Black Daisy-Disturbing New Fashion

Bio by She Rox All Female Bands: Black Daisy officially began in 2004, by founders, lead guitarist Steff (Stephanie) Caffrey and bassist and lead vocalist Lesley Ann Halvey from the ashes of the all-female band Ali. Based in Dublin the Republic of Ireland, the band landed a spot on the MTV show Breaking Point, which featured bands struggling to make it big in 2003. Playing gigs locally they quickly gained a strong local following and with the departure of their then drummer and rhythm guitarist secured a solid line up in 2007 with the addition of rhythm guitarist Nicole Billings and hard-hitting drummer Asta Mileriene. This line up would release their debut ep in 2008, Disturbing New Fashion, the ep itself won fans and critics over for its alternative edgy rock sound with pop overtones, that many compared to The Cure or U2. Black Daisy found themselves again making television appearances, this time on the Irish based talent show You’re a Star making it to the show’s top 10. With their local success and popularity growing, the band was asked to represent Ireland in 2009 for the highly honored international song contest Eurovision. Ireland itself was a record breaker for the contest holding the most wins so the band brought in Irish pop sensation Sinead Mulvey to front the band and provide lead vocals for the pop track Et Cetera, however the shows higher ups felt a four-piece band backing the singer was one too many, and the band asked founder and lead guitarist Steff Caffey to leave the band. This decision would prove to be the band’s ultimate downfall, even though the single itself gained marginal mainstream attention it failed to bring home another win for Ireland, and the band’s once edgy rock sound was now lost in what many fans and reviewers dubbed as mundane bubble gum pop, and the void left without guitarist and founder Steff Caffrey left true fans uninterested in the new direction of the band. Black Daisy as a band would come to end by 2009 and remain one of those bands that truly had the goods to be successful had they stayed true to original idea and sound of the band. Steff Caffrey-Lead Guitar, Lesley Ann Halvey-Bass &Vocals, Nicole Billings-Guitar, Asta Milerienė-Drums.