Austin-based alt-indie band DAIISTAR (pronounced ‘day star’) accomplishes a longtime dream this weekend — one they never believed would happen. After a two-month-long UK tour, DAIISTAR will take on Austin City Limits Music Festival this Sunday for the first time. DAIISTAR’s lead singer and songwriter, Alex Capistran, sat with The Daily Texan to speak on the band’s ACL debut.
The Daily Texan: You guys did a tour in the United Kingdom this year. What’s the UK connection?
Alex Capistran: A lot of our influences are from the UK. It felt good playing there. I saw there (were) a couple of psych fests happening in the UK, and we booked those shows. It was a good reason to go back there and get to play in front of those people again. We played there before, and it was good, so we played (there) again.
DT: How do you feel about playing ACL as an Austin-based band?
AC: We’ve had some friends play. … I’m happy that we’re one of the few bands that got the opportunity to play ACL, and it’s nice to be able to represent Austin.
DT: How are you feeling about your upcoming shows in the United States?
AC: We have a couple booked (in the) Northwest and a couple in California. Those are going to be really good shows. We’re doing Freakout (Festival in Seattle). We’re playing a couple of shows with The Black Angels and we have a few shows booked with JJUUJJUU in California. We’re looking forward to playing those.
DT: Your debut album came out last year. How are you feeling about it now, a year later, performing all the songs from it?
AC: The songs (became) a different animal live. When we had recorded (the album), we had only practiced (the songs) a couple of times. Then there was a pandemic, (so) we weren’t playing live back then. Listening back to those songs, it’s nice to hear the way they were versus the way they are now in our live shows. I love that album, and I’m really proud of it, and Alex Maas (of The Black Angels), who produced the record, did an excellent job. I actually just listened to it because it’s been a while since I listened to it — and it still hits.
DT: How do you feel about bringing your unique sound to ACL?
AC: ACL is pretty diverse with all the music they bring in. I don’t know how (many bands) in the psych realm they get. It’ll be fun to go out there and bring something different that I don’t think is that common there. I think it’ll be received pretty well.
DT: What’s next for DAIISTAR after ACL?
AC: We’ll see if we can squeeze in a new record between all the shows. I have a whole record in my pocket, (but) the songs always change, for the better, when I bring it to the band. It’ll take a while until we start to work on new music, but that’s the plan.
