Interview with David Ryan Harris
by Stephanie Shum
After enduring a couple of somewhat awkward and downright weird moments during our interview (unfortunately, said moments did not make the editorial cut), I can safely conclude that not only is David Ryan Harris an extremely talented vocalist and all-around fabulous musician, he is also able to laugh his way through tough situations -- a trait that is undoubtedly beneficial to have as a performer. Read on as Dreams Awake catches up with David after another solid performance.
Dreams Awake: Just a few random questions to start off with. If you could be on any reality TV show, which would it be?
David Ryan Harris: It would be Paradise Island, uh, Paradise Hotel. It is a good show. They're also young and stupid and it's very high school, so I would like to be on it to be the one that's not young and stupid.
DA: Besides your guitar and other musical instruments, what is something you have to have with you when you're out on tour?
DRH: Cell phone. Must have cell phone. It's an appendage. And I know that I should have it removed -- lanced -- but I'm addicted.
DA: You play many different instruments, guitar, drums, piano, among others. Out of those you currently aren't familiar with, which do you want to learn the most?
DRH: I would like to really be able to play piano. I play piano well enough to record songs but I'd like to be able to just ... I'd like to be the guy who walks past the baby grand in the lobby of a hotel and sit down and play Schubert or someone. That's not me; I can't even play Chopsticks really.
DA: What is in your CD player right now?
DRH: What is in my CD player? I don't have a CD player. See if you asked me what's in my iPod ...
DA: What is on your iPod right now?
DRH: In my iPod in heavy rotation: I've been listening to this guy Gavin DeGraw and this other guy Teitur, who I like a lot. He's probably my favourite new find.
DA: So I guess that answers my next question which is: name someone, an up and comer, you think everyone should listen to.
DRH: Teitur. T-E-I-T-U-R. I think his record's called "Poetry & Aeroplanes." Terrific.
DA: For those who still have not yet heard your music, how would you describe it to them?
DRH: It is everything except country music and at this point, hard rock. I mean, actually, I think it probably has more elements of country than hard rock. It's real ... it's very organic, I think, without being granola. It's based on my voice which really is kinda like a classic soul kind of voice and you know, written on guitar -- in that a lot of the songs are based around guitar, I guess it's got sort of a ... not really folk ... I guess it's just solo and acoustic guitar.
DA: Which of your songs do you think is the best "intro to David Ryan Harris" song and why?
DRH: Wow. Um, I would say "If I Had a Dime" because it's just really strong lyrically without being too ... you know, it doesn't have a lot of crazy metaphors necessarily. And musically and melodically, I just think it's really strong -- it's one of the better things I've written.
DA: Your first break into the music scene was with your band Follow For Now. When your experience with the group was over, what kind of lessons did you walk away with?
DRH: I don't know if there's enough space on that minidisc. Just that if I was going to succeed or fail, I didn't want to do it based on someone else's mistakes or someone else's ... I didn't want to ride on someone else's coattails. I just want to be a bit more responsible for my own ... destiny. I felt like I did a lot of, I guess at the time, I felt like I did a lot of work, but got more grief within the structure of the band than was necessary. I got more grief than I felt like I deserved and I really like the idea of being in a democratic situation. I haven't found anything that musically, as far as a group is concerned, I haven't found anything that was anywhere near a gratifying, you know, we had a great time -- actually, I had a dream that I was playing a Follow For Now show like two nights ago -- I listen back to the music and it's great. I have people come up and they tell me about their memories of shows and how frenetic they were. It was a really wonderful, wonderful time in my life and I wouldn't trade those days for anything.
DA: And now, the same question but after Brand New Immortals dis-banded.
DRH: Probably more of the same; just to be a little bit more reliant on myself musically. I like the idea of collaboration but sometimes just because I just don't want to be the only guy up there. So it's really kind of a lonely thing. When John was first going out, it was him and Dela. So just musically and also at the end of the night, you have somebody to kind of hang out with. All the fans come up and they're very appreciative, and I'm appreciative of them being appreciative, but at the end of the day, I'm not hooking up with chicks, I'm going to my room. So sometimes, that's kind of lonely so I guess the lesson was I just have to be okay with that. I have a lot of confidence now in doing what I do in front of whoever. I don't know how many people were out there tonight, but I think it's kind of ballsy for a guy to go and stand on the stage in front of people who don't know him with just an acoustic guitar. I was afraid of doing that before but not anymore.
DA: Obviously, you have experience as both a solo artist as well as a band member. Which do you prefer and why?
DRH: I would love to be in a band if I found at least 2, you know, maybe 3 other guys, I felt were bringing something really creative to the table. If I had a bass player, I don't want to have to tell the bass player what to play but at the same time, I don't want him to play something that I don't want to hear. So you multiply that by 4 musicians ... I mean, the Beatles were probably, in my estimation, the best example of 4 distinct personalities who all brought something incredible to create something that was much larger than any of them which, people talk about it all the time, them individually didn't come close to the musical impact that they had when they were all together. I would love to be a Beatle. I would love to be George, Ringo … I don't know if I'd want to be John or Paul.
DA: What do you think sets you apart from the all the other young male singer-songwriters out there?
DRH: I'm just better than them. No, uh, really, it's probably my voice. I mean, a lot of the singer-songwriters that I hear, the vocals aren't necessarily bad, but I'm a singer first -- at least that's the way I look at it. I think that's what people gravitate towards first, and then hopefully, they listen to the lyrics next. And then if that picture's nice enough to make them want to pay attention to the guitar, then we're done. It's a done deal.
