Being a self-confessed music nerd, showrunner Scott Neustadter was naturally drawn to the story of the band Daisy Jones & The Six. Part musical drama, part documentary with live interviews and footage, this ten-part series tracks the rise and fall of this fictitious band with a strong influence by Fleetwood Mac.
“What I love about it is that when great art comes out of personal pain and personal turmoil. Channeling these emotions into their work was something that I always thought would be fascinating to watch,” says Neustadter.
Although the band never really existed, the songs were specifically composed for the show to capture the musical style of the era. Based on the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & The Six as written in an “oral history format,” so the documentary style was a natural way to adapt the book for television.
“We did a visual version of the novel,” continues Neustadter. “One of the advantages of doing that is that you can play a little bit with perspective and truth versus fiction. When you have people reflecting on these moments in their lives, they are always filtered through the prism of memory so people have a tendency to make themselves the hero of the story that they’re telling about their lives. All of that just felt like the clay that we were going to use to tell this story.”
Adapting The Novel
Much of the story heavy lifting of the creation of layered and rich characters and their relationships in the music world was done in Taylor’s novel. All the songs and the momentous album on the page could translate to anything on the screen. All the writing team had to do was focus on capturing the feelings of the band.
The writers sat down with composers Blake Mills and Tony Berg and explained the type of songs they needed. The songwriters delivered almost thirty songs that could potentially be included in the series.
“We would say, ‘We need a song that’s written in the context of the songwriter being really upset with a bandmate,’ and they would submit lyrics to us to convey that,” adds Scott.
Scott Neustadter. Photo by Shannon Von Derach
“We really wanted to honor the book and replicate the experience we had reading it. There were two things that we thought we could build on. One is the fact that a lot of it is told through memory as an oral history and some of these moments would just be referenced in a line or two in the book. It was up to us to invent those scenes. This was interesting because most adaptations don’t have that much room for invention.”
“There was the opportunity to expand on some of the things that Taylor introduces in the novel, but doesn’t have the bandwidth to spend that much time on. For example, we expanded on the Simone (Nabiyah Be) story.”
The writers were also cognizant of adding more visual elements to the show. “In Episode 5, is a lot of Billy and Daisy in a room writing together. Two people writing a song doesn’t really make for a visually compelling television episode. I wanted to take that on and make it as exciting as I could,” mentions Scott.
“I’m interested in the rhythms of these people using music to get to know each other and to dance around whether or not they are ever going to be friends. Will they always be rivals? What does it mean to kind of bring the best out in somebody and also potentially the worst and to be able to take your time with that in a single setting?”
Scott rose to the challenge of creating an exciting and compelling contained story in this episode.
The Rise And Fall Of Daisy Jones & The Six
Band biographies frequently follow a set trajectory starting with the struggle, rising to unfathomable success, ending in the break up. Daisy Jones & The Six had to adhere to some expected tropes, but also allow an element of surprise for the audience. “We were very cognizant of the tropes and so we kind of wanted to do as much zigging when they usually zag,” states Scott.
“All of the addiction story where Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin) gets out of control on the road and all of the things that annihilate the rock band happens in the second episode of the show and then it’s done. The rest of the show is about the aftermath.” The main part of the series focuses on picking up the pieces and moving forward as artists and individuals – mainly for Daisy (Riley Keough) and Billy Dunne.
“This was really interesting and different to us because the experience Billy has with his band winds up being completely different than the experience he has when the two of them get together. He sees what his potential could be and Daisy brings this out in him, and vice versa,” states Neustadter.
“In the early episodes, they’re young idealists, figuring out kind of what kind of people they want to be. They’re chasing their dreams. And by the end, when they’re their dreams have come true, everything is a little bit off and not exactly as pleasurable as they all hoped it would be. As their world got bigger and bigger, their problems got more and more intimate and overwhelming.”
The 60s, 70s & 80s Eras – A Time Of Hope & Heartbreak
The music of the era was a unique time in history.
