On Aug. 11, Kabir Mehra ’26 released a three-song indie record called “The B Songs” under the name Day Drooler. Mehra is the lead vocalist for a band of the same name, which features drummer Grant Foley ’25, bassist Ian Glick ’26, saxophonist Nathan McAllister ’25 and guitarist Jackson Yassin ’26. Together with his band, which formed this summer, he plans on expanding his EP into an 11-song album. The Dartmouth sat down with Mehra to discuss his music-making process for “The B Songs” and his aspirations for future full-length projects.
Your new project features songs titled “Bandra,” “Bring Back the Beatles” and “Blue Lays - Air Demo.” Why did you choose the title “The B Songs” for the project? What are some of the themes behind each song?
KM: They are three songs I’ve been working on for a year now — since freshman winter. There’s no real deeper meaning. It’s just songs that begin with “B.” It was going to be “The B Sides” because I wanted it to be a precursor for things that are to come. But I didn’t want to call it “The B Sides” because I don’t really have an “A side” up yet, so I thought it’d be kind of funny.
Mumbai is where I grew up, and Bandra is the neighborhood I grew up in. I wish that I got to spend more time there because it was always just a fascinating neighborhood where a lot was going on. “Bandra” is about searching for that feeling that the neighborhood gives. “Blue Lays” is an extension of my song “Air,” which I released a few years ago. It’s about making mistakes and then realizing that it’s okay to be where you’re at. “Bring Back the Beatles” is about a narcissistic girl who’s really into vintage stuff and enjoys a persona of critiquing anything that’s new. It’s sort of a dig. The verses are about not knowing how someone feels about you because they’re so entrenched in this persona that they’re not being vulnerable with you.
How have people responded to “The B Songs” so far?
KM: We played a show at One Wheelock last week and another this Monday, and it was just so moving to see the crowd be so engaged. One of our concerns with original music on campus is that we don’t know how much people will engage, especially if they don’t know the songs. People in the normal band scene perform songs that are very well known, and it was really touching to see the turnout. People were really listening and had really insightful comments and thoughts at the end about the writing and the way the instruments came together. I’ve had some really good conversations since then about the music, and I’m really grateful for that.
What did the process of making “The B Songs” look like? Is this EP building toward a full-length album in the future?
KM: I recorded “The B Songs” in the studio in Sudikoff Hall with my friend Julian George ’24, who produced them with me. He’s a very talented producer. I met him in a playwriting class freshman fall, and we eventually started making music together because we had similar tastes. I wrote the songs over a year or so. “The B Songs” was a project with just me and my friend Julian.
Now, under the same name Day Drooler, a band of my friends and I have been working on music all summer. It’s music I’ve written over the past year or two that I’ve been saving for a band and musicians with similar tastes. It’s been remarkable. We’ve been working on these songs all summer, and they’ve really just found their place as band songs. We just recorded the whole album in the studio live, and now we’re going to go back and tweak things and produce it over the next two months. Hopefully, there will be a full album with 11 songs coming out within the next few months.
What will this new album sound like? How will it differ from “The B Songs”?
KM: It’s become more rock-y, especially with drums and bass. It’s leading in an indie rock direction. It draws a lot of influence from Young the Giant, Radiohead and Big Thief. Most of the songs are acoustic guitar and vocals, and then they’re built on drums, bass, electric guitar and then saxophone. The sax and electric guitar are pretty sparse, leaving space for the rest of the instruments.
It’s been really fun to let my friends into these songs and watch them morph into something completely new over these 10 weeks. It’s fascinating to see these songs go to a very different place than when I brought them to the band, and for the better. The grooves have completely changed, a lot of the words have changed and the stories have changed. I feel like they really are songs now. It’s cool to be a part of a project that’s so alive and so moving. There are multiple people bringing their personas into it.
The album that’s about to follow will be something completely different from “The B Songs.” It’s definitely the most meaningful project to me and the one I’ve put the most work into. Lyrically, it’s more dense and complex and feels a lot more personal to me. I was still finding my voice when making “The B Songs,” and I will continue to for a while. It will be a long, long journey until I actually settle into that, but I feel like I’m beginning to right now, which is a really exciting feeling.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
