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Jillianne Hamilton.
David Myles: Minstrel & Poet
By Jillianne Hamilton
(09/08/09)
After seeing David Myles perform recently (and, thus, becoming a fan immediately), I decided that East Coast Overture needed (nay, deserved) to feature a Q&A with this charming fellow.
Career-wise: how are things?
Things are great. I feel really lucky getting to do what I do. I always dreamed of being able to make a living being a musician but didn't really think it was going to be possible. So, I try to soak in every minute I get to do this. So far, so good. Shows have been better and better over time and I've been able to devote more and more of my time to my craft (songwriting/playing/singing), which is really rewarding.
Personally: how was your summer? How was that Europe trip you took?
This has probably been my best summer as a musician. Europe was amazing. We (me and the band) were really lucky and got to open three great shows for a guy named Jools Holland in the UK. He's a huge star there and hosts a great TV programme called Later with Jools Holland on BBC. Anyway, the shows were these beautiful outdoor picnic shows with about 5000 people each show. Pretty wild, really, for a first-time playing in the UK. A great way to start. Plus, we took a few days off in between two of the shows and rented a houseboat in Amsterdam to rehearse and hang out. It was unreal. We had all our gear set up on the deck of the boat and we rocked it outside in the sun all day! The rest of my summer has been equally great. I've played a bunch of really fun shows throughout the Maritimes and have been doing tons of swimming and went on a week long canoe trip to boot. All good.
You do a lot of touring, like most east coast musicians. What's been a highlight of your musical travels?
I always love visiting new spots in the Maritimes. Other highlights have included playing for a huge crowd of 50,000 or so in North Carolina last year and this past summer's trip to the UK for sure.
You seem to do a fair bit of story-telling between songs and it really enhances the performance. Why do you think it's important that musicians let the audience into their world?
It wasn't until I started including songwriting in my show that I really felt I was doing what I was meant to do. That's when it really came together for me. For me, it's about making it a show. Not simply about performing songs. Stories give it some humour (hopefully) and help put everything in context by revealing a bit about my personality and where I come from.
The big news broke recently about Joel Plaskett
producing your next album. How are you feeling about that? Plaskett
produced Little Jabs (from PEI band Two Hours Traffic
) which was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize in 2008. He also produced Three, which was recently nominated for the same prize. How's that for pressure?
I always put tons of pressure on myself when making records. But mostly out of personal expectations. I want it to the best it can be. I want to love the record and be proud of it. If that happens, I'm happy. And having Joel on board really puts an extra bit of excitement into the mix. Joel is an incredible guy. We get along really well and have become good friends over the last year. I have tons of respect for his art. And I have never come across anyone with so much creative energy. The man is amazing. He can work like crazy and never seems to run out of ideas. So, I feel really lucky to get to tap into that. I'm really pumped 'cause I think it's going be a productive and fun time for both of us. It's already been so just in the pre-production stages. Recording begins in November! I can't wait.
When do you hope to see the new album released by?
I'm hoping the album will be released in the spring of 2010.
What should fans expect from the new album?
I've put a lot of time into this record already and we haven't even started to record. I really wanted to have a great group of songs to record and I wanted to record them with a band that knew the tunes really well. Where we can develop harmony parts and stuff like that. I feel like I really opened up the flood gates in terms of writing in the last year and it has been awesome. I've written a ton of tunes that are all quite different. We've chosen the ones we want to focus on and we're starting to really work them all out before we even get in there. It's great. Plus I've been able to play a number of them live and that really helps put them together. I guess what I'm really hoping and thinking that people can expect is that this will be my best record yet.
(Photo courtesy of David's official website.)
Related links:
+ David Myles (@ ECO)
+ David Myles (website)
+ David Myles (MySpace)
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* * * * *
Jillianne Hamilton is a writer, blogger and a lover of indie music, funny movies, artsy things and the color red. She is studying Journalism at
Holland College, had an internship at the
Truro Daily News
and blogs for various college and pop culture websites. To contact Jill, visit her
website.
