Chris MacVittie and Daya Rawat are the singer-songwriter duo better known as Chris & Daya. What they deliver is a classic folk sound, reminiscent of Jack Johnson meets Simon and Garfunkel with a touch of Emmylou Harris. Their songs and harmonies have an accessible country feel, combining a timeless musical quality with heartfelt, resonant storytelling.
Though the pair first met in their teens, they each pursued separate musical careers for much of the past two decades, finally coming together in 2015 to realize their undeniable musical chemistry.
In this interview, we discuss Chris & Daya’s newest project, their influences, and we find out where to jam more of their tasty tunes!
Full interview below. You can stream and grab a copy of their album, Envy of Stars, on their website.
Introduce yourself to our readers and describe the style of music you create.
Dear MTM readers, as a duo, we are Chris and Daya. Individually, we are ourselves. Gotta love the adage: “You are unique, just like everyone else.”
The style of music is hard to define as it blends many different styles to make what we hope is our original / unique sound. Country, folk, pop, rock and Americana all come into play with emphasis on our vocal harmonies and lyrics that we hope, speak to a broad audience.
Why did you choose this style or genre(s)? What attracts you to it?
What attracts us to this genre is a strong melody and lyrics being the core of the song. Music that invites the listener to feel and hopefully enjoy what they are listening to.
Who or what influences your playing or writing styles? Also, what motivates you to keep creating?
The list of influences and styling is long! At the top of the list, you’ll find The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac, but it’s really a feeling inside that influences the music that we make. What motivates us to keep singing, playing and creating is, for lack of better words, a love for music. A love for the creative process and a love for singing, playing and creating together.
What was the last song you listened to?
To be honest, the last songs we’ve listened to, are ours coming back from the mixer … we’re looking forward to releasing our new album and want to keep our ears and heads focused on that for the now.
However, we did recently happen upon some tunes we like very much, by Johnny Flynn, Dani Cali and War Paint.
Was there anything specific you were trying to accomplish creatively, or otherwise, on your newest project?
We are in the midst of making a new album. We’re striving to make something fresh and different that will hopefully appeal to our fans and perhaps even make us some new ones.
Do you gig, tour or perform through any live streaming services? Where can music lovers see you perform?
Yes, we do gig! Small venues at the moment, but you can see where and when we will perform by logging onto our website. We’d really like to, and aspire to, tap into the streaming platform so everyone is included regardless of their geographical locations.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
Best way to reach us at the moment is through our website. Our first album together, as a duo, is “Envy Of Stars” which is available on our website as well as links to CDBaby, Band Camp, ITunes, Sound Cloud, Reverb Nation, YouTube and others. Please be sure to stay tuned! Our next album will be coming soon! Please join our mailing list.
Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
Thank you, MTM for allowing us this interview. A massive “shout out” to all of you, MTM readers! Thank you for taking the time to read this. We hope you’ll enjoy our music and to see you at a live show soon!
All our very best,
Chris & Daya
