ya no nos moveremos de allí- y publicaron el pasado mes de mayo su primera demo en Bandcamp. Forever 26 contenía dos temas, así que Sex on the beach y Let’s go to the mall fueron los dos cortes de presentación escogidos por el cuarteto. Debutaron formalmente el pasado mes de febrero y, además de la demo, en Soundcloud pueden escucharse temas como Lethal dose, que dejamos disponible aquí.

Además de dicho tema en Bandcamp, Daddy Issues colgaban como comentábamos su primera demo en Bandcamp hace apenas un mes, un primer trabajo que marca la línea a seguir, y que en parte nos sirve para introducirnos en el mapa musical de nuestra protagonista. - Shook Down (Spain)

North Carolina's Daddy Issues lace cute and bubbly surf-pop-meets-60s-girl-group-croons with a sex-positive feminist rock twist. On their latest track, So Hard, the foursome dish out an infectious pop number about a seductive girl that can make her baby's dick hard from 15 miles away.

It's The Ronettes and Beach House colliding with Lil' Kim at the shore, and my dick's so hard from over 1,000 miles away. - Ground Floor Go

Unless you were among the Friday night crowd at New York Pizza on January 31 as Greensboro girl-group Daddy Issues opened for The Tills and the Old One-Two, you have probably heard few songs about public urination.
Daddy Issues’s story as a band is one of firsts, including their inaugural show.
Alternating between the potty humor punk of songs like “Can’t Control This Feeling”, and the Best Coast-y swoon and sway of “Lethal Dose”, Daddy Issues’s five song set was a lesson in girl-group history.
Some songs matched the dissonance of 1990s riot grrrl rockers Sleater Kinney, while others delivered the direct emotional appeal of 1960s girl group pioneers, the Shangri La’s.
“It’s an interesting mix,” said Daddy Issues drummer and junior Raina Martens. “Some songs (are) aggressive and funny and some of them (are) a lot more smooth and feeling feelings.”
Daddy Issues is Greensboro’s first all-girl group in many years and Martens’ first time playing drums in a group.
“I don’t care that I can’t play drums very well,” said Martens. “I’m not going to get better unless I play with other people.”
And though bassist Maddy Putney ‘12 has played bass for nine years, it was also her first public performance.
“This is the first show I’ve ever played,” said Putney. “I’ve been playing since I was in tenth grade.”
Both Putney and Martens agreed that being an all-girl group was vital to their identity.
“Girls are really underrepresented in rock and in culture generally,” said Putney. “It’s really important to see girls creating things for girls and not worrying about any male influence.”
In fact, the significance of this aspect of Daddy Issues’ identity spurred Putney to take a bolder first step than playing a first concert.
“I just came out to them (as Trans) at the first practice,” said Putney. “I feel like I would’ve turned it down if I hadn’t actually been a girl because I feel like it’s important for there to be all girl bands.”
Even the band’s origin is fittingly feminist.
The group got together at a concert sponsored by Tom Tom Magazine, a quarterly publication about female drummers.
“I saw (singer Lauren Holt ‘10, guitarist Saron Smith-Hardin ‘09 and guitarist Lindsey Sprague) all standing around together at the Tom Tom show,” said Putney. “They were like ‘we’re in a band. And we just started it tonight. You want to be in it?’”
According to Tom Tom Magazine’s website, “Tom Tom seeks to raise awareness about female percussionists from all over the world. It hopes to inspire women and girls of all ages to drum, while strengthening and building the community of otherwise fragmented female musicians.”
“It was a really appropriate genesis to our band,” said Putney.
Moving from Daddy Issues’s origin back to their first gig, the final first of this story comes from the next generation.
“This was my first concert,” said 12-year-old Alea Gray, who came out to see Asheville slop-pop group, The Tills.
She also plays keyboards and, you guessed it, drums.
“I just love rock and roll,” said Gray. - The Guilfordian