Dave Matthews
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Some Devil, Indeed

10/26/2003 11:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Dave DiMartino

Diehard Dave Matthews Band fans might worry that the release of Dave Matthews's first official solo album, Some Devil--along with a recent solo effort from his bandmate, Boyd Tinsley--marks the end of DMB as we know it. But fear not: In this exclusive interview with LAUNCH executive editor Dave DiMartino, Mr. Matthews assures us all that there is a "profound security in what the band is right now...it would take a lot more than me doing something like this to break us up."

With that troubling issue out of the way, DiMartino was able to move on to other important subjects, like the Glen Ballard-vs.-Steve Lillywhite controversy, the relevance of major labels in a digital age, Matthews's ATO Records label, and of course, the subject that's on any red-blooded male's mind, sex. Here's how their "devilish" conversation went:

LAUNCH: This is your first official solo record. How is it different from a Dave Matthews Band record?

DAVE: It really doesn't sound like the Dave Matthews Band. It leans a little more in a folk direction, or a folk-rock direction. I'd say it's a little simpler, a little more pared-down, a little darker. It was a joyful process, but there's an element to playing with the band that makes me sort of giddy, so I tend to be inspired to write things that are a little happier [with the band].

LAUNCH: Seems like Some Devil would be a good late-night driving album.

DAVE: Yeah, good, late at night when you're driving by yourself, when you're really sad! [laughs]

LAUNCH: How did the songs come together?

DAVE: Well, each song was different. There were some songs that I had written years ago; I think the oldest was back from '96. And then a couple since then that never really fit into the band, or some songs didn't really ever get a chancee with the band, and other ones we sort of looked at, but one or maybe two of the guys were like, "It doesn't really grab us." And so there was that. But I'd say probably more than half of the album came up in the studio, or just before the studio, knowing I was gonna go there--in my garage, maybe. So it was a little combination of everything.

LAUNCH: Tell me about your collaborator and producer, Stephen Harris. What did he bring to the project?

DAVE: He was patient, because you know, he ignored the huge amount of sucking sound that I made, and then tried his best to glean from it some quality. No, really, he's a good friend from Busted Stuff, and then also, from before, he engineered Before These Crowded Streets and he worked a little bit on the Everyday album--just the beginning sort of making a transition from what came to be known as "The Lillywhite Sessions," which he also engineered. I think he did a great job to pin together some of the stuff that ended up on Busted Stuff. And I just didn't feel like I was finished working with him, that maybe the band would do another record with him. I think he's a real musician, so there's a good quality about him.

LAUNCH: Are you happy you did what you did on the Lillywhite sessions?

DAVE: Oh yeah, I think the songs were really great. And although people think that I shared the lyric process, that was really something that I found awful hard to share, so I kept that. But the music, Glen Ballard and I wrote together. It was really different, and I don't like to apologize for anything I've said, and certainly not anything that I've had something to do with making, because I don't want to second-guess myself. I think it was one of the most enjoyable experiences for me, and then for the whole band as well, even though it was entirely different from anything we'd done before. It wasn't really the same sort of five cooks that it had been in the past; it was something, I think, that we really all needed to do for ourselves, to just to sort of go in and have fun. There was a lot of pressure that came out of the sessions, that eventually weren't released. We loved them, but they were pretty dark in tone, so we were happy to run away and just exhale.

LAUNCH: Are solo projects encouraged within the band?

DAVE: Well, I think they sort of come for me. I can't speak for Boyd, but for me, I feel profound security in what the band is right now--and that it would take a lot more than the sort of headiness, which might come from me doing something like this, to break us up. I don't think anyone resents it. In fact, I gave everyone the record and they're like, "Cool," you know? So I think we're at a point where everyone sees that me doing this or Boyd doing this or Carter writing stuff outside the band, or any of us doing other projects, is only gonna bring more interesting experience to what we do together. The band has really grown for all of us, I think, and knowing that kind of makes sabbaticals not too threatening.

LAUNCH: The Dave Matthews Band is very self-contained musically. Do you think it could survive without a major label?

DAVE: Yeah, I don't think it would be too tough. I think there maybe would be some record-sales issues for a little while, maybe some distribution issues. We get a great deal of help from BMG, from RCA. But I think they get a great deal of help from us! And the thought of being dropped doesn't frighten me at all [laughs]; I'm like, "Well, so what?" I think certainly the record industry, the way it is now, is hanging on by its fingernails. And I hope, with a fair amount of confidence, that we'll outlast the industry as it stands today.

LAUNCH: I think your band is one of the more likely ones to survive.

DAVE: Well, then it'll be funny when we go flying up our fundamental orifices along with the records companies, too: "What happened to them?" "I don't know. The record companies went down, and then they vanished!"

LAUNCH: What's the goal behind your own record label, ATO?

DAVE: I'm always trying to work ATO. I think the idea originally was that we wanted to start a record company because we should find an artist or a musician that we all agree is someone that should be supported, but isn't being supported. And then sort of at that very moment, David Gray was dropped [from his former record label]. So then we got on our knees and began to beg, and say--within reason--that we could do a good job for him. And I think we did a fair job! But that sort of was how it started, and I think that's how we've been trying to keep focused with everyone we've added. There's Jem, who we just added, a phenomenal songwriter from England. She's a mind-boggler. Boys are gonna fall all over her; girls are gonna fall all over her. And for different reasons. But she sings really beautifully. Oh my God, she's clever! It's just that there's something, and she's got it. And David Gray has it. Gov't Mule have it. Ben Kweller has it. It's a real quality--maybe it's even just a belief in themselves, and it's not so much what's on the outside of them as much as what's on the inside.

LAUNCH: Back to your own music: When you hear your new record and compare it to your first Dave Matthews Band album, what's the difference?

DAVE: Well, you know, I hope I'm getting better...but there's always that fear that I'm starting to suck more and more. But I hope I'm getting better, and from my perspective, I think I'm getting clearer a little bit. I'm not quite as ambiguous, intentionally or unintentionally. I liked to grab hold of nothing on our first album--although, you know, with sincerity and belief and everything else. I liked to leave it really wide open. I think I like to leave it to a degree open so that the people can apply it to their own lives. But that's less and less now, and I hope to become a better storyteller. I'm still learning, but it's that idea of being able to tell stories in a real concise period of time that will give off an idea, rather than a foul odor [laughs].

LAUNCH: What else do you wish you were better at?

DAVE: Sex. Because we all like to think that we're the best at it, right? But I'd like to be better at it. That's not unreasonable, I think. I'd also like to be able to read faster; I read pretty fast, but not that fast. I'd like to be able to read faster, because then I could finish more books faster. But more importantly, I'd like to be able to be much better at sex than I am. And by that, I'm not admitting that I'm not good at sex. I don't say that! I think that I'm pretty good, but you know, I'm my only model. It's not like I'm going around and asking, "So how are you? Let me watch and see how you do." I think I do OK, but I'd like to be better at it.

LAUNCH: Going back to music, is burnout ever a risk for you, or do you have a way to recharge your batteries intellectually and creatively?

DAVE: I think reading and sex are really good for keeping it good. Other things can go along, but reading and sex you know, are always good. Altering your mind may be helpful, but you can do that with reading or sex and other things, too.