Since emerging in 2024, Dayfiction have quickly established themselves as one of the most exciting young bands operating in the modern post-punk landscape. Rooted in Richmond, Virginia, but increasingly stretching beyond their hometown scene, the five-piece have built a reputation through emotionally charged songwriting, immersive live performances, and an unwavering sense of momentum. In a remarkably short space of time, they’ve shared stages with artists including Inhaler, Hello Mary, Native Sun, and Lip Critic, while cultivating a growing audience drawn to the band’s blend of urgency, atmosphere, and introspection.
At the heart of Dayfiction’s rise is a chemistry forged long before the band’s official formation. What began through shared bills, mutual admiration, and years of friendship has evolved into a collaborative creative unit where every member contributes to shaping the band’s sound. Following the release of their debut EP and a whirlwind year of touring, writing, and growth, we caught up with vocalist and songwriter Evan to discuss the band’s origins, creative process, Richmond’s influence, and what comes next for one of underground rock’s most promising new voices.
Dayfiction formed in 2024 and have moved incredibly quickly since then. Did you always feel there was something immediate and special about this lineup?
Evan: I think more than anything we became really good friends over a few years and although the band officially formed in 2024, we had been playing music together and some of us were already friends or mutuals for a while beforehand. Jackson and I met when I played my first show in 2020 in a wedding venue, and we played in a band for a bit afterwards. I met Hannah and Noah similarly through playing shows on the same bills. We really liked each other’s projects, and eventually I had the beginnings of what was Dayfiction’s groundwork going with Hannah. Eventually, Noah, Hannah, Jackson, and I all became closer both as friends and as a band. Finally, Mateo got in there just a few months after properly forming, and I feel like we all just had great chemistry and the same musical goals and interests.
How would each member describe their role within the band creatively beyond just their instrument?
Evan: I think we all take some of the same roles creatively. We all play drums, guitar, bass, everything. I write the early versions of the songs and demo them, full fleshed as to what my idea would be for the full band, or even just partially or acoustically. Sometimes I will already have something fully done as a song, and we just know as a band that it should stick because I will either send them the demo or we will play it at practice and be like yeah that’s it. Other times though, or even sometimes before I go and get something “on paper” per se, both Noah and I will just play around on riffs with a drum machine at his house, or discuss a garageband session I have in the works and then just start playing and playing on it. He will come up with parts to add, help with structuring, and it becomes very back and forth. Noah is my right hand man in developing the songs. We both love to record too. And he’s definitely big on the role of the overall sound development. He appears very simple at approach, but I really respect how he has such a gut reaction at how things should sound, is very good with atmosphere too and how things should be structured. It’s not overthought, and being myself, someone who can tend to be very easily questionable of every decision, I need that in a bandmate. Mateo, creatively has a very free style approach, but also is a gentler player than I’d say Noah is for guitar. He doesn’t really need to be told how to play something. Oftentimes I will say to him, unless there is an absolutely necessary thing in the songs to just figure out what’s good, and it sticks, and he’s the only one with atmospheric stuff on his pedalboard, so he adds the majority of that to the sound. Jackson adds sensibility to the sound, and also adds a lot of creative measure to the bass, even down to just effects. He kind of contributes everywhere. Sometimes both guitars are not really sensible without his bass, but together it all makes sense. And he also adds underlying dynamics. Which leads me to Hannah, who adds much of the strain, rush, pump, and hard hitting element to everything. They are an animal.
Your live reputation has grown rapidly over the last year. What do you think makes a Dayfiction show stand out?
Evan: I think there’s always a great level of immediacy in the performances. For the past year or so we have been split apart at least by a few hours. Come 2026 I was completely out of the country until May. It can really come down to the wire so when we are back together we really put in the hours. Sometimes we will have a week to prepare for a show as a full group, or even just a few days. When I landed in Richmond back from London, we had literally an hour and half worth of time to practice before packing out to go play a set. That was after not seeing everyone for a few months, so it was pretty “straight to business.” That one was more of an off the cusp sort of show, but the point still stands. Then we had basically five or six days from there to prepare for the EP release show. My point being there’s a level of hyperness to everything when we are on our toes like that, and I think that is reflected really well in the shows. It’s not necessarily stress so much that it is excitement to perform and sheer determination to overcome odds of failure. The chemistry of the group really assists in that too.
