#interview blog

I Have an Interview Thing!

As you might know, April is NATIONAL POETRY MONTH and you also might know that I WRITE POETRY. JOY RANCATORE interviewed me about my writing process, dealing with grief through poetry, and what I writing. I’m so excited for y’all to get to read it! You can catch the INTERVIEW HERE or click the picture!

 I had heard a little bit about Davey Lanes music through friends of mine, who were whole hearted devotees of his music. But unfortunately for me, he fell upon that list of “Oh yeah I’ll check it out!” Not for any other reason, than my attention span is minute and attention needs to be demanded. A common problem in todays society I feel. But it wasn’t until a friend of mine invited me along to his album launch at Newtown social club. Upon receiving and accepting the invitation I decided it was time to check off that unmarked box in my to do music list. Thank god I did, for Davey is making some of the most interesting and well written rock music I’ve come across in a long time. He was kind enough to spare a few days indulging my silly questions. 

14/11/2014 20:54 If you were a cake, what kind of cake would you be, and why?

Good question. A dark chocolate Black Forest gateaux, coz I'm bitter (like dark chocolate) and I'm a tart (like a cherry)

Decadent as fuck. Love it.

That's me...

Good way to be. Who are three artists (of any kind) who have played a part in shaping  your mind?

1. Well, to state the bleeding obvious, The Beatles are the tip top for me. I learned how to put songs together from picking out their chords when I was much younger. To this day, my nerdy fascination with them is as strong as ever. I've hosed a shitload of money on those cunts over the years. 2. Todd Rundgren - a music innovator, incredible songwriter/musician/producer. I aspire to push what I do further because of him. 3. Tim & Eric - believe it or not, I apply their approach to comedy to my music. "What would Tim and Eric do?" I think to myself when writing songs. Make people feel as uncomfortable as possible, and when there's a glimmer of respite, or release, make them feel more uncomfortable, then let 'em back down when they've given up hope, that's what.

Absolutely. I tend to get inspiration from all kinds of people...its a really great feeling transcribing one art form into aspects of another. I also have quite a soft spot for humour in music...so I get it.

Totally, Nick Lowe's another huge inspiration. His songs are funny as hell without ever veering into novelty territory. All sorts of art inspire me, a visit to the gallery can spark me off, but because that's an avenue of art I don't really understand. I’m just not that good at articulating how or why!

Well, we all have our merits in different places...one of yours is clearly songwriting. I haven't heard Nick Lowe, I'll make sure to check him out. I've been reading a lot about PJ Harvey recently, and she talks about bringing a sense of humour to her work quite a lot...almost satirising melodrama of the extremes in her music.

Absolutely, Nick Lowe is a true master. Check out Quiet Please, it's a good comp. Dry humour in music is really important for me. There's nothing more skull-crushingly boring than an acoustic guy singing earnest, po-faced songs about the fuckin sea or whatever. Make me laugh dammit! Me ol' mucker Tim Rogers is very good at it. Laura Imbruglia's another local songwriter who writes great funny songs. Self-depreciation is an underused device in songwriting and can be so effective when done right.

Laura Imbruglia is dynamite from the songs I have heard. So you are currently on a road trip. Where are you headed and whats your current soundtrack?

I am listening to a new remaster of Wings' Venus And Mars, it just arrived in the post today.Like McCartney needs any more of my fuckin money! It ain't anything life changing but it's got some pretty rad pop songs on it.

I'm all about a good pop song...more and more as the day goes by actually....To be honest, I've actually been playing “Love Is Not An Option” (of Atonally Young) all day at work haha. Catchy little fucker that one.

Haha, yes it's the straightest song on the record, but it's a total FM radio pop smash. But one from 1978. I'm always ahead of the game!

Hahaha, yeah it definitely is the pop gem amongst a rather eclectic mix of songs...I'm looking forward to getting to know it. To be honest with you, I'm a very new fan. I bought all three CDs when I saw you play at your Album Launch for "Atonally Young" on Saturday night. It really was a great show man.

Oh cheers! Thanks so much. That makes me happy. It's been hard to get folks to come down to shows, to the point where going on tour is costing me a lot of money! Which sucks, coz I've got such a great band and all we wanna do is play...So to know there's some folks who are coming along not knowing much and leave digging it is reassuring!

But that's just the way it is, I ain't complaining...it's no different for any other independent group...

I think it helps to have a passionate fan base who really want to share. You have some good people spreading the word. Do you find its quite hard to translate...Like...I find with my music, the hardest part is actually getting people to listen in the first place...and it makes it really difficult, because you just wanna play all the time, but the more you play, the further you spread the crowd.

Dude, you've absolutely hit the nail on the head. The challenge is absolutely getting folks to listen in the first place.

Yeah, well I find complaints don't get you far 

Bang on brother!

If you could pick any person (living or dead) to play a game of beer pong with, who would it be?

Woah! Okay. Let me think…

Heya, we've hit some hairy terrain and I've gotta direct from here....would it be cool if we continued this sometime over the next couple o' days?

Yeah man, no sweat...Just hit me up when you can.

END SESSION ONE.

15/11/2014 21:51

Davey-Heya! Good to go for a lil while if you are!

Sweeeeet. If you could pick any person (living or dead) to play a game of beer pong with, who would it be?

I've never played beer pong but I reckon I'd like to play it with Rod "The Mod" Stewart (of Downtown Train fame). He's good at soccer so I reckon he'd lay down a hefty challenge, and he's a raconteur so could throw me off my game with as many Faces war stories as he likes. He also was married to Britt Eklund so he's welcome to tell me all about her if he likes too.

