Every once in a while, we get great new artists from overseas. So when we heard David Ford was coming to North America from the UK, we couldn’t wait to grab an interview with the singer-songwriter. He’s been compared to Bright Eyes and Damien Rice because of his raw lyrics and gorgeous melodies upon looping he does with his acoustic guitar. However, David Ford could care less about what others think of his music. Somewhat of a troubadour with his songs, he does it to make sure something he loves is being put to good use during his life time. David Ford is a musician who truly cares about the communication between people and art.

His latest record, Songs For The Road, is full of bittersweet combinations with his writing abilities that’ll make you feel empathy on top of pleasure. Gritty and truthful stories are worn on his sleeve then transported onto this album. The one man show during live performances will be sure to capture your attention if not put you on an emotional roller coaster. He graces the LA audiences this coming Thursday on July 10th - 9:00pm at The Hotel Cafe. Don’t miss out on this display of remarkable musicianship. If you can’t make it out, check out his MySpace and the interview below where David tells us about his lack of technological abilities, his thoughts on the music business, and more.

Could you give a brief description of your music?

Well, I don’t really like to do that myself. All I can say is that my job is to try and make music that is important, meaningful, entertaining, and occasionally, thought provoking and challenging. I like to try, at least, to make music that exists for its reason rather than try to check boxes of what is fashionable. Music has really become fashion based. Some scenes are “cool” and so having never been cool or part of the scene, I’m not incredibly tied to a ship that’s probably going down.            

Others call you a troubadour. As a musician, what are the things you would swap a moment of traveling for? 

I guess that some people would call me that. I kind of don’t like the word, “troubadour.” It kind of implies a loser on a  guitar. I’m a loser who’s a guitarist and a pianist. That would be the difference. I’m not crazy about traveling either. It’s not something I’ve been into. For me, the traveling is something you have to do in order to do the job I like to do. I guess it would be a weird experience to people… doing the same thing in the same places but traveling is somewhat a reward. But traveling also has its downsides. You don’t get to move into a permanent location. Putting roots down is very difficult. I have a home that I’ve not seen in 6 months and a wife I’ve not seen in a few months… You just have the random friends and people who are there in your scene. It’s kind of weird being detached from that and putting your life on hold to go to work but you go to work for 6 months at a time as opposed to going to work for a day then coming home. As far as swapping it out, yes, there are some days I wish I could swap it out for a regular job to stay home and see my friends when I want to, but it’s a good job. Upon balance, I’m pretty happy with the way things are.           

You’ve recently given in to the online community. Does this help at at all?

No, it doesn’t. The online community has always been cynical. In the modern day, what I’ve learned in works about it is that when it comes to music… all the traditional forums where people find good music, they just don’t exist anymore. The radio and MTV are completely in some other places as far as their reasons in promoting music go. It’s been no way about educating or presenting interesting, creative, artistic knowledge to the public. The online community, the majority of the web based material, is mostly terrible. It does bring people together to actually share certain things that could actually turn out quite good, but how do you find the good stuff in the torrential sea of crap? But as you become slightly more tech savvy, I guess you can, in time, learn to trust some places. See, I’m very computer illiterate. When it comes to the the web, I’m so backwards. I had to have a half our MySpace lesson just to learn how to post a blog.           

You were very DIY with your first album. What were your fears going into the second album in the studio?

Well most of the second album was made in the same way. I did want to avoid studios as much as possible but it’s fine to find someone great to work with in a studio. I’ve been doing it before but I’ve always found myself to feel a bit compromised. I wanted to do stuff without producers, engineers, and studios - to just pull away and do it all myself. The second record had people in the studio that were involved in the creation but it was kept to a level where things seemed basic for me. I’m glad they were there and keep coming back but I hate giving records to people and getting it back to only find out you don’t recognize it anymore.            

If you could play a different instrument, what would it be?

I like to put my own things in as the whole one man band thing but I’d like to play brass, wind or something with a bow. It’d be nice to be a single player because it gives you options, but I feel like if I were to learn the violin, there’d be at least two years with that horrible scratching sound. I don’t think I would be able to bear that.  I don’t think my neighbors would like me very much for that either.          

Your music has a raw edge to very emotional aspects in life. I suppose it’s bittersweet for some of us because the words are so painful but the melodies are so beautiful. Do you think your music will ever drastically change from this to something more upbeat and mainstream?

I really have no idea and that’s what I quite like about the position I’ve found myself in. I feel like I’m allowed to go in any direction I want. I certainly feel like I don’t want to move anywhere near the sound of mainstream. I would kind of like to move into more edgy, grittier and grimier writing. When I go home in a couple of weeks, I’m going to put a few demos down and I’m not sure how they’re going to turn out but I’m kind of thinking of a camp fire shout out kind of thing.            

What would be the best compliment somone could give you about your music and why?

I’m not that really crazy about compliments. It’s always nice to be complimented but I don’t thrive off of it. I find it hard to be complimented.           