Having shared stages with artists like Inhaler, Hello Mary, Native Sun, and Lip Critic, what have you learned from watching those bands perform up close?
Evan: All of those bands are super tight, and take command of the crowds they perform. When you are new and young, that’s a great example to have set before you. Sharing stages like that comes with a pressure and push to be just as practiced, prepared, and fearless in being yourself as performers and as writers.
Richmond and New York both seem to influence the band’s identity in different ways. How do those environments shape your music and perspective?
Evan: I’m actually very very new to New York. I’ve only just gotten here in May. I will say though, I’ve felt very inspired creatively and motivated just in general here. I’m very excited to see how that will come to shape the music. Richmond is our home and stomping grounds, so I think that environment has had the utmost effect on the music and us as a band from our beginnings with music in general. The community really embraces art and new bands and I always feel like we’ve had a supportive space to grow and experiment, and that element has been essential for us. It’s also just a very musically active city and as such there is a lot of opportunity to get out and play, explore, and make friends. Some of my favorite bands there I am very happy to call good friends, and some of those bands have had influence on the perspective of how I shape Dayfiction and my own songwriting.
Post-punk is having another major cultural moment right now. Where do you see Dayfiction fitting into the current landscape?
Evan: We are still quite young and have a lot to learn, and grow in with ourselves as a band and as writers. I’m not entirely sure where we fit into that. I can say that I really see us fitting into the emotional honesty and introspection in the lyrics and atmosphere of the songs and want to keep that as a staple of our craft as a band. We want the music to be something honestly and purely felt by whoever comes across it.
What’s the songwriting process usually like between the five of you? Does a song typically begin with lyrics, guitars, atmosphere, or something else entirely?
Evan: It’s often a mix of all the three that you mentioned. In terms of atmosphere, me and Noah often really love a droning note or riff on a loop or something and then we just start building on top of that. Sometimes I will already have a demo half or fully fleshed out and then we either change it up or learn the parts and work it out from there. As for lyrics, at least in the past and on this EP, I will have a one liner I have thought of in a passing moment that I will copy in my notes too. Every song asks for a varied method of approach I have found. I have been practicing keeping the approach sort of loose because I often get overthinking and it’s incredibly disruptive to flow and being in touch with a song at the start.
A lot of your music deals with emotional instability and uncertainty. Do you see songwriting as a form of documentation, catharsis, or something different altogether?
Evan: I am definitely beginning to see songwriting as a form of documentation, and for me it’s often based on an emotional feeling. I wish I had that gene of storytelling or writing from another perspective, that’s definitely something I wish to practice. I do think I am often documenting emotional experience, and as I’ve gotten older I have found that uncertainty is just a part of life and it finds a stakeholder in our music. The music itself is often cathartic, but to me that’s more a direct side effect of expression itself. The cathartic energy that comes out of the music is really the desire to understand or overcome that comes with documenting a feeling or moment in time.
What’s something about Dayfiction that listeners might not immediately understand just from hearing the music?
Evan: I guess the one off the top of my head is that we all play every instrument that is in the band and that really helps with writing and practice. Like we all play guitar, bass, drums. It makes it pretty easy to conceptualize ideas between each other instead of just verbally. Like we can sit down and flesh things out off and on.
Looking back at everything that’s happened over the past year, what moment made the band feel truly real for the first time?
Evan: For me it had to be when we put out “Diplomat.” People really started finding the music, writing about it on their blogs. I saw it featured in a blog from France. I also saw it featured on some playlists that had the song right next to contemporary bands that we look up to. And of course, receiving some opening slots in a short time from the release with bands we look up to. It was the first time I really felt like we were taking some steps and were being seen by audiences that we wanted to get in touch with.
