#robert zuckerman

Robert Zuckerman(United States, 1955-2022)

Robert Zuckerman, an archival ink print, numbered  1/50, signed.

Monte at the beach in New York, 1990

Robert G. Zuckerman took his beautiful, touching photograph of David Bowie in December 1990, Coney Island, NY.

Interview with Patrick Doval The singer/songwriter, photographer & producer speaks about his passion, determination and staying original in a landscape where that grows increasingly difficult. Photo: © Robert G. Zuckerman

It’s no surprise that Miami is one of the cultural hot beds of both the state and country as a whole. Each area is akin to interstellar time-travel, with the roads becoming asteroid belts to get to different worlds. From the mash-up of Downtown, to the hallowed sanctuary of Key Biscayne, and going right back into the hustle of pieces of home, such as Little Havana & Haiti. These worlds connect, and intersect, making up a city that is as grand as it is enthralling. And if these worlds are any indication of talent, then Miami musician Patrick Doval inhabits a planet all his own. Helming his music in a way that is as unique as it intriguing (recording and producing all his own music, as well as filming his own videos), Doval has never changed, nor bent to the will of the industry in an effort to catch it’s eye. He remains on his happy planet, drawing all those who listen, into his illustrious orbit.

With his latest album, “Obscured”, out now, I had the pleasure of speaking with the artist on his collaboration with legendary photographer, Robert Zuckerman, Doval’s process, as well as 90’s hip-hop.

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Is the album self produced and engineered by you? Yes.

Have you self-produced all your previous records, or just this one? I’ve produced all my albums, all of them. Going way back!

How is that experience? Do you learn with every album, or is it still coming to you? I guess every song is different, every album is a little different. I always take the same approach, I start off with the songwriting, and…I think it all starts there. Then eventually, I try to cut out and weed out what sounds good, or what doesn’t sound good.

Are there any producers you specifically look up to or inspire you when you go into the process? I’m an old-school, I’m an old school guy. I grew up listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin, with Jimmy Page producing the records; Pink Floyd, with Roger Waters. In those old days, a lot of the band members self produced the album. And when you think of modern rock, I think of Flood. And of course, Prince, Lenny Kravitz, David Bowie, Trent Reznor.

Being producer, and engineer as well, do you find that you spend a lot more time critizing your own work, or do you find that it’s easier? Umm..I’ve just gotten so used to it over the years, I’ve been doing this for so long that I really have no difficulty doing it. Like I said, when I write the songs, I try to keep it simple. And I don’t over complicate things. If something doesn’t sound right, like there was a song on this album, “Favorite Girl”, that didn’t make the cut. The producer in me said it doesn’t fit. So I cut it out of the album. But the musician in me wanted it on there.

You also have cinematographer under your belt, what are the inspirations for your videos? Is it based solely in song? Yeah, a lot of them are based on the song. Sometimes there’s a theme? Like “Manipulation Machine”, which is the last video I did, was a King Kong theme  I get inspired by a lot of the classical films. I also did H.G. Well’s “Time Machine”. I get inspired by a lot of these old films. And you know, a lot of the times, it is based on the song. but sometimes they don’t correlate, but I still try to make them work together.

Does it ever get overwhelming, having to wear all those hats simultaneously? Yeah, (laughs), very much. You know, I get overwhelmed, especially in the beginning. When I’m trying to get an idea. Sometimes I can’t picture it, I can’t put it all together, and I get stuck on the project. There have been a few videos I’ve abandoned, and had to walk away from it. And I work with what I have, I don’t have some Hollywood production studio, I wish I had a studio where I could just get up and go, and test and shoot. You know, it takes a long time to set things up. I have a thing with storyboarding, I think everything comes down to storyboarding, when I have something to put together, that’s how I get rid of the frustration.

Does the video fuel the idea of the song, or is it the other way around? There’s been a few times when the video has actually been the idea. Like “Love”, from the “Fractured” album, when I wrote the song, I actually had the video in mind, so I actually… It’s rare, it’s one of the few times, & “Sweet Misery” which is video I’m currently working on now, there’s an idea behind it, there’s a theme. But most of the time it’s the other way around.

Being from Miami, with vast array of influences, from art, to musicians, it can get overcrowded. How has that scene affected, and treated you? Miami, the scene has changed a lot. Wynwood has grown tremendously, it’s a much more art focused scene that it was 5 years ago when I first started showing videos down there. Open mics have pretty much burst onto the scene, I finally found a little home perforning on Miami beach where I go monthly. The scene’s changed, it’s grown; I don’t want to say it’s not a great place for music but its growing. And I think open mics are great, especially for me. I try to go up there and do my thing, I’m happy I’m able to perform my songs.

And how did you get involved with Robert Zuckerman, was it through those open mics? Well, I met Robert by accident. A former co-worker, Richard, invited me down to Miami Beach, I went down there and I had no idea who he was. So I said,“Hey, are you Robert Zimmerman?”, I called him by the wrong name, so bad first impression, you know? And he goes, “No, Zuckerman!”. So I said “I’m sorry, I was thinking of Bob Dylan!” (Laughs) And he started just saying all of these stories. He’s been a huge inspiration behind this album. I was at a time when I was pretty much looking down. I was thinking about walking away from music, it’s a really hard feel. I met Robert and he became the mentor, and the positive reinforcement I needed in my life, he started complimenting my songs. He really likes my music and the way I think. He compares me to Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan at times, and I don’t think that comparison is accurate, but he compares me to all these legends. Every month I go out there and he inspires me more and more. There’s no question that I would not have finished this album without him. Without his inspiration.

