By Zach Collier
Soundcheck is done. It’s two hours before showtime. Since forming almost monday in 2019, Dawson Daugherty (lead vocals, guitar), Cole Clisby (guitar), and Luke Fabry (bass) have been inseparable. Friends since high school, their bond is as evident as their passion for music. Dawson, Cole, and Luke are chilling in one of the green rooms at the Delta Center in downtown Salt Lake City when photographer Ivan Martinez and I walk in.
When you first meet an artist, you never know what you’re going to get. Most musicians are wildly different from their stage personas in often peculiar and unexpected ways. But kindness has been the constant in nearly every interaction I’ve had with major artists, and almost monday is no exception. Luke immediately says hi and calls me out on my San Francisco Giants hat and Ivan’s Chicago White Sox hat, and soon we’re talking baseball. Then basketball. Then The Utah Hockey Club.
They’re super chill. My wife told me she’d give me 50 bucks if I called them “always monday” during the entire interview, but I thought better of it – mostly because we share a bank account. But after spending solid time with them, I realize they’re the kind of guys who would play nice the entire time and get a kick out of a big reveal at the end. They’re so good natured.
It’s been a wild five years for almost monday, from playing clubs in San Diego to a sold-out arena tour with mxmtoon in support of AJR. “It’s just such a different game,” says Dawson. “In a club it’s intimate, and you really see everybody. Here, you’re thinking about people in the front in the pit, so it feels kind of like a club. You see everybody, but then you’re also on this huge video wall, so people are zoomed in on your face in a way they wouldn’t be in a club.” He frames his face with his hands for emphasis, and the thought of my face blown up to Delta Center proportions makes my hair stand on end.
“And then you’re playing to the people in the back,” Luke chimes in. “And it’s so high, man. I mean, I’m sure you’ve seen: this place in particular feels like you’re in a coliseum. So you’re kind of just playing it different depending on who you focus on.”
“I don’t know, I really love it. I like the big stage. It’s fun,” says Dawson. “Like, I just feel a lot more freedom to just run around and be in the music. So, I’ve been liking it. But it is just a different approach than a club.”
“Yeah, in a club, you can see everyone’s reactions instantly if they’re messing with the music or not,” says Cole. “These arenas are just so far removed from the people in the bleachers. You can’t even make out faces, because especially with haze and stuff on stage, you really only can see the pit unless people are shining flashlights or whatever. But that can sometimes be a pro, because then you can kind of just perform and not really care.”
I got to see their set the night before, and they brought the energy. Luke’s been excited to play new songs from their upcoming LP – the unreleased “jupiter” in particular. Cole has also been digging their new stuff, especially their latest single “tidal wave.” But Dawson always gets a kick out of “life goes by.”
“It just feels like such an identity song for the band. We end the set with that,” he says. He always gets a kick out of singing songs about the beach inside a giant concrete arena. “We’re just up there ending the set and I sing, ‘Take me to the beach because I want to dip in’ – like, it’s such a stupid lyric. So it just feels so funny to me.’”
That was actually the song that got me into almost monday. I was mowing my lawn (as cool guys do) and had Apple Music on when “life goes by” got served up to me. I was like, who the freak are these guys? This is great.
“You weren’t at the beach, but you were in the sun,” laughs Dawson. “There you go.” I’m honored to have barely been the target demographic.
almost monday’s blend of indie rock has captivated fans worldwide since their debut single in 2020. Their sound has evolved into three distinct flavors: the sun-soaked, neo-surf rock vibe on tracks like “life goes by,” the late-night, danceable disco-infused grooves of songs like “can’t slow down,” and the introspective, pop-rock melancholy akin to LANY and The 1975, as showcased in “hailey beebs.”
With their first LP set for release in 2024, fans are eager to hear the next chapter. “The album is a great combination of where we have been, where we’re at right now, and the future – like, a different sound people haven’t heard,” explains Luke.
The band has always wanted to put out a real record – not just EPs or singles. It’s almost hard to believe a band on a national arena tour still hasn’t done that yet. But almost monday is very open about where they really are behind the scenes.
While AJR may have several semi-trucks full of elaborate set pieces lining a closed-off city street, almost monday doesn’t even have a tour bus yet. They’re still in their van. It’s parked out back. “I mean, this tour’s been great,” Dawson says gratefully. “Just, like, the catering alone is the dream. This tour has been cush, man, because, I mean obviously we’re a part of something that is way bigger than what we’ve done before. But we’re still putting in our 15-hour drives in The Green Machine, man. We’re cush, but, you know, the audience at home can still know we’re still hitting the highways.”
The thought of these guys playing sold out arena shows and then having to drive themselves and their catering leftovers to the next stop on tour is comical. But for anyone who hangs out regularly with working musicians, it makes sense. It’s a long way to the top.
“The bands that slug it out, they all know,” laughs Luke. “The funny thing is, I’ve noticed with bands you could stay at a really sick hotel, have a sick hospitality rider, and the next day, you’re at the Red Roof Inn somewhere and there’s no food around.”
Then in unison, all three of them say, “The lows. Are. LOW.”
After the laughter subsides, Luke continues, “It’s a long way to get to where it just stabilizes – where everything’s great. I feel like it’s a lot of that hard work. It keeps it interesting.”
With all the hard work, now coupled with major moves forward, they’re learning to let go of old responsibilities and juggle new ones, all while balancing work with life back home. Dawson Daugherty, for example, is married. When I ask how he manages to stay connected to home and keep his relationship healthy, he says, “I think the whole thing with being in this line of work and having a committed relationship is really them knowing what you do and that it’s attached to your dream. Me and my wife have been together almost nine years – since high school – and the first day I met her, I was like, do you want to come to my show at the coffee shop? She’s been in for it.”
Finding someone compatible, who’s fully aware of what you do and all that it entails, is important for building an open and solid foundation. Beyond that? “I think it’s really just friendship first, and knowing how to support your person and genuinely love them,” he says. “Just genuine love. For us, obviously it’s hard being gone. We’re gone for six weeks on this tour.” But Dawson is adamant about being willing to do the same for his wife with her dreams – support her in return. “It’s about genuine friendship and wanting them to live their dream – exactly what they have in their head. Right now she’s in school to become a therapist and I’m supporting that.”
While the future is exciting, the band also likes to stay grounded. I ask them what they’d do if music stopped existing tomorrow. Where could they see themselves? For Cole? “I think after working on a lot of music videos, I would love to probably do something with film or TV,” he says.
“I mean, I was studying entrepreneurship, which is pretty generic, but I like people, and I like building stuff,” says Luke. “So I’d probably just build a different project in a different sphere.”
“My wife is a therapist and I love learning all this psychology stuff,” says Dawson. “Go back to school? Do therapy?”
“I’ll tell you all my feelings when our career ends,” jokes Luke.
Things are scaling for almost monday in major ways. But whether they’re famous or it all ends tomorrow, it’s hard to imagine a world where these three aren’t sitting in the nosebleeds in a baseball stadium somewhere cracking jokes and having a good time.
almost monday has since wrapped their tour supporting AJR. Now they’re gearing up for a European tour starting September 14, 2024, in Lisbon, Portugal. Tickets are on sale now.
In the meantime, dive into their latest single, “tidal wave,” below!