David Singer’s Grown-up Symphonies To God

Growing up is hard to do, but it may be hardest for those in the business of pop songwriting. Ever since Brian Wilson declared his fealty to “teenage symphonies to God”, pop songwriting has been considered the domain of the young and the naive, leaving the concept of melodic songcraft for adults as a seeming contradiction in terms only attainable by the occasional idiosyncratic genius such as Elvis Costello or Elliot Smith.

It’s from this elite songwriting school that Chicagoan David Singer emerges. Restrained yet passionate, David Singer’s songs are mature without mustiness, affecting without preciousness. Ruminative, thoughtful pop that packs the punch of real heartache and honest emotions is hard to come by nowadays. Singer composes pop music for adults, but this isn’t the sort of solipsistic adult-contemporary music for aging indie rockers that serves as tasteful audio wallpaper — instead, it’s work as visceral and cutting as anything Smith or Costello penned, displaying a hard-earned sadness that’s considered yet powerful.

Singer made a name for himself with his work with Kid Million and three previous solo releases that have earned him a loyal following. In addition, he composed the music for Steppenwolf’s August: Osage County (currently playing on Broadway) and is one of the organizers of the Intonation Music Festival. Singer’s most recent release, East of the Fault Line, stands as a fully realized work, with the songwriter in full control of his voice and exceeding expectations made by his impressive catalog.

Singer hits the road this Spring, and in anticipation of his upcoming tour dates took some time out to reply to some of Is Greater Than’s burning questions:

There were quite a few years between Civil Wars and East of the Fault Line. Why the delay?

Actually, you missed an album — I put out a record called The Stars Burn Out in 2006. It did take me a long time — both of my parents battled long illnesses and subsequently died, which was the major lyrical subject of The Stars Burn Out. It is an occasionally loud and fast record — a big departure for me since the Kid Million days — and though I am very proud of it, it marked the end of an era for me. I see my new record, East of the Fault Line, as the first part of the next phase of my career.

How did your songwriting voice develop over the time? Do you find your lyrical subject matter changing as you mature as an artist and an adult?

I hope I’ve become a better writer with each record — more precise, more curious, more economical — and with the new one I feel like I’ve become a better editor. The best and worst part of the digital recording revolution is that it affords people like me an unlimited amount of time to make records, which means I can try every hare-brained idea that drifts through my head. The secret is subtracting stuff until it’s in balance.

I can’t say that I’ve necessarily “matured” as a lyricist, but my subject matter has certainly shifted as I have changed personally. Civil Wars was a record about marriage, which I wrote as I got engaged, planned a wedding, etc. The Stars Burn Out, as I said earlier, was about mortality and grief. I take some pride in the fact that when I listen to my old records they bring me back to the way I felt when I was writing them — if nothing else, at least I’ve been honest. The new one, East of the Fault Line, is about memory, regret, optimism, starting over….and ultimately, hope. That’s where my head is right now. Who knows what happens next? But if I write a record about Lord of the Rings or a song cycle about the Falklands War, somebody stage an intervention.

It’s often difficult to get your name out there in the independent community as a solo artist — setting up tours and hometown shows can be quite challenging. It seems that you’ve been somewhat successful transcending the dreaded coffeeshop ghetto of the solo artist and earning a wider audience. How do you navigate the challenges of being a solo artist?

First and foremost, despite the fact that I get above-the-title billing, I have an extremely capable band that records and plays with me, the meager rewards notwithstanding. This band has been comprised over the years of a rotating group of my closest friends, and fortunately for me they are an alarmingly talented and generous group of people. I am lucky as hell. Whatever “success” I’ve had has been a result of my refusal to try to be cool — I write what I want to write, play what I want to play, and it is just as unfashionable now as it was when I started. I only play the places that treat me respectfully, I put out my own records so I can control how they’re made and presented…I just sort of do what I feel like doing, and for better or for worse, I have no one to blame but myself.