So, is it hard to take flattery from the press?

Well when I was in a few other bands before, we apparently didn’t make great music and I used to get destroyed and slacked down. When it flipped around for the solo records, I couldn’t accept the praise and not accept the insults. You kind of learn to disregard these things and I think it’s a good way to go. As a musician, you shouldn’t give a heap about what press says. You should learn to judge yourself on how well you’ve done your job. That’s what art is. It’s one of the areas of life to get to be the only person to think it’s good. It’s not about the audience, it’s about the art. If no single person likes your music, it doesn’t mean it’s not good. For example, Vincent Van Gogh never sold a painting in his life and now his paintings sell for millions.            

What would be the piece of advice you could give someone trying to break into the music business? 

I’d say whatever you do, don’t try and break into the music business. If you’re interested in being in the music business you probably shouldn’t be a musician. It’s like sleeping with the enemy in may ways. People taking your soul, your art…          

Breaking into music and breaking into music business are two separate things?

Just write your songs, play your music and love your music and be the best musician you can be. People will give you a chance, and maybe give you a bunch of money but it shouldn’t be about “How can I make this into a career?” or “How can I pay the bills?” These are not things to aspire to. These things often happy by accident. It should be more like, “How can I use it in such a way where I can pull a union in the modern world; how can I communicate thoughts of a musician into the form of a song?”           

What was it like playing the same festival as Elvis Costello?

Well I just played before him but it was great. Elvis Costello has gone down his own path. He’s still making good records, still relevant and never done anything to piss on his legacy. It’s difficult to draw attention at that age and not be jumping around like teenagers as The Rolling Stones do. That’s kind of embarrassing. Anyone who can be
50 or 60 and not be embarrassing as a musician is someone to respect greatly.        

What’s your favorite song to play live and why?  

Well my go to answer would be “I Don’t Care What You Call Me.” It’s a song I always play. That song just stays with me on a few different levels. Having that song in my set has always helped me out. It’s kind of been responsible for me… That was the song people responded to and it resonated with people the most. It’s like my new best friend.            

If you could rid the world of one song, what would it be?

I really hate, “Imagine,” by John Lennon. It’s always in the lists of greatest songs ever and it’s always up there like #1 or 2. Otherwise, it would be fine. I just think it’s such a clumsily written and blunt, ugly, lumbering metaphor. There’s no soul to it. It’s kind of a kick to the groin. It kind of makes me cringe in the lyrical aspect…. Maybe not rid the world of it but have people see it for what it is.            

Who would you like to see open for one of your shows?

I’d be too embarrassed to ask anyone I think is good to open for me. Maybe Elvis and The Beatles… a double header from beyond the grave would be cool. For mondern bands, there’s a few. The Feliz Brothers from upstate New York are an awesome band. Tom Waits is an incredible musician, songwriter, and performer. I saw a show of his in El Paso and it was the best show ever. He would be cool.           

What do you think of Scarlett Johansson doing a cover album of Tom Waits’ music?

I haven’t heard it yet but I’ve heard mixed reviews about it. I kind of thought anyone who would be able to pull it off would be an actor and not a singer because of the dramatics of the songs… It’s very ambitious and perhaps a vanity project because she’s allowed to do that; She’s already famous anyway. Regardless whether it’s good or not, people will be interested. In the end though, I guess I somehow disapprove actors being musicians because there could be someone unknown doing the same thing and it could be great but no one would hear it.            

What are you looking forward to most while you play in LA?

I’m looking forward to the weather. New York is hot but so incredibly hot. It’s pretty much sweating through the air. I’m looking forward to the air drying out a bit. This thing I’m doing in LA is web based. They’re shooting musicians perform live outdoors and finding weird locations. There won’t be complications and distractions of a real show. It’s going to be a challenge but it should be fun.            

What’s your guilty pleasure?

I don’t know if any pleasure should be guilty, but I guess chocolate. I must say America has not learned to make chocolate properly. American chocolate is terrible. You really don’t know what you’re missing.            

What’s the best cure for a hangover?

A cup of tea and when I say tea… Again, America doesn’t do great tea. There are three things I miss: Tea, chocolate, and football. (Soccer for you.)            

What are the three things you could not live without?

A world without music would be unbearable. Oxygen and water are too obvious but I think I might struggle without those as well.            

Tell us a fact about yourself we probably don’t already know.  

There are a few things that readers probably DO  know about me. I don’t know… If there are particular dark secrets locked away, I certainly won’t be sharing those with you right now, but nothing springs to mind. Maybe everything on the internet is already public domain but I truly think of myself as an uninteresting person. The more I think about it, there’s a whole of shit I don’t know about me.            

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Related Post

• Know Your LA Bands: The Pacific
• Music Interview: The Enemy
• Know Your LA Bands: Low vs. Diamond
• Know Your LA Bands: Keaton Simons
• Know Your LA Bands: Austin James Band
• Know Your LA Bands: Merlinmoon
• Know Your LA Bands: The Fling