DA: Tell us about your latest EP, Atlanta, which you recorded on your computer. How did you come about deciding to record and mix it on your own?
DRH: That is where I feel the most, um, it's just where I feel the most creative because I don't have the time constraints of being in a big studio. There is something to be said for being able to just roll out of bed and record in your underwear. Whatever, you just have a different head space, a completely different space. And I wasn't really sure how I wanted to go about doing it, like I had a sound in my head but it certainly wasn't an option for me to go fishing around for that sound in my head in a big studio and part of the reason why the EP was even necessary was that I didn't have anything recorded that was representative of the acoustic shows. So although the CD's not totally acoustic, I think ... it isn't a bait and switch that an acoustic show and the Brand New Immortals CD would be. Like if people see me play acoustic and then they buy the Brand New Immortals CD and they're like "okay, I guess it's the same thing" and just smile and nod.
DA: How long did the whole process take?
DRH: I don't know, maybe 3 months, off and on. A lot of give and take, trial and error. Basically, my thing was I wanted to start with maybe a metronome at least, a drum beat at best, and acoustic guitar and then I would put the vocals on. And if the song could exist without more stuff, then I wouldn't put more stuff on. Some of the songs, like "Strong Enough" for instance, had drums on it, but I took 'em out and it still worked. A lot of songs had bass on them. Whatever I could take out to get close enough to the acoustic and vocal, I took out. So that was like the process and some things were more successful than other things. I mean, it's a good representation of that time in my life and me being in Atlanta and living where I live.
DA: You have a new album coming out soon. What can we expect from it?
DRH: I don't really know. I have some live stuff that I recorded that I think is really good and really kind of captures the experience of being at a David Ryan Harris show but there isn't enough material to fill out an entire record. And then I also have some new songs that have been recorded more for a band but there's not enough of it to make an entire record and to be perfectly honest, I feel that I have had a fair amount of growth as a songwriter and it just needed to be represented in the songs and the package and the recordings and all that so I'll just keep plugging that up until I get it done.
DA: Let's talk about your songwriting process. Who would you say are some of your influences?
DRH: Songwriting-wise, certainly Stevie Wonder. Um, you know, although I really love the energy and the aggression and sort of a "working man, blue collar" thing of Lennon, I would probably rather be McCartney just from a melodic perspective. I do find myself saying sometimes "what would Paul McCartney do here?" So, there's Stevie, there's Paul McCartney, there's um, Prince ... lots of people. I guess it depends on what I'm working on at the time. Some songs, lyrics are really their focal point and then I have a different set of influences and then if it's more of a groove thing, like Sly and the Family Stone or ... Prince or something.
DA: Where do you like to write?
DRH: I don't really have any real place. I thoroughly enjoy singing into my little Dictaphone thing ... for ideas. The guitar sounds really good coming out of it. So, anywhere. I mean, I feel like you don't really write the songs, they're already out there. You just have to be quiet long enough to pick them up.
DA: What comes to you first, the lyrics or the music?
DRH: Probably the melody. It takes a long time sometimes because I adhere to the actual rhythm of the melody and sometimes it's really hard to put words over the rhythm. I guess that's any songwriter's problem.
DA: Have you written a song that just came flowing right out?
DRH: "If I Had a Dime." I almost feel bad or guilty taking praise for it because it came so quickly and from somewhere else that I don't really feel like I wrote it. Like I sat down and was like "where the hell did that come from?"
DA: What is the song you're most proud of lyrically?
DRH: Hmm, I don't know, I guess it changes from time to time. I mean, when I wrote "Turn Around," I really liked some of the lyrical phrases and that. I like "Pretty Girl" now just because it's really simple and I have a tendency to run myself in circles lyrically and have to try to have everything said a certain sort of way and "Pretty Girl" kind of does away with that in a really simple way that's very reflective.
DA: At what point do you feel confident enough in a song that you can perform it in front of an audience?
DRH: Soon as I can do a verse, chorus, verse, chorus -- I don't mind screwing up. I guess it just depends on the audience but it doesn't have to be all done up for me. Most of these people, they never heard any of my songs so they don't know if I'm screwing it up or not.
DA: The list of people you have collaborated with is impressive: DMB, Dionne Farris, Mariah Carey, Santana, just to name a few. Which artist or artists would you like to collaborate with next?
DRH: I would like to do a record with The Roots. Just because it's a band first and foremost but they have a grasp of a lot of different elements that I think ... just the ability to be able to communicate your ideas to someone that can quickly go from genre to genre or sound to sound -- a luxury that a lot of people don't have. So yah, I'd like to work with them. I like what they've got going on. I think they would appreciate where I'm coming from.
DA: And finally, think 3 years down the road. Where would you like to see yourself?
DRH: 3 years down the road? I don't know, hopefully, I would still be making music CDs, for myself. I like the fact that at this point, I don't have to do them on any real sort of schedule. I don't really want that to change. I don't want to have to go on the road. I enjoy it but I don't want to have to do it. I really would like to be able to continue doing what I do yet still maintain control of my life. I think that's what anybody wants to do. Nobody wants to have to work. Nobody wants to have to practice piano or do things they don't want to do. And I've been fortunate enough where now, I don't necessarily have to go on the road. And I think my shows are better for it, my attitude is better for it and hopefully, the music is better for it. So hopefully there will just be more opportunities for me to do that.
Source: http://www.dreamsawake.com/interviews/drh/index.htm