Having met Robert now and worked with him, who are some of your other dream collaborators, or people you would like to work with both in music and photography? I would love to continue with Robert. Annie Liebowitz is another, and I would love to give anyone that’s up and coming an opportunity. Music, man… A lot of my legends have died this year! Prince, David Bowie… Trent Reznor is still out there, and I’ve always had a ton of respect for his work. Beck is another really cool guy, who’s very underrated and doesn’t get the respect that he deserves. Any of those great old school guys, like I said, I look up to the old school guys.

In your songwriting, does it play into what Zuckerman has said about you, like Dylan or Cohen; or what are some of your major inspirations? When I started doing the open mic, I started changing my style on this album, a little bit. I wanted to give it more of an open mic feel, and certain songs I can’t perform there, but I wanted to give it that coffee house type of feel, flavor and sound. So I look at Jeff Buckley a lot, who I love, he got his start playing those types of venues. I also look at Elliot Smith as well, and of course Dylan. I started incorporating the acoustic guitar into my songs, and tried to use my voice in a different setting.

With this album being your fifth, do you feel the progression is right? Does it feel like this is where you should be at this time? Yeah, I think so. I’ve grown… Technically this is now my….seventh, I did two albums back in the day, in high school. I was focused on school then, and when I got back… I’m happy where it’s at. I think the production on this album is solid. I think that the songs flow into each other, and there’s not a song that I’m just trying to push out. I think when I was younger, I was trying to stick everything on the album. I think I’ve grown to be more mature, and I’m very happy with where I’m at.

Has music always been an important part of your life? What made you want to become a musician? When I was in high school, my Uncle was a musician; he was a guitar player, and he inspired me. When I turned 14, he introduced me- Ever since I was a kid, he was always playing great music. Anything from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, he had this big catalogue of CD’s, and he would play anything from The Beatles, to Salt N Pepa, to Dr. Dre, Led Zeppelin. And when I was 15 years old or so, he gave me my first guitar, which was his. And that was it, I was addicted to music. I had a boombox, and I have countless tapes where I would just record and write songs from a microphone into my boombox. I couldn’t sing, so I was just freestyling. And that’s how I started doing music.

And talking about the huge amount of genres that your uncle got you started in, what are some of the influences people might be surprised that you like? I grew up in the late 90’s so anything from Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” album, which I consider to be the best rap album of all time. Some Wu-Tang… Tupac Shakur, who is my favorite rapper, no question about that. Ghetto Boys… My brother and all my friends were into rap, so I would say pretty much 90% of everybody around me was into rap. So I was heavily influenced by the genre and rap videos. We would just watch Ice Cube, as well as all these music videos. I actually would rap, and produced some rap songs back in the day, with some friends of mine… My 80’s drum machine couldn’t do any of that good hip-hop stuff? But I would freestyle, and I was a Cyrus, where I would create beats for people in school.

Coming from the 90’s where that kind of freestyle was prominent, what are views on rap now, & how do you feel on the progression of it? I look at music in general and I don’t see- there’s not many artists left. And its concerning to me because in rap, you had Tupac and Biggie and I think a lot of the great artists are hidden underground. And the industry doesn’t push for them. Maybe it’s because of the content, and it’s the same thing with rock, most of them are in the underground. It comes to poetry as well, everything’s become kind of watered down.

Did you make this album with that in mind? As a testament to staying original where that might get discarded? I’ve always been original to myself. I stick to what I’m good at. I’m not going to try to be someone I’m not. I’ve always enjoyed doing the style of music I’m doing, Iike I said, I changed it into a kind of singer/songwriter in it where I try to, with the open mic change my style a little bit. But I try to stay original, what I’m good at, where I’m comfortable at.

To the younger artists, what advice would you give them, having been in it for a while now? I tell kids to dream. Dream, don’t listen to what anybody tells you. Pursue what you like, if you wanna do music, go for it. Don’t ever stop, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. Don’t stop dreaming because without dreams and being inspired, you don’t want to lose yourself, you want to be happy with yourself. I tell them to work hard, never stop and never quit.

And where would you like to see yourself in 5 years or so? I would love to tour and support my music. And just continuing to create music.

Being independent, having done the majority of everything by yourself, is it important to stay independent, or would you like to be signed to a label at some point? Of course! I would love to, I’ve never been approached but as long as I’m able to keep my creative freedom, and the label respects my craziness? (Laughs) I would love to. Being independent is great but it’s important to get your music, the product out there.

And I always finish with a lyric; you get to complete the lyric as is, or you get to change it. The lyric today is, “Tonight, I think I’ll walk alone. I’ll find my..” I’ll find myself, and my one true love.

Sonic Spotlight: Patrick Doval Photo: © Robert G. Zuckerman

Miami native Patrick Doval is the epitome of the multiple lengths an artist can achieve, when done right.

Wearing not just the hat of musician, but his own video director and cinematographer, Doval is a perfect example of what an artist can do at full capacity, and at the highest level of passion.

It’s a difficult effort that doesn’t go unnoticed, as every project is just creatively new, but entrancing. With works and their video companions which set an art-house/indie feel that is not only genuine but 100% honest, as demonstrated in underground staple and Icehouse/The Cure inspired “Don’t Let Me Go”. The video, featuring Doval’s longtime collaborater and Athena-made-real muse, shows Doval interacting with her painting image; turning life imitating art on it’s head as he tries to save the portraits and their fate….

It’s this inventive style that has garnered Doval well deserved attention, most recently from legendary photographer, Robert G. Zuckerman, who is helming the photographic work on his long awaited new album, due out later this month.

What form Doval takes for this journey, remains a mystery. But in art, surprises are the greatest rewards. And there isn’t a doubt that Doval has a full sleeve of them.