“We’re coming off the time when the Beatles are breaking up. Our story starts with what the 70s are going to be like in response to the 60s, but anticipating the 80s that we know. There is a bittersweet kind of quality. There are a lot of feelings of possibility and optimism that don’t come true.”
Scott Neustadter was adamant that capturing these times wasn’t going to include politics. “The thing that we love about it is that they’re turning inwards and writing these very intimate, emotional soap operas about each other and about what they’re going through. They’re really wearing their hearts on their sleeves.”
Neustadter recalls the specific Southern California sound when he was growing up in the 70s. “So by the time we are at the end of our story, punk rock is happening over here and you’ve got disco happening over there. So these guys have to live with the sense that they’re becoming dinosaurs. Is our moment already gone? Will rock and roll continue?” muses Scott.
Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) & Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin) Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios
“We really wanted to honor the book and replicate the experience we had reading it. There were two things that we thought we could build on. One is the fact that a lot of it is told through memory as an oral history and some of these moments would just be referenced in a line or two. But the scene doesn’t exist in the book. It’s just referred to in the future. It was up to us to invent that scene because most novels don’t have that much room for invention.”
“Then there were also like because we were doing a television show there was an opportunity to expand upon some of the things that Taylor introduces in the novel but doesn’t have the bandwidth to spend that much time in. For example, we expanded on the Simone (Nabiyah Be) story.”
The writers were also cognizant of adding more visual elements to the show. “In Episode 5, is a lot of Billy and Daisy in a room writing together. Two people writing a song doesn’t really make for a very compelling television episode. I wanted to take that on and make it as exciting as I could.”
“I’m interested in the rhythms of these people using music to get to know each other and to dance around whether or not they are ever going to be friends. Will they always be rivals? What does it mean to kind of bring the best out of somebody and also potentially the worst and to be able to take your time with that in a single setting.”
Scott rose to the challenge of creating an exciting and compelling contained story in this episode.
Inside The Writers’ Room
Scott Neustadter is mainly known for his feature film work with credits including The Disaster Artist, The Fault In Our Stars, and 500 Days Of Summer, so creating a television series was a change of pace for him.
“There are obviously very different structures and things that you have to think about in TV. I came to the writers’ room with the entry and exit points kind of where I thought it made sense to start and to finish each of the episodes.”
Scott and Will Graham assembled a writing team comprising writers they previously worked with or were fans of their writing. “We sat around and stress tested story moments.”
Ostensibly, Daisy Jones & The Six is Daisy and Billy’s story, but the show plays as an ensemble with many characters each demanding their own arcs.
“The book had so many great characters and great stories, and all of those relationships were things that we wanted to make sure we had enough time to do our due diligence on. There was a character in the novel by the name of Pete, who’s the seventh member of the Six. Pete’s role in the novel is he’s the quiet one, and in the background, but then he leaves while they’re on tour after decides he’s had enough.”
“We knew we were going to expand upon the Simone character and we were going to do a lot with the Teddy (Tom Wright) character, but we didn’t know what we were going to do with Pete. So we wound up cutting him out entirely because he didn’t have much to do.”
The thematic spine of Daisy Jones & The Six focuses on the importance of collaboration. “If you’re collaborating with someone that makes you better, but also brings out a lot of emotions in your body that you wish you didn’t have, is that healthy? Is that going to be problematic down the road?” asks Scott.
The show also poses the question of whether collaborative art is worth doing if somebody makes you a worse version of yourself, even if the art is better than you could do alone.
Should you collaborate with somebody that makes you a better artist, but might not make you a better human?
Final Advice To Screenwriters
Scott Neustadter asks writers to consider why they want to tell a particular story, especially musical dramas/ biopic. “It can’t be a Wikipedia page version of their life.” He suggests exploring the relationships outside the music because good dramas aren’t really single character stories.
“I think if there’s like a through line for the stuff that I like to work on, it’s always human relationship stories where the problem is the person themselves. There’s not an external issue. It’s always an internal issue that someone’s got to work out.”