As far as the business side, I have to say this: it’s not hard, it just isn’t fun. If you want it done right, don’t be lazy: do it yourself. It’s also way less expensive and you get to own everything.

Can you give me the names of your band and a bit of background of how you hooked up with those folks?

Howard Windmiller plays the drums, as he did in Kid Million and nearly everything else I’ve done. Mike Simons plays bass - he played some drums on the last two records, and when the bass chair opened up after The Stars Burn Out, he stepped in admirably. Ron Kwasman plays guitar. His old band, Whitey, used to pal around with Kid Million back in the dark ages - I had admired his playing for years and years, and the time was finally right for us to play together. Cory Gray plays piano and trumpet — I toured a few times with his old band, Desert City Soundtrack, when we were both on Deep Elm. He’s a certifiable genius, and he makes records of his own under the name carcrashlander that I cannot recommend enough. The wild card is Nick Markos, who plays a little bit of everything in the live version of the band. He is the Mark DeRosa of the group, capable of playing whatever, whenever.

Do you think that online promotions are an adequate replacement for label support? Do you think the concept of label support is even relevant for an artist such as yourself?

I don’t think online promotions are an adequate replacement for the support of a truly engaged and creative record label, but the truth is that those people are few and far between. Frankly, most record labels don’t do the job very well, and the trade-off of giving up ownership of my master recordings is not palatable to me. If the right label made the right offer, I’d consider it, but I like being in control…

How did you get involved with writing the score to August: Osage County? How did you approach that in a way different than your solo works? Is this the first score you’ve written or have you done other work in the past? More to come?

The director, Anna Shapiro, is a close friend, and she had used songs of mine in previous productions. I also know the playwright, Tracy Letts, and like everyone else I’ve admired his work as a writer and actor for many years. They were looking for a cinematic score, one that gave the show a unique voice, and I was lucky enough that they thought I could pull it off. They brought me into the process early — I was included as they workshopped the show, saw it go through re-writes, etc. — and as it developed, I got a clearer picture of what I wanted to do with the score. I was writing and recording the music for the play and my record at the exact same time — both at the mighty Engine Studios in Wicker Park - and there was a significant amount of cross pollination, so to speak. I was also given the chance to write a ballad performed by one of the characters in the third act — a song called “Little Charles”, which made its way onto East of the Fault Line as well. For a writer of Tracy’s caliber to let me put words in the mouth of one of his characters is beyond generous. Just being a part of August: Osage County has been a tremendous thrill.

I have done lots of other scoring work — mostly for films for progressive causes like NRDC, American Cancer Society, Fair Wisconsin. I love it, and have lots more stuff in the pipeline…

What are the plans for Intonation in the coming year? Any possibility of future festivals or has the focus shifted to promoting special one-off events?

Intonation looks for things we think that A) No one else is doing and B) Sound like fun to us. We have some plans, but discretion dictates I say nothing. Speaking only for myself, the festival market is overcrowded, overpriced, and sort of…boring. Just like my musical career, what is interesting to me is not necessarily interesting to a large cross section of people. I will keep looking to put on the kind of shows that I would like to see, and whether they’re held in Grant Park or Sylvie’s is only a matter of scale.

I will say this: if anybody has interesting ideas, I would love to hear them. You can always write to david@intonationmusicfest.com and tell me why I should convince Bananarama to reunite.

What are your pending touring plans? Where are you planning on going?

I’m bringing the band out to NY for a fancy show at Joe’s Pub on March 9th. Looks like I’ll be playing on the West coast in April/May and then maybe to Europe for a couple of weeks…I hope to see you all soon. We love playing on the road, it’s just the other 23 hours a day that aren’t that fun. If only Logan Square was the new Branson, MO…….

Buy East of The Fault Line on CD or from iTunes

David Singer performs at Joe’s Pub in New York City March 9th. For more upcoming tour info, visit his website or his Myspace page.