Dayseeker’s Rory Rodriguez: “Songwriting Is My Process To Get Through What I Am Feeling”
Armed with one of the strongest heavy releases of 2025, the frontman of the Californian group takes us through Creature In The Black Night.
Words Sosefina Fuamoli // Image supplied
“I’m excited to not even think about making music for a second!”
Dayseeker frontman and songwriter, Rory Rodriguez, is more than happy to be living in the moment when it comes to the band’s new album, Creature In The Black Night.
The sixth studio album for the post-hardcore group, released in October, has proven to be a touchstone release for the band – an album that leans heavily into darker sounds, but ultimately redefines the group as musicians and songwriters who know their purpose.
Following on from 2022’s Dark Sun, this album feels as much of a graduation as it is a step into new territory for Dayseeker. As Rodriguez explains, the craft of songwriting is one that has always been intensely personal to him but with this album, he has been able to shed some of the thematic heaviness that marked previous projects, giving way to a refreshed confidence and chemistry on record.
“I wouldn’t say we went into this record thinking we had to be less sad,” he ponders. “The record we had made prior to this one [Dark Sun] was about my dad passing, so it was a sad experience. This record is more about relationships that I’ve experienced, for better or worse, in the last few years.”
“Our producer, we were four or five songs in, he goes, “This is cool - there’s a weird, confident tone in the lyricism, it’s not so sad.” You would hope, with anything, you improve and get better, the more you do it.”
Working with longtime producer Dan Braunstein encouraged Rodriguez and Dayseeker to explore new ways of making music, providing crucial support and also criticism when needed. Creature In The Black Night feels like a definitive and cohesive release from Dayseeker, largely due to this strength in the creative dynamic.
The potential threaded throughout albums like Dark Sun and its predecessor Sleeptalk are beautifully realised within the heavy and dramatic tones of this album (‘Pale Moonlight’, ‘Cemetery Blues’). Rodriguez himself steps forward into a leader’s spotlight with a vicious new hunger - his vocal range yearns as well as it threatens and soars with pain.
A songwriter who admits he sometimes has trouble expressing his feelings, Rodriguez beams when reflecting on his and his band’s work on Creature In The Black Night. Regardless of how dark the record gets, it has ultimately led him to experience moments of self-reflection, growth and fulfilment.
“Our producer, when we were in the middle of the record, made a comment like, ‘Our older music felt very self-indulgent in sadness and depression’,” Rodriguez says. “I would read comments where people would say things like, ‘I love that band, but I really have to be in a mood to listen to them, because it is so sad sometimes’.
I’m really proud of all of our past records but to me, this feels like a very vivid picture has been painted for the listener with each song on this record. I loved Dark Sun and Sleeptalk, but they were just good pop-rock songs and I think you could paint a picture from your own experiences. It feels like there is a lot more storytelling going on with this album.”
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Songs like ‘Soulburn’ and ‘Shapeshift’ are prime examples of the emotive nature of Creature In The Black Night, while ‘Crawl Back To My Coffin’ is a track that captures the essence of the album.
This is a project that journeys themes of relationships: breakthroughs and breakdowns, mourning and rebuilding for the better. As Rodriguez explains, he wasn’t setting out to have these stories reflect his own experiences as intimately as they have, but that is the role songwriting now holds for him.
“I didn’t realise how much of it was about my experience in having fallouts with people over the years, and it bums me out, in a way,” he admits.
“Whether it’s been from my side or someone else’s, I’ve lost a couple of people I was really close to. Always for the better, on either side, but it’s a bummer because I do go into every social situation with the best intentions. I think songwriting has given me the ability to communicate how I am feeling and in being open with my emotions. Still, sometimes when you have a falling out, you don’t talk anymore.
“Songwriting is my diary and my cathartic process, to try and get through what I’m feeling. Some situations were really sad and painful in a way, where I miss a person a lot. There are some songs on the record that carry more of a “good riddance” vibe, in a more artistic way. It’s funny, I don’t think I properly realised it until I sat back and took a look at the record as a whole.”
Australian Dayseeker fans will be some of the first to hear Creature In The Black Night be brought to life, with the band set to return to our shores for the Good Things Festival at the beginning of December.
Their festival dates add onto a growing relationship between Dayseeker and Australian audiences, one that Rodriguez is excited to continue developing in the next few years. The release of Creature In The Black Night has set the band up for one of their most ambitious tour cycles yet.
“We’ve been talking about a few headlining tours we will do next year and we’ve been thinking about, without being corny, maybe putting a prop cemetery on stage,” Rodriguez says. “Really trying to create an experience live, getting really low-hanging fog so it’s just a vibe. We’re so excited about this one because it’s the album that is the easiest to imagine, visually, in a live show.
“We’re excited to bring it to life. With the Good Things festival and some of the headline shows, people will be hearing some of these songs for the first time live - we’ve never played them. The new stuff is seeming to go over well, thankfully. The hard part is over, making the record and putting it out. Now we’re in the planning stage and it gets tough, the more albums we put out, because we want to keep so many good songs in the set. We want to honour the new record as well.”
Rodriguez smiles when it comes to thinking about what 2026 could potentially bring Dayseeker. Creating music that he is proud to stand by remains at the core of each endeavour – Creature In The Black Night is one of the band’s strongest examples of this to date.
And while Rodriguez is in a creatively satisfied space with music right now, don’t expect any surprise new projects any time soon.
“I know other bands, they'll finish a record and then immediately they’ll start writing again, but we’re a band where we let go of everything creatively. We like to have a healthy break for a year or two before getting into the thick of it again,” he says.
“It does feel like, at some point, we fully embraced the pop-rock side of the band, at least in the sense that our music was pop structured. I think it’s easy to follow. We were talking though, like what if we did a really weird record yet? You don’t want to get stale or too comfortable, but we also don’t want to abandon our formula so much that people don’t know what it is.
“I don’t want to be one of those bands that puts an album out every 12 to 18 months; the catalogue gets so convoluted. I get that people are hungry for more content as time goes on, but I like taking my time and making sure it’s really good before it comes out to the public. I’m proud of how this record flows from front to back, it’s a whole experience.”
Creature In The Black Night by Dayseeker is out now. Catch Dayseeker performing at Good Things Festival 2025. Tickets on sale via goodthingsfestival.com.au.
