As more and more common notions regarding the music industry get tossed out each week, A Sunny Day in Glasgow is putting to bed the age-old idea that band members need to live in the same city (or actually even the same continent). Though all gathered to record 2014’s Sea When Absent in a studio in Philadelphia, songs were written and developed through extensive email chains prior to the members from Australia to Brooklyn.

Now eight years into the band’s career, they still face the challenges all artists today, from earning a living to finding true musical identity. What one finds with this group though is an absolute fearlessness in blazing a unique trail, both musically and foundationally. Lead songwriter Ben Daniels took the time to answer five short questions to lend a better perspective into the adventurous sounds and trials of A Sunny Day in Glasgow.

Five years ago Ben, you said in an interview that "this is not a career yet". Has this changed?

Haha, no. We still excel at losing money.

On Sea When Absent, the vocals and melody seem to be brought out more, what inspired this?

It felt right this time around. We had this conscious thought going into making this record, but even while mixing it I would maybe add reverb or delay to vocals to see what happened. It just wasn't right this time.

Not only does a lot change in the studio I imagine, but you also have extensive emails chains and communication prior, sending demos back and forth to the members all of over the world. How much does a song transform from beginning to end through this process?

It depends on the song. Some songs like "Never Nothing" changed dramatically. Others were pretty much what they were at the start. This is more to do with the song than the process. Once you start working on songs it becomes clear where they want to go, and some songs have further to go than others.

There are these moments of wall-of-sound guitars, but then a single line pierces through with such clarity. What is your approach to creating this balance?

It's a simple answer, but it's probably mostly just what sounds good. in mixing you have to think about frequencies of various instruments but ultimately it's a lot of trial and error.

The resonance of your sound is so particular and tasteful, did you use any special recording techniques to capture that this time?

This time I think the sound comes from the pro studio. Our other records were self-recorded and employed lots of weird experiments and mic placements and stuff like that. But this time I think the sound is paying for high quality equipment and expertise.

Be sure to check out A Sunny Day in Glasgow at Rough Trade on 12/27!