London's daydreamers: Making Their Dreams Come True One Day At A Time

Words: Darci Jackson

Photography: Izzi Glover

Shimmering riffs that feel like wishing upon a star, lyrics so relatable you feel like the main character in a coming-of-age movie, and a live presence so encapsulating that you really do feel like you’re caught in the midst of a daydream. 

London’s daydreamers have released their first new material since the self-titled debut EP in the form of Good Intentions; a fun-loving carefree single following in the footsteps of indie pop icons such as The 1975 and Wallows.  

daydreamers are Riley (vocals, guitar), Marco Bastianoni (guitar), Aurora Mannola (bass) and Jay Lewis (drums).

"I just want to keep things moving all the time. The people that connect with our stuff will appreciate us having that little bit of time," mentions Riley. 

"I hate not releasing, it makes me feel anxious and I love releasing because it feels like forward momentum."

daydreamers came to be through chance meetings and mutual friends. Some might call it fate; as Riley explains it happened quite naturally:

"And then everybody was just in the room together, it was just us 4 in a really big room!" he joked.

Having raced around the festival circuit like a car on a Scalextric track, the band reflect on a busy, albeit electrifying, summer. 

"We had bigger festivals with bigger crowds and we played our first main stage which was very exciting," started Bastianoni with Tramlines Festival being a particular highlight.

"By the third song it was just packed out, people were trying to listen from outside. It was amazing. We didn’t expect that," added Lewis. 

Amidst all of that was a telling off from Nelly Furtado at Big Feastival. Well, not from the Maneater herself, but more so her security:

"We were walking past and taking a video of me to share on the story or whatever and then security came over and were like ‘you can’t take videos of the soundcheck’ or something like that and I was like ‘well it’s not actually of the soundcheck, it’s of me actually,’" reminisces Riley.

"We got told off twice then because I was just filming the soundcheck!" laughs Bastianoni.

Taking each day as it comes, daydreamers are succinctly settling in as the bedroom pop newcomers, and the four-piece spoke about juggling their regular lives with their alter-egos.

"It’s a little bit like a Clark Kent and Superman situation, in a way I try to enjoy that part of it. It’s like, maybe now I’m doing this really regular job but in the back of my head I’m still like 'yeah, but we’re gonna be rockstars!’" explained Mannola.

"I’m just grateful to be honest. I would never have imagined [we’d] get to this point. I dreamed about it, but when it’s happening for real and you’re really playing in a band in front of so many people and people enjoy what you do, it’s really good," added Bastianoni. 

Riley remarked: "I found it weird transitioning personally, being so driven to make it in music and that being such a focus point for so much of my life and then the last year, that happening, and it transitioning into this sort of like ‘okay, how do you keep this going?’ I think that’s been a learning curve for me of like: 'okay you’ve got your foot in the door, how do you now wedge the door open?’"

The indie pop quartet toured the UK earlier this year, as well as supporting Sea Girls on their UK tour last Autumn, and featuring on Radio 1’s Future Pop. 

And with all of that travelling comes a strong opinion about Travelodge. Now, Dizzy Magazine were eager to hear about their favourite Travelodge, but Bastianoni jumped straight in with other ideas:

"The worst I can tell you. I think it was 35 degrees and I think there was a pool underneath our room or something like that and you couldn’t open the windows. I was boiling." 

But it seems daydreamers have had their fair share of bad hotel experiences.

"Oh there was actually a worse experience. I think me and Jay share one thing which is that we are always hungry. It was like, the first night of tour and we just didn’t have dinner, and there was nothing available on Deliveroo or anything like that so I just ended up stealing biscuits from other rooms. I was just like ‘can anyone give me a biscuit?!’ So my dinner was like three biscuits and I struggled."

"What was the one in Ireland where there wasn’t enough bedrooms and I was on the sofa?" followed Riley.

We’ll save that story for next time, eh?

And daydreamers are certainly living up to their name, with daydreams of their own.

"Usually I’d say headlining Glastonbury, headlining Coachella but I think the daydream is stability with fans that want to come and see our shows, growing and playing bigger rooms, making albums every year," observed Riley.

"My dad used to say it’s an aggregation of marginal gains, which means all the little things add up and I appreciate that."

Bastianoni added: "Playing the O2 with daydreamers. I lived for so long in front of the O2 Arena, when I moved to London it was the first place I saw a concert, and I watched The 1975 so I was like ‘one day if I play there it would be amazing.’"