Surfing for Daisy on Their Debut Album, Their Wonder Bar Show & 2025 Goals

One of the great joys of covering the Asbury Park music scene is hearing a band for the first time, and then picking your jaw off the ground.

Last year, Surfing for Daisy dropped two singles “Flannel” and “Acrobat” — two alt folk songs that, had you not been told this was a brand new band out of the City that Bruce Built, you’d assume this was a major label act, with a million dollar production behind them and a slew of trendy summertime festival dates to their name. The soaring vocals of Nick Francis combined tight musicianship of his Surfing for Daisy comrades have created a sound that is readymade for radio, streaming platforms and large crowds of adoring fans who’ve made their songs their personal anthems. Yes, Surfing for Daisy is that good, and  yes, the sky is the limit for this band.

We caught up with the band on the eve of their self-titled record release party at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ. The band spoke to Pop Break about the solo record, the bands performing on the record release party, performing in California, the Asbury Park scene and more.

Surfing for Daisy is (Band Members & Instruments They Play):

Nick Francis – Lead vocals / Acoustic Guitar
Mike Bernabei – Electric Guitar
Steven Filippone – Drums / Percussion
Cam Seidel – Bass
Dan DiSantis – Electric Guitar / Backup vocals
Kathryn McCarty – Keys / Backup vocals

Year We Formed: 2023

The Story Behind the Name: Mike’s dog is named Daisy and Nick’s childhood dog was also named Daisy. Nick was then talking about his love for surfing when Mike came up with the name “Surfing for Daisy.”

Other Bands You’ve Seen us In: Nick and Dan are currently in another Asbury based project called Rivva. Dan and Steven grew up playing in bands together, their first ever band was an Asbury Park based band called In The Fifth. Cam and Mike have also been in bands together over the last decade, the most notable being The Burning Bees.

Our Sound Has Been Likened To: Ben Howard, Mt. Joy, Ray Lamontagne, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, JJ Cale, The Lumineers, The Band.

On January 31 at The Wonder Bar you’re celebrating your first full length album release. Can you talk about how you’re feeling heading into this show, and playing the songs off the album (in its entirety I’d assume)?

We’re incredibly excited, it’s our first official headlining show at Wonder Bar. We will be playing the album in its entirety which is going to be super cool, while we have played all of the songs on the album before, it’s going to be pretty special to play them in the order of the album in full. We’re also so insanely proud, we’ve been working on this album and releasing singles all throughout 2024. A lot of work went into it and we’re so stoked to celebrate with everyone that has supported us on January 31!

Talk about the inspirations for the lyrics of your songs? Listening to singles such as “Flannel” and “Acrobat” — your lyrics really do paint amazing pictures?

A lot of Nick’s lyrics are inspired by real life events. Most of the time he has a melodic line that he’s conjured up together with a guitar riff, but sometimes he has an experience or moment in time that inspires him deeply and paves the way for a lot of his lyrics. Flannel was a labor of love that started as a very stripped down acoustic song. The idea of your loved one dancing to a record in your room, their shadow is the only thing that you see as you leave, and you wish you could be with them in that moment. This is what paints the early scenes of the song. The scope of its entirety is the struggle and beauty of young love specifically, and the song was created to really invoke that spirit of what it was like to feel that intensity. It was strongly inspired by Nick’s current girlfriend Devon.

As for Acrobat, the song couldn’t be more opposite. Acrobat chugs along like an early coal burning train, and the lyrics are very much meant to place you in the 1800’s, where a man has been encapsulated by a female acrobat in a traveling circus. The lyrics were inspired by the actual first riff of the song which Nick specifically felt acted like the background music of an old western film. The music itself actually took the lead and many of the lyrics came as a sudden surprise, mostly from random things Nick had said in our jam sessions. Everything fell to place as we kept playing it and challenging ourselves during live gigs.

You’ve made your way in the Asbury Park scene over the past few years. How do you feel the scene has fostered your growth as a band?

The Asbury music scene is something special. It’s a place that allows artists to grow with some of the most legendary venues New Jersey has to offer. To be able to curate and be a part of shows at these venues regularly is so huge to a band’s growth. The community shows endless support which is so important to a band’s success at the ground level. The scene also fosters a place for bands to support each other both musically and on the business side of things. We wouldn’t be as far along without the support of the community. We are so grateful to be a part of it.

Can you talk about the bands opening for you — Via Ripa and Backhouse? Why have them on as support for the show?

Both bands are super talented and great dudes. We’ve become friends with the guys in both bands so it was kind of a no brainer. We’ve played quite a few shows with Via Ripa but have yet to get a bill with BACKHOUSE so we’re stoked to have them both on. While both bands’ sounds differ from ours a bit we feel they fit the bill nicely. It will surely make for an awesome bill!

The band did some shows on the West Coast in 2024. Can you talk about the experience of leaving the Northeast, your home base, and playing for crowds who are more than likely unfamiliar with your music?