I feel like distraction is a more effective skill to have than aim, in beer pong...then again, I'm a horrid shot. Do you have a favourite number?

Number 9 seems to be one that recurs in one way or another for me. Maybe it's the Lennon fixation though.

In your opinion, what is the most digesting word in the english language?

Digesting?…Disgusting?

-Post Script- I totally meant disgusting. HAH.

I reckon something like squelch...even though its a great word...its very...squishy sounding.

Putrid is a particularly effective word. It's as strong as it phonetically suggests. Pungent is just as strong but also has positive cheese connotations.

Love me a pungent cheese…Putrid, is a very effective word. What is the most inspiring film you have seen lately?

So do I. Film I've seen lately? I don't watch heaps of films as I have the attention span of a gnat, but The Grand Budapest Hotel was the last truly moving film I've seen. It's a fuckin work of incredibly beautiful art and it's up there with Rushmore for me. Wes Anderson has those distinctive devices that he uses in his films, sometimes even possibly overuses, but they're distinctively HIS so why the fuck not go to town on 'em? I guess It reminded me that I've been writing songs long enough to have evolved from shameless pastiche of my favourite artists into something that's vaguely my own, even though there's nothing I do that hasn't been done many times before. But, I digress...

Well, all art is reinterpretation in some kind...thus rendering it all original...its a nice concept. Layer upon layer of individuality.

That's it...I figured out how to write songs by getting inside the songs I love and figuring out just what it is about them that I love. Chord changes, melodic structures etc...I've just been piling all these tricks on top of each other for the last couple of years for my own songs. Cherry picking tricks and applying them to what I do. I'm shithouse at jigsaw puzzles but this does me just fine!

Songs are pretty complex jigsaws to figure out haha. I think I learned to write by listening to the songs and artists I love also...but I could never figure out much about the music, I could definitely take away the honesty in their emotions. A sense of abandon. Did you play a show tonight?

Who are your favourite songwriters? No, no show tonight, a rare Saturday night off...

Wonderful! Patti Smith. Joni Mitchell and Connor Oberst are a few who really stuck out for me growing up...Very lyrical....I'm really into this artist Baths at the moment...I find his lyrics intense as fuck...but they aren't straightforward, yet they convey so much emotion and feeling to them. I like anything that can really get your guts…Fiona Apple is also rocking my world currently

Yup, you might like Paul Westerberg if you haven't already heard of him. Check out his record Stereo/Mono, or any record by his and Tommy Stinson's group The Replacements. I guess I came from more a musical background with songwriting but I love that same lyrical sensibility, and lyrics have become so important to me in recent times. My older Pictures songs were so slight lyrically I can't listen to them any more. If someone can tell a story or weave a tale, then great, but folks who can do that well are few and far between. If something's ripping yer heart open and you're honest about it, I'll believe it.

Amen to that man. I think at the end of the day, falsity is incredibly transparent. Honesty makes an excellent songwriter, lyrical or not, you can really feel it.

Right on! Yeah, I can't stand songwriters who are slaves to a shtick that's maybe gained them some notoriety or popularity, transparent is exactly the word.  Same with artists or bands who are incapable of being themselves and with every record have to follow whatever has been popular in the last 6 months. What happens when you discover you've actually got something you want to say? You painted yourself into a corner and tough luck to em. The amount of shaggy -haired, moustachioed rock bands who got a short back and sides and bought a fuckin' delay pedal when Kings Of Leon suddenly turned into U2!!?? Please! Sorry, I was ramping up to a rant there. Reset.

I do get what you mean though....I'm sure it comes from a warm hearted place...you want better for them right? 

Haha...yeah. Better skills in exercising judgement! I'm not a ranter usually, but get a couple o' brandies into me....

It happens haha. I'm a massive ranter.....boundary issues. What was your favourite toy as a child?

It was a Ghostbusters 2 action figure of Winston Zeddmore. Fuck knows why, he was hardly Peter Venkmann but I think I remember I really liked the colour of his suit. It was aquamarine.

Pretttttty. Psychology or Philosophy?

Interviewing a good friend can be a difficult thing to do. First and foremost, it's hard to think of topic you haven't already discussed but even more to push past the boundaries that friends typically have without ruining a friendship. I interviewed my roommate and friend Jennifer. Being seniors, we have all started the great job search to find where we belong in the world. For some the search is easy and we know where to begin, but for most, we only hope to find something that puts food on the table.

In Jennifer's case, it is nothing but confusion. When we sat down to talk she was relaxed and laughing, she was munching on cheez-its and drinking Dr. Pepper. Jen falls into a strange category of seniors, but not an uncommon one. We discussed her desire to be a rheumatologist--solely because as a child she was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis. The doctors and care she had in her childhood, led her to choose a career in helping others, hoping to make a difference in someone else's life like her doctors had done in hers.

Upon pushing a little further however, I found out that her grades are not enough to get her into medical school. This was something she had never mentioned, and I could tell she was uncomfortable talking about it because she was afraid of disappointing everyone her supported her through college. Due to her grades in school and on the MCAT she had decided to take a year off and peruse other avenues of careers, like PA school where she would become a physician’s assistant.

Her interview demonstrates all that seniors in college go through. Indecision, loneliness, fear, are things that seniors believe they can avoid but the truth is that no matter who the student is, there is always the chance that when they receive their diploma they will be left with no other option but to move back in with their parents and find a minimum wage job to start paying loans.