Based on the book of the same name written by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & The Six is a miniseries of ten episodes set in the '70s. It captures the way bands and artists created their music back in the days of sex, drugs, rock and roll, and so much drama. Presented like a documentary, with background interviews and everything, this is a story of a fictional band and their fictional success.
The author of the book was inspired by her experience growing up and watching performances by Fleetwood Mac. Anyone partly familiar with the story of Fleetwood Mac can be prepared for drama, something not rare among rock stars, but especially intense in this band in particular. The series is set to premiere on March 3 on Prime Video.
Let's take a look at the trailer to see what we're in for.
How the Band Came Together
In the trailer, we begin by seeing Billy Dune (Sam Claflin), chilling in his cabriolet car when close to him comes out of a taxi and captures his attention the character whose name is in the title of the show, Daisy Jones, played by Riley Keough. Then, with a quick cut, we move inside the studio where members of the band are tuning their instruments. Dunne’s voice-over is expressing his concerns about the project. He believes that the song they are working on should not be a duet, but his producer Teddy Price (Tom Wright), tells him that the song he wrote was good, but it needed something more to become great, like the vocals of Daisy Jones. She shows her grit in the studio, by telling them to more or less stop acting like little children. Begrudgingly, he joins her in the studio to sing together, and we can see that the creation of something unique and magic is taking place, but in order to make fire you need friction.
They argue about the meaning of the song. Dunne says that it is about new beginnings and change, while we see pictures of a time with a beautiful woman. She is his wife Camila Dunne (Camila Morrone). They moved in together, she followed them to their concerts, and they seemed like they were building a life together. The singers meet each other halfway, Daisy compliments his voice, and they finally give the song the form it always meant to have. Everyone in the studio, including the producer, seems to agree: this is something beautiful. But beauty and creation can not be without ugliness and destruction.
The Corruption of Success
The song becomes a hit. People around the country love it, and friends and family of the group are excited about their success. The group is ecstatic. There are hundreds of fans going to their shows, the band has interviews, and they are giving everything their all and loving every minute. But this was just a song; now they have to make an album. "Making an album is an intimate thing," says Dunne’s voiceover, and we see him hugging Daisy. We, along with the members of the band realize that the relationship they are forming is more than just professional.
The music turns faster and more upbeat. We see Dunne with his wife, they seem to have a wall of ice between them, keeping them apart. She may not know exactly what is going on, but she knows that something is different. The contrast is obvious. He is distant and cold when they are alone, but he is smiling and warm with Daisy when they perform live. He tries to convince her that this is all part of the act, but the group, the audience, Camila, and Billy himself know that this is far from the truth.
Daisy is also confused with the situation. She wants to know what is going on between them and if there is something more there. Certainly, they make good music. Their concerts are getting bigger and bigger, they sell out stadiums, and they use private jets. Dunne can not seem to enjoy their success, though. He has violent outbursts, destroys instruments, and screams and fights with his bandmates. All this friction has created fire, and Daisy herself says that she is this fire. The simply dressed shy girl we met at the beginning, has changed. She wears elaborate costumes and extreme and eye-catching makeup. She is not just a good voice; she is a rock star. But in the center of it all, the core of their deal is always the music. We end with them back in the studio, dressed in casual clothing, finishing the song and closing the trailer.
Stories with musicians, either real ones or imaginary, have their own tropes. We will see their initial success, they always begin small, but through their hard work and their talent, they get bigger and bigger until they can no longer hold back. They ruin their work, relationships, and reputation through drug use, inappropriate behavior, and cheating. A few months ago we had Weird Al’s ‘’biography’’ that made fun of every single one of these tropes, meaning that they have become a parody of themselves, so from now on we need something more from these types of stories.