Conducted by Capt. Obvious
Obvious: You just played South By Southwest. That Presbyterian church lineup sounded awesome, how was the gig?
DKD: Bowerbirds played a great set as always. Mark Paulson never gets too much mention but he's doing all the heavy lifting in that band - the shimmering violin parts alongside the mega deep bass pedals on the ground most probably don't notice is being played with his feet.
...It was the first time I've seen Peter and the Wolf and their choir was beautiful; the church was a perfect venue to hear them all sing together in harmony. I liked that there was bass and no drummer; strange instrumentation is always a great opportunity for innovation.
As far as my set, it's the first time I've publicly played in a band made up entirely of each of my siblings. That's a really beautiful thing to get to do and I'm lucky that my brothers and sister are now all old enough to play out and that they all live in Texas for doing shows such as sxsw. Also there's a song from the new record we played that night called "In My Child Mind You Were A Lion." It's a 7 or 8 minute song and it comes together very slowly. It's never really come off that well but I think we totally nailed it that night despite all the frustrating technical issues with the PA.
Obvious: You recently relocated to Seattle from North Carolina. I'm in the South but the Pacific Northwest intrigues me. How's the weather up there?
DKD: It's much more mysterious and cinematic, generally speaking. A lot of days the weather changes all day long: rain, shine, cloud cover, clear, cold, warm. I think maybe natives to the area don't think about it so much, but I find it really exciting. My fiance and I go on a lot of walks and we're always taking off and putting on layers as we go.
The music scene I'm still getting use to. The bands in Seattle are so much more competitive. Back in the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) there's more a feeling of 'let's all help each other out'. I could stand to find a little more of that up here.
Obvious: You've got a new album coming out in April entitled Fear Of Flying, how do you think it differs from last year's Sharp Teeth?
DKD: They're not all that similar I don't think - Fear of Flying is about mortality within the family structure. And it's about being really freaked out about what happens when people die and how we deal with that when we have to sit and watch it happen really slowly. Sonically speaking, I think a third of the new record comes from the world in which Sharp Teeth tends to live (deliberate, measured, slow and atmospheric) and the other two thirds are more upbeat, poppy or just plain strange. I've also set up more contradiction in this record, imagining the songs as different characters or elements in a play (protagonist, antagonist, comic relief, sub plot, etc.). Sharp Teeth was much more consistent in its own voice, I think.
Obvious: Speaking of Sharp Teeth... what a great album cover. Who is responsible for the artwork and what is the symbolism behind it?
DKD: Well, back to the Bowerbirds, Beth Tacular (of said band) is actually a visual artist by trade. Back in Spring of '06, I was looking for someone to do art for the record that could illustrate something that would tie into the whole 'Beast' concept throughout Sharp Teeth - the idea that we are all very much still animals in search of basic needs (for example: survival).... Anyway, she has this whole Mungry series and once I saw it I knew she would be perfect to do something beautiful (even cute) but really very dark. We sat down and talked about the record and she quickly made a painting which is what was used to make up the art for the record. As far as the symbolism goes, it's been interesting to see how people read it. Some people have asked if it was supposed to be a representation of Adam and Eve. That wasn't something Beth and I ever talked about but I think it kinda works if you posit (as that record does) that we are creatures essentially flawed, inately selfish and with incredible capacity for brutality towards one another. That can tie into the Adam and Eve story pretty well and is a more interesting way of talking about it instead of getting into all the messy personal details (not that I've ever even toyed with cannibalism!)
Obvious: I think your song "Jesus And The Devil" is an intriguing musing on the gray area between right and wrong, good and bad. I even sense some political undertones to the song. Am I being presumptuous?
DKD: I don't usually try to write songs that operate on more than one level but I was definitely trying to do that here. The source of that song is a breakup song, but it seems to read more easily as either an over-simple religious song to be taken at face value or something political (especially sitting next to "American Pastime," an overtly political song).
Obvious: Love your new single "Martha Ann." I recently compiled a mixtape consisting of songs that had girl's names as titles. What's your favorite "girl name" song of all time?
DKD: Hmm, not so many of those come to mind actually, but perhaps this old friend: Billy Murray - K-K-K-Katy
...stuttering in a song? What a great idea! And the little skit in there. Only hip hop and Broadway seem to have skits these days. We need more Folk music with skits!
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/davidkarstendaniels
Listen:
MP3: David Karsten Daniels - Martha Ann
MP3: David Karsten Daniels - Jesus And The Devil
