Interview: vaultboy On His New Music, First Headline Tour & More!

Interview by Yising Kao and Kaylynn Ward, Photos by Yising Kao

vaultboy, Jeremiah Daly, is a Pop singer-songwriter and music producer from Jacksonville, Florida. His song “everything sucks” gained popularity on Tik Tok and he has collaborated with artists such as gnash and Eric Nam. Vaultboy released his debut self-titled EP in January of 2022 – his music is radiant and energetic, with raw and heartfelt lyrics that people can truly connect to. He has toured with Nightly and New Hope Club and went on his first headline tour in early 2023. I got to chat with vaultboy before his first headline show in Los Angeles at the Moroccan Lounge!

You’ve mentioned before that you grew up influenced by the pop punk and emo music scene. Do you think you’ll ever want to make music or write songs within the Pop Punk genre?

I would definitely write songs within that genre, not necessarily for me. I have my song “i can’t do anything right” that’s a little more of that like, Alt-Rock influence but I don’t think so. I think I like leaning more towards the Pop and the trappy elements that modern Pop has. I think as people evolve you change how you want to express yourself as a musician. So, I feel like I had that era and I enjoyed it – I still pull in some of that emo energy just cause it’s sad songs! I’d love to write with some Pop Punk bands and stuff.

Did you start listening to more Pop and singer-songwriter music?

I listened to Alt-Rock and hardcore stuff, then Pop Punk in high school. Then in college, I listened to a lot of Indie Folk/singer-songwriter stuff, and then I started getting into Pop.

How did you come up with the songwriting challenge series on Tik Tok?

I had only been doing Tik Tok for two months at that time. We had a couple of viral videos and then there was a low, so I needed to figure out how to get more views. People love series on Tik Tok, so I was like, what can I do? And I came up with the songwriting challenge, just writing a little part of a song everyday, not the whole song. And I just started it and said I’d try it for thirty days. I think the first song did 100k views at the time, that’s crazy. Then it got to day twelve, and day twelve was “Everything Sucks.”

That was inspired by a Tik Tok comment right?

Yeah, cause after the first few days I started replying to comments for song ideas and it helped keep the creative energy flowing once people were throwing ideas. They were like, “Why don’t you try writing a happy song?” And I got a lot of those comments because all of the songs leading up to that point were really sad. And I was like, “Ok fine, I’ll write a happy song.” It was a little bit sarcastic at first, but it ended up being a big thing.

That’s a great way to engage your audience and gain more exposure to new fans!

It definitely really is instrumental in getting me to the era that came after it. Without that songwriting challenge I would not be where I am today.

You’ve co-written a lot of music with other artists like gnash (“everything sucks”) and Sara Barrios with her song with Eric Nam (“Have We Met Before”) – what’s one thing that you’ve learned from collaborating through the songwriting process that has stuck with you and has maybe helped you with your own songwriting process?

Generally, collaborating is something that I didn’t really start doing ‘til I started vaultboy. Up until that point, I pretty much wrote all my songs by myself. And I still write a lot by myself. But collaborating can really push some interesting songs. I can always make a bunch of songs that are like, all me. But the songs that I write with different collaborators and songwriters that I like to work with, I’ll never write if I don’t work with them. So, it’s like throwing different ingredients into a blender – you’re going to get something different and that can be really special. Sometimes it doesn’t work – sometimes you work with people and you guys don’t really mix as collaborators.

I bet it’s cool seeing everyone’s different perspectives.

Yeah, everyone has different strengths.

We love how you collaborated with Nightly on your song “why u gotta be like that” because you both have a dreamy and nostalgic vibe in your music. Tell me about that experience and what drew you to wanting to collaborate with them!

I have been listening to Nightly since before I started vaultboy so it was a full circle moment to get to work with them. We actually just got together over zoom to write a song and we ended up writing “on your sleeve” that they ended up releasing. And then I had “why u gotta be like that” and I was asked Jon if he wanted to hop on it. He wrote his verse and we’re like, “This bangs!” So we put it out, it was awesome. They’re such good guys and we ended up going on tour and I love them to death. I think I might get to see them again this month in Nashville.

How does it feel to hear from fans how much your music has touched them and getting to see all their tattoos and art inspired by your lyrics?

It’s really, really surreal. I think about how much other artists have been meant to me and thinking about someone feeling like that about me and my songs is very weird, it’s very strange. It doesn’t compute much in my brain, but I just try to lean on gratitude because I’m grateful people are listening and connecting.

You went on your first tour opening up for New Hope Club and then you toured with Nightly which I feel like were really great bands to tour with – I went to the LA New Hope Club show and the audience was having a lot of fun during your set. What was it like starting off performing in big venues and getting to meet so many fans?

It was nice to not have the pressure of headlining right off the bat. When you're opening for another band, they hope that you sell some tickets but more than anything, the responsibility is on the headliner to sell tickets so it’s a lot less pressure, more like you get to figure it out. And for me, because I hadn’t played live yet, I was really trying to figure out how I wanted to be on stage and what kind of show I wanted to put on and stuff. And now I feel a lot more honed in because I got to do that.

You’re a mental health advocate and you recently shared your experience with anxiety and depression through Sound Mind’s “Unmasked” mental health series. What’s it like to be that vulnerable with everyone and bring up those topics through your platform and your music?

Vulnerability is like a habit I feel like I’ve picked up more than necessarily like a good trait. Expressing myself comes pretty naturally. I like talking about my feelings, I like talking with my friends about their feelings. And I've been writing about my feelings since I was a kid, so it’s very normal for me. I’ve normalized the mental health stigma thing mostly in my life and my close relationships, so I'm always excited to get to talk about it. It’s a heavy thing and it’s a little dicey ‘cause everyone has different struggles with mental health – No one person is alike. Everyone is different in that way and its cool that my experience, which can feel really miniscule in comparison to what a lot of people go through, connects to those people and is helpful.

What do you want listeners to take away from your music and shows?

I want people to feel that nostalgia, I want people’s hearts to ache for good and bad memories, I want people to feel love and warmth, I want people to feel comfortable in their sadness when they listen to my music. I want all those things – I really just want authenticity and the connection of it. At the shows, I want people to have a good time and laugh and cry, and party and dance. This is my first headline tour so we’re kinda figuring it out as we go but it’s a really weird experience getting to play to a room with people who are all there to see you. Hopefully it's just a party!

Sad lyrics, happy beat!

Yeah, tonight is like about forty percent low energy and there’s a lot of songs that get more hyped. I got a bunch of new songs I'm teasing.

Was it hard to make a setlist?

No, ‘cause I don’t have that many songs out so every song that I have out, except for the Christmas song, is getting played tonight! And the one I've been teasing right now is going to be played. And there’s one really old YouTube demo and two brand new songs that no one’s heard.

RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS

If you had to work in another touring crew position, what would it be?

Drummer – I’m not good enough to be a drummer, it’s the hardest one but it’s fun.

What’s an anime you’d recommend for someone to watch that doesn’t watch anime?

‘Demon Slayer’ – I would say ‘Attack of the Titan’ but I’ll say ‘Demon Slayer’ because it’s the most rewatchable for me. I think it’s really digestible and heartfelt story with beautiful action.

When did you write your first song and what was it about?

I grew up in the American South and my first song I wrote was like “Let freedom ring” type shit. I was like, eight years old.

If you received an award for “Most likely to (fill in the blank)” what would it be?

Most likely to succeed ‘cause manifest good energy.

Top country you’d love to visit right now?

I really want to go back to Japan – I have been there once, but I also want to go to Korea, and New Zealand, Italy, and Germany.