Today I got to visit the Daytrotter studios, an event that would have been remarkable in itself as (like I've said before) Daytrotter is an amazing thing and to see how such a remarkable blog works would be great but at the studios, I got to see David Bazan track four songs for a forthcoming session, making it even more of an experience.
David Bazan is a musician who I've been listening to for quite some time. 1997 and 1998 were formative years for indie music and those were not only the years I discovered this wonderful genre of music that existed outside of the popular realm but also the years that David's first project, Pedro the Lion, came into the stream of the underground public's consciousness.
Weaving morality, religion and struggling to be yourself and coexist with others into darkly melodic songs, Pedro the Lion is one of the bands that always comes up when I talk formative indie music, be it amongst friends or musicians, and David's influence is still heavy in the world of indie music. From Pedro the Lion's debut album to Headphones to David Bazan's amazing solo release, Fewer Broken Pieces, featuring five songs performed by a full band lead by David and then the same five songs acoustic, David Bazan's career has been nothing short of prolific.
This fall, he is going be releasing a long awaiting full length solo album called Curse Your Branches on Barsuk records and today, he stopped by the Daytrotter studios after playing Illinois's Cornerstone festival to lay down 4 tracks.
I arrived at Daytrotter shortly after David and his posse did - Unlike Eminem or T-Pain, David's posse consisted not of large black men and strippers but of his manager and their journalist friend Jessica who was covering his performance at Cornerstone. I was en route to arrive early except that google maps failed to let me know the exit I was to take was closed. Luckily for me, the streets in Rock Island, Illinois are numbers and it was fairly easy, after a small detour, to find 18th street and I wasn't so late after all.
The Daytrotter studios were everything I thought, only much more spacious - Covered in band posters with guitar stands and computers everywhere, I can see why Daytrotter gets the rep amongst indie musicians that it does. It's not only a cool place to hang out and make amazing music but it's also run by an extremely awesome guy, Sean, who genuinely loves what he does and was nice enough to invite me by to see it all take place.
Mostly playing new material, including the heartwrenchingly affecting opening track from Curse Your Branches, Hard To Be, David's set was everything I'd hoped it would be and then far, far more. One of the things I've always loved about his music is that it makes me examine myself and it makes me feel understood. The older I get, the more depth I find in David's music and, more than ten years after first discovering him, he's just as affecting as ever. Sitting in the Daytrotter studios, hearing a musician whose back catalog I know by heart sing the refrain "It's hard to be a decent human being." was one of the most prolific experiences I've ever been through and most important of all, I got to meet David and realize that just like every other musician I've interviewed, he is just a person. Albeit, a person who has greatly affected my life for a very long time via his words and music but getting to physically meet him and talk to him will make interviewing him in August much, much easier. Any trepidation I had about that has gone right out the window.
In addition to three of his own compositions, David performed the oft-covered Hallelujah and... Well, there's really nothing I can say about it that Soundsuck didn't say already because I agree with their point wholeheartedly: Out of every version of Hallelujah, David Bazan's is the best. I am prepared to be challenged on that, as I often was when I used to say Jeff Buckley's version was the best, but Jeff has got nothing on this. David Bazan has never lacked passion in his music and this song is certainly proof of just how much passion for art he has.
David Bazan is a musician who I've been listening to for quite some time. 1997 and 1998 were formative years for indie music and those were not only the years I discovered this wonderful genre of music that existed outside of the popular realm but also the years that David's first project, Pedro the Lion, came into the stream of the underground public's consciousness.
Weaving morality, religion and struggling to be yourself and coexist with others into darkly melodic songs, Pedro the Lion is one of the bands that always comes up when I talk formative indie music, be it amongst friends or musicians, and David's influence is still heavy in the world of indie music. From Pedro the Lion's debut album to Headphones to David Bazan's amazing solo release, Fewer Broken Pieces, featuring five songs performed by a full band lead by David and then the same five songs acoustic, David Bazan's career has been nothing short of prolific.
This fall, he is going be releasing a long awaiting full length solo album called Curse Your Branches on Barsuk records and today, he stopped by the Daytrotter studios after playing Illinois's Cornerstone festival to lay down 4 tracks.
I arrived at Daytrotter shortly after David and his posse did - Unlike Eminem or T-Pain, David's posse consisted not of large black men and strippers but of his manager and their journalist friend Jessica who was covering his performance at Cornerstone. I was en route to arrive early except that google maps failed to let me know the exit I was to take was closed. Luckily for me, the streets in Rock Island, Illinois are numbers and it was fairly easy, after a small detour, to find 18th street and I wasn't so late after all.
The Daytrotter studios were everything I thought, only much more spacious - Covered in band posters with guitar stands and computers everywhere, I can see why Daytrotter gets the rep amongst indie musicians that it does. It's not only a cool place to hang out and make amazing music but it's also run by an extremely awesome guy, Sean, who genuinely loves what he does and was nice enough to invite me by to see it all take place.
Mostly playing new material, including the heartwrenchingly affecting opening track from Curse Your Branches, Hard To Be, David's set was everything I'd hoped it would be and then far, far more. One of the things I've always loved about his music is that it makes me examine myself and it makes me feel understood. The older I get, the more depth I find in David's music and, more than ten years after first discovering him, he's just as affecting as ever. Sitting in the Daytrotter studios, hearing a musician whose back catalog I know by heart sing the refrain "It's hard to be a decent human being." was one of the most prolific experiences I've ever been through and most important of all, I got to meet David and realize that just like every other musician I've interviewed, he is just a person. Albeit, a person who has greatly affected my life for a very long time via his words and music but getting to physically meet him and talk to him will make interviewing him in August much, much easier. Any trepidation I had about that has gone right out the window.
In addition to three of his own compositions, David performed the oft-covered Hallelujah and... Well, there's really nothing I can say about it that Soundsuck didn't say already because I agree with their point wholeheartedly: Out of every version of Hallelujah, David Bazan's is the best. I am prepared to be challenged on that, as I often was when I used to say Jeff Buckley's version was the best, but Jeff has got nothing on this. David Bazan has never lacked passion in his music and this song is certainly proof of just how much passion for art he has.
David doing Hallelujah.
"Hard to Be" live at TBTL.
David Bazan and myself are clearly hilarious.
David Bazan's Curse Your Branches is due out later this summer and a 7" of American Flags and Please, Baby, Please is out now via Barsuk records. David will be toruing starting in September and it looks like he's due to hit Chicago around October so be sure to check his myspace for the dates as soon as their announced and, of course, keep an eye on The Hot Half Life for my forthcoming interview with Mr. Bazan.
David Bazan's Curse Your Branches is due out later this summer and a 7" of American Flags and Please, Baby, Please is out now via Barsuk records. David will be toruing starting in September and it looks like he's due to hit Chicago around October so be sure to check his myspace for the dates as soon as their announced and, of course, keep an eye on The Hot Half Life for my forthcoming interview with Mr. Bazan.
