A Conversation with David Mead (continued)

PM: So will you be going out solo now?

DM: I'm doing the first three tours, I guess, with one musician.

PM: With whom?

DM: They're all different, actually. I'm about to go out with Ron Sexsmith next week, and I'm bringing a friend of mine from Toronto named Stuart Cameron, who's playing guitar and lap steel and singing. And then I'm going straight over to England to do a tour there, and I'm using a cellist named Andy Nice. And after that I'm coming back to do about eight dates, kind of in the northeast, and I'm going to be using Ethan and Whynot on at least four of those.

PM: So you use only one or two people and they're different every place you go. That's great.

DM: Yeah, I love it, really. It does make it a lot more economical. And also, it keeps it interesting, frankly. I love having to make adjustments and switch up the song. When you're doing the exact same thing night after night, it's so easy to get a little bit bored with it.

PM: So speaking of some of the incredible musicians on this project, we also review the Butterfly Boucher CD [Flutterby] in this issue. She sang some incredible backups on "One Plus One," and--was it "Ordinary Life"?

DM: "Oneplusone" and "Human Nature."

PM: Right. What was she like to hang with and to work with? We really think she's amazing.

DM: She's great. She's actually a really good friend of my wife's, so I've gotten to know her fairly well over, I guess, almost two years now. But she's great. I mean, she's another one of those people with no shortage of ideas. She just came in one night and banged it out in a couple of hours. I'd had a different vocal approach to "Oneplusone." But my thing was a lot more kind of Jeff Lynne multi-layered harmonies in the chorus. When she came in and started singing it, her ideas were so strong and her voice had so much more character, we just ditched all of mine--

PM: Wow.

DM: --and used primarily hers. So it's one of those things, I think it went from being like four background vocals to one or two that are both heard, just because her voice speaks so well. It really cuts through a track and it has so much character.

PM: Yeah, she's astounding. I thought that the record she made with Brad was unbelievable.

DM: Yeah, me too.

PM: And that's kind of working, right? I hear that "Another White Dash" [the first single from Flutterby] is kind of a big hit or getting to be.

DM: I think she got Most Added at AC Radio. I don't know how long ago that was, but--

PM: Wow.

DM: --it was a huge feat because I think she beat out Gwen Stefani's new single and Sarah McLachlