I’m a harmony nerd, so I like to build the chord progressions and a simple idea of what the melody may be. ![]() ![]() “I always start with chordal ideas first. Where does the songwriting process begin for you? Anything that I’d want to add to it would be on the production side, so let’s call that finished.’ That was the writing process.” "In the case of Forgiveness, I brought that song to the table and said, ‘What do you think it needs?’ Roman went, ‘I think that’s done. The process was very similar, you know? I brought a song idea to the table, Roman and I would finish it together, or he would bring an idea to the table and we would finish it together. "In the last three or four tracks, Roman and I wrote alongside my brother. But everything else, he and I wrote together. Part of the project was I wanted that record to be in collaboration with Roman, so we wrote everything together except for the first song, which is Forgiveness. “I actually did wind up doing a lot of writing with my brother for the last record,, alongside Roman Clarke, who’s the producer. "There are a lot of harmonies, much like The Bros - it’s more of an extension than a departure. “Dave and I were both very musical, but our paths didn’t cross until our teens” The emphasis is still heavily on the songs, on trying to be as musical as we can. There’s a little more guitar playing, a little more self-indulgent guitar stuff, but not all that much more. But musically, it’s kind of an extension of that in terms of the projects. My brother is obviously not there, so that’s the biggest difference. We formed the band when I was 24, and Dave would have been 26.”ĭoes your approach to songwriting change when you’re preparing your solo material, as opposed to writing for the band? We were both very musical, but our paths didn’t cross until in our teens when he picked up a bass - and then the rest is history there. He played, and my brother actually lived kind of in the classical world early on. “Yes, although we didn’t really connect musically until we were in our teens. ![]() "You idolize your parents, so other kids want to be cops or firefighters or whatever, and I wanted to be a keyboard player in a band.”ĭid having a musical brother help somewhere along the line, too? From the moment that I was a cognizant human, I knew I wanted to be a musician and in a professional capacity, because my dad was, right? It wasn’t a decision made then it was a decision made almost at birth, I think. "I always was quite certain that I was going to be a musician. But my first gig with the guitar in hand was in the eighth grade. I actually played trumpet in concert band, too, but I was pretty shitty at it. “Yes, I played in my first formal ensemble in the eighth grade. You idolize your parents, so other kids want to be cops or firefighters or whatever, and I wanted to be a keyboard player in a band Then throw some Bonnie Raitt and Ry Cooder in there - and what you got is what you get.” That is really inspiring.’ So I started trying to impersonate Derek Trucks and Sonny Landreth. "Then the first time I heard Derek Trucks was like, ‘Oh, shit. Sonny Landreth coincidently was another big slide player in the house, and I really, really loved his playing, but I always thought, ‘While he exists and we share the same last name, I really have no right to pick up the slide when somebody as monstrous as him is around.’ But it was being a big fan of his. “Like I said, there were a lot of slide players in my life growing up. So, what was it that finally pulled the trigger for you where slide is concerned? I mean, my dad was a massive slide fan, so I kind of shied away from it for whatever reason. It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I really started to take a fascination in slide guitar. I wasn’t entirely aware of slide playing in and around that music. With you listening to Ry Cooder, Little Feat and Bonnie Raitt, was there a slide influence there right from the beginning? My dad loved jazz, so we listened to a lot of straight-ahead jazz as well.” There was my parents’ record collection, which I’ve always found fascinating, too: Little Feat, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, things that also had a lot of guitar playing in it. But then, like I say, there was a lot of pop music there. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robben Ford were my biggest influences and musical mentors from afar. ![]() "There were guitar players in there, definitely. It was like, ‘My dad is really into that. It was before I knew that you were supposed to pick a side musically, so I just would listen to whatever captivated me. I was listening to everything from Celine Dion to NOFX punk rock. I’d banged around on the piano for a few years before that, taking lessons. “I’ve always been in love with music, but the guitar started when I was eight. What exactly drew you to the instrument in the first place?
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