Madame Daley On Forming A Full Band, David Bowie, And New EP ‘Classic’

The singer is unstoppable!

LGBTQ+ performer Madame Daley is taking the world by storm, with thousands of streams under her belt. Recently, she joined forces with three different performers to form ‘Madame Daley & The Starchild Band’. Now, she’s here with a brand-new EP ‘Classic’.

We had the amazing honor of talking with Madame about her biggest music inspirations, a message to her younger self, and more!

What gave you your start in the music industry?

M: “I have been performing my entire life! As a child, I did Irish Dance and Musical Theatre. Then, when I was 15, I learned to play guitar on Youtube and started recording songs on my laptop with a shitty USB microphone. In college, I majored in Music Business and eventually I started doing solo acoustic cover shows at bars in my hometown. Finally, after all this time, I was able to record an EP as Madame Daley and find the lovely ladies in my band!”

If you could talk to anyone about music, who would you talk to and why?

M: “David Bowie. He IS Glam Rock.”

What do you think is your best backstory for a song?

M: “I don’t think I have a favorite but the one most near and dear to me is “Annie, Sing Your Heart Out Anyway”. I wrote it about my grandmother and our family’s joke about how she was tone death. She would just sing and sing and sing regardless. Didn’t matter how hard her kids tried to bust her chops. I always found that to be such a subtle way to be a badass.”

What is your favorite song that you’ve written?

M: “I don’t have a favorite and I just struggle with picking favorites in general haha. My band and I all have our own favs to play live and different reasons for it. Jas is a fan of I Don’t Want It! because she gets to vibeeeee out on that funky bass line. Suzie likes Teenage Girls Made Rock n Roll because she gets to shred (and omfg does she mf shred). Lexi has always loved Annie ever since we first met, says its super catchy. I like performing Classic because it’s a little more low-key and I can connect with the audience a bit more. Usually, I’m running around the stage like a lunatic haha.”

Who has been your greatest inspiration?

M: “My mind always first goes to the rock legends – Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, The Rolling Stones, Bowie, Prince, etc. I have such a fascination with the way music shapes a decade in real time and then our perception of that time in the future. How that iconography comes to be is so interesting to me.” 

What are some things you’d like your fans to know about your EP, “Classic”, that released today!

M: “It’s been a long time coming!! I crowdfunded the release in early 2020 with Plaid Dog Recording…and then the pandemic hit. That time period certainly altered the course of my life, just like most. I had just finished college and moved to NYC. I didn’t even get 8 months there before I had to head home for over a year. I ended up writing 3 of the EP’s tracks in that time period. I actually think the EP is better off for it. Although the Madame always wants to evoke a glam rock fantasy, it’s grounded in reality. There’s sincerity behind the campy looks and glitter!”

If you could tell your teenage self one thing, what would it be and why?

M: “Don’t compare yourself to others. Just keep going with kindness and a smile. It’ll get easier to just be you. Deep breaths.”  I used to be a very shy and socially anxious person. Although old habits die hard, all this time performing in NYC has made it easier to exist in my own skin and ask for what I need. It’s honestly more work to be shy. Maybe I’m an optimist but I like to think that there are more nice people in the world than not.”

What inspired you and your fellow artists to start the Starchild Band?

M: “It has always been a dream of mine to have a full band after performing solo for years. I knew post-pandemic I had start getting one together, especially with this EP on the horizon. My friend Ruba Amare connected me with Suzie Ciftcikal, our lead guitarist. Suzie then reached out to Jasmin Lopez because they went to high school together and she remembered Jas playing bass. After that, the three of us were just so happy to be playing with other women that we were determined to find a female drummer and then somehow through the magic of Instagram I found Lexi Jaeger and she joined! Leah Nawy, Lexi’s best friend, joins us on keys when we play original music shows. I love this band so much. They are some of the kindest and most talented people I know. I am a bit older than the rest of them so they truly are my star children.”

What made you decide to follow a path in music?

M: “This is what I am good at and what I love to do! It doesn’t feel like I have any other option haha.”

What is the story behind your EP “Classic”?

M: “Classic felt like the right title for this release. I hope it sounds retro but modern. Nostalgic but also fresh and new. That is what the Madame’s style is. A glam rock extravaganza that could exist in the 70s but is instead happening here and now.”

Stream her new EP ‘Classic’ now!

Solstice Raeanne–Music/Mental Health Editor– Solstice Raeanne is a mental health advocate. As someone who has seen the way mental health is treated in our society they’ve wanted to make a change, and a difference. If they aren’t working, you can find Solstice on the phone scrolling through pinterest, or writing new articles and conducting interviews.