Sloan Struble is the 20-something Aledo, TX-born, Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and creative mastermind behind the critically applauded and rapidly rising indie rock/indie pop project Dayglow. Dayglow can trace its origins to when Struble was a teen, growing up in a Fort Worth suburb that he has referred to as a “small football-crazed town,” where he felt irrevocably out of place.
Much like countless other other hopelessly out of place young people across both this country and the globe, Struble turned to music as an escape from his surroundings. “I didn’t really feel connected to what everyone else in my school was into, so making music became an obsession for me, and sort of like therapy in a way,” Struble recalled in press notes. “I’d dream about it all day in class, and then come home and for on songs instead of doing homework. After a while I realized I’d made an album.”
Working completely on his own with a minuscule collection of gear that included his guitar, his computer and some secondhand keyboards he picked up at Goodwill, Struble worked on transforming his privately kept outpouring into a batch of songs — often grandiose in scale. “Usually artists will have demos they’ll bounce off other people to get some feedback, but nobody except for my parents down the hall really heard much of the album until I put it out,” Struble recalled. With the self-release of 2018’s Fuzzybrain, the Aledo-born, Austin-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer received widespread attention and an ardent online following — with countess listeners praising the material’s overwhelming positivity.
In 2019, Struble re-released a fully realized version of Fuzzybrain that featured Can I Call You Tonight,” a track that wound up being a smash-hit back in 2020, as well as two previously unreleased singles “Nicknames” and “Listerine.”
Last year was a big year for the Aledo-born, Austin-based JOVM mainstay: he kicked off the year with the infectious and sugary pop confection “Close to You,” a track indebted to 80s synth-led soul — in particular Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald‘s “On My Own” Cherelle’s and Alexander and O’Neal‘s “Saturday Love” and other duets, but imbued with an aching melancholy and uncertainty. He then made his national late night TV debut on Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he, along with his backing band, played “Can I Call You Tonight.”
Continuing upon that momentum, Struble released his Dayglow sophomore album Harmony House, an album that was inspired by the 70s and 80s piano-driven soft rock that he had captured his ears. Interestingly, around the same time, he had been watching a lot of Cheers. “At the very beginning, I was writing a soundtrack to a sitcom that doesn’t exist,” Struble recalls. And while actively attempting to generate nostalgia for something that hadn’t ever been real, as well as something most of his listeners had never really experienced. Thematically, the album concerns itself with a deeply universal theme — growing up and coping with change as being an inevitable aspect of life.
Struble’s third Dayglow album, People In Motion is slated for an October 7, 2022 release through AWAL. Entirely written, played and produced by Struble, the 10-song album continues upon the JOVM mainstay’s reputation for crafting upbeat, optimistic, hook-driven pop rooted in his desire to steer clear of conflict and offering someone something to love.
People In Motion‘s third and latest single “Second Nature” may arguably be the funkiest and most dance floor friendly single Struble has released to date. Sonically seeming like a synthesis of 80s pop, Daft Punk, The 1975, and LCD Soundsystem, “Second Nature” is centered around glistening synth arpeggios, Struble’s plaintive vocals, an infectious vocoder’ed vocal-driven hook and an irresistible feel good vibe meant to get your ass on the dance floor.
“‘Second Nature’ is one of the most ambitious songs I’ve made so far. I didn’t think it would be a ‘Dayglow’ song until the rest of People in Motion started to take shape,” Struble says in press notes. “I made so many versions of it— I just kept writing more and more melodies and ideas. The Logic file ended up being like this 15 minute jam that I eventually condensed to be the near 6 min song it is.
I was really inspired by songs like Lionel Richie’s ‘All Night Long,’ Michael Jackson’s ‘Wanna Be Starting Somethin’, and of course Daft Punk. I just love songs that have repeatable chord progressions that never seem to even reach their potential— they just keep going on and on. Lyrically and musically I wanted to create a song that felt like that. A song that just celebrates itself and the joy of dancing and making music. It doesn’t even feel like ‘Second Nature’— it feels completely innate and natural to make music to me. I love it more than anything and it feels like what I was made to do, and ‘Second Nature’ just grasps that idea and runs with it confidently.”
After a sold-out Australian tour and a packed house set at this year’s Outside Lands, Struble will be embarking on a North American tour that includes a November 7, 2022 stop at Terminal 5. Check out rest of the tour dates below.
Dayglow / People In Motion North American Tour:
10/9/22 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
10/10/22 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Square Theatre
10/13/22 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
10/14/22 – San Diego, CA – SOMA
10/15/22 – Los Angeles, CA – The Novo
10/19/22 – Salt, Lake City, UT – The Union
10/21/22 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
10/22/22 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
10/23/22 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
10/25/22 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
10/28/22 – Dallas, TX – South Side Ballroom
10/29/22 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
10/30/22 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
11/1/22 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
11/2/22 – Minneapolis, MN – Palace Theatre
11/4/22 – Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
11/5/22 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyption Room
11/6/22 – Columbus, OH – Kemba Live
11/8/22 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
11/10/22 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern
11/11/22 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore
11/12/22 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
11/14/22 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club (SOLD OUT)
11/15/22 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
11/17/22 – New York, NY – Terminal 5
11/18/22 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
11/19/22 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
11/21/22 – Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre
11/22/22 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
11/26/22 – Orlando, FL – The Beacham
11/27/22 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live
11/28/22 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Revolution Live
12/2/22 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s (SOLD OUT)
12/3/22 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s
