INTERVIEW with DAD HAT
Here is Dad Hat, an indie pop duo based here in Los Angeles. The duo, Steven Gudino and Maddie Barrett, both go to USC and UCLA respectively.
Q: How did you meet?
Steven: We did our undergraduate together at Chapman university—go panthers I guess— in Orange and we were both in the music composition major there. We started making music together and became friends really quickly. I think I remember meeting Maddie on maybe the first or second day. I don't think that Maddie remembers it quite as clearly as I do, but—
Maddie: No I don't. [laughs]
Steven: [laughs] But it definitely was a good time and we started making music from there.
Q: What did you guys connect over? Was it just your personalities, your taste in music, kind of your artistic vision?
Maddie: I think a combination of everything— we were in the same major. So Stephen was doing classical composition at the time, and I was doing that as well, so we had a lot of classes together and we always kind of bonded over having a similar taste in classical music because there's a lot of sort of varieties and we always found that we liked the same people in the same pieces, so we kind of bonded over that to begin with. And then we also both loved Mac DeMarco, so that also became sort of a bonding point as well. And then just the music school is pretty small generally at most places, so we ended up just hanging out a lot.
Q: That's awesome you mentioned loving Mac DeMarco because that to me is definitely what I would describe is like Dad Hat music. So can you tell us a little bit about how you found your band name?
Steven: Well like Maddie was saying, we always really vibed together on basically any music that that we liked […] and after about, I think two years of us being friends, we sort of decided that we wanted to start making pop music too and we obviously really vibe over Mac DeMarco. So we were trying to think of a band name and trying to think of the music that we sort of wanted it to be and how we wanted to fit in. And we kept coming back to what we were describing as “dad hat music.” Like the artists that we loved— just like, that's what they were, and so we had that idea for what our music was going to be, but we're still trying to come up with a band name. And then we would come up with really just bad ideas, until finally, we were like screw it, should we just be Dad Hat? And it kind of went from there.
Q: I wore our KXSC dad hat today to celebrate the interview and show my respect. But who are some of those bands that you are inspired by?
Steven: For me, definitely The Beatles were my biggest inspiration and when I was a kid that's all I wanted to be.
Maddie: It’s an interesting question because, for me, it's always been such a big variety, because I got into classical music from a really young age, which is just a little bit abnormal, so I was kind of having that combined with 80s music that my parents liked and then also combined with contemporary popular music of our generation— so kind of having all of those different influences definitely shaped me. I also love The Beatles. I didn't actually start listening to them until I became friends with Stephen so that was great because I never really knew much of their music, besides the super popular songs. But I've also been really inspired by Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode— some of those classic 80s groups as well.
Q: Awesome. Tell us about your most recent single, Tahoe, and your vision behind the song.
Steven: Sure. Tahoe is sort of a step in a new direction for us, especially because Maddie is on the lead vocal […] for the first time, which we're both really excited about. That one has an interesting origin story because I wrote it on the guitar and it had sort of a waltz feel, and I had written it right at the beginning of March last year— so right when […] the pandemic went down and we just shelved it for a while, but we both really liked it. Then over the summer we started playing it bit more and developing it but realized that we wanted a different vibe to it, […] but I was really struggling.
Maddie: Yeah, we had gotten so set on this version of it that we had figured out at the beginning and had even recorded most of the parts for it with that version of it but then kind of had a breakthrough and we decided this isn't how it should be, but it was so difficult once you're really attached to a version of a song, to try to switch it up. And then one night I was just practicing piano and I was a little bit bored of whatever I was working on, so I started playing the song “i love you” by Billie Eilish because that's one of my favorites and just had this idea for basically what ended up becoming the keyboard part for Tahoe. So I texted Stephen right away “please send me the lyrics to Tahoe I need to work on this right now” and that was kind of how the version that is now out evolved. And since I was the one reworking it, I had changed the key to something that was much better for my voice than Steven’s, so we decided that it would be better for me to sing this one. […] We're really happy with how it turned out— I think the second version was the right one.
Steven: I remember […] you played it for me over the phone the first time I heard it and it was just magic. I was like that's exactly what it has to be and I love it so much more than the original version. That was a really cool, organic process for us, which I love, so I’m super stoked about it.
Q: I love that! And it was fun to hear your vocals Maggie. Do you guys have any hopes or possibly plans for touring in the future?
Steven: That would be awesome— just to be able to play again. We had quite a few gigs lined up right before the pandemic happened, and I know for both of us, there's just nothing better than playing for people and being able to share music. Recording is fun, recording is great, but it's most fun when you get to play with people and I'm excited to start playing venues around USC and tap into that because we were playing a lot in Orange County. And now that I’m at USC and Maddie is at UCLA, I think the biggest goal is to try and tap into those fans and those venues and just start to meet people. Touring would be great, but I think most immediately, playing around and getting to meet people is our main goal.
Q: To wrap up the interview, I have a couple rapid fire style questions for you, so feel free to be as concise or as elaborative as you want. I want to know what music you're listening to right now that's helping you get through quarantine.
Maddie: Still Woozy is my current obsession— that's number one. Number two is Phoebe Bridgers. Punisher is an amazing album. And my third one would be “Good Days” by SZA. All three of those have been on loop for me the past few weeks.
Steven: I was listening to Iron & Wine’s The Creek Drank the Cradle. That’s an amazing album I had never listened to, before I listened to his older stuff. But I just bought a four track tape recorder, and he recorded on that. But Phoebe Bridgers as well. Phoebe Bridgers is huge for Maddie and I.
Q: Speaking of Phoebe Bridgers— thoughts on the Grammy’s this year?
Steven: Candidly, so upset.
Maddie: We agree with Elton John.
Steven: Every year, I think the Grammy’s are going to do it right this year and then every year I'm disappointed. Not that who wins doesn't deserve it, but it's just not what I'm going for. I really wanted Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly to win, wanted Gambino to win a Grammy… It just doesn't happen. So right now I’m a bit down on the Grammy’s but next year, I'm sure I'll be back again. […] It's a vicious cycle with me and the Grammy’s.
Q: What is your Instagram handle?
Steven: Our handle for Dad Hat is @dadhatband. My personal is @stephen_gudino.
Maddie: [My personal] is @mmbarrett18.
Q: Who do you stalk on Instagram?
Steven: Phoebe.
Maddie: Definitely Phoebe.
Q: Finally, are you on TikTok and how are you using TikTok to promote your music?
Steven: Right now we’re using TikTok just to put out little content of us playing and making music that's not even necessarily related. A lot of covers— just to sort of bring people in and get to know us and our sound a little bit easier.
Maddie: We also have put some more behind the scenes things on TikTok. We recently did one that was the evolution of Tahoe. So a bunch of voice memos of us, which don't necessarily sound the best, but they're pretty fun to kind of see how that evolved.
Q: Well, thank you for coming on. Is there any last thing that you want to plug?
Steven: Please go stream Tahoe! It's our latest single right now. And we're going to have some new stuff coming out late Spring / early Summer. We love you guys and can't wait to meet you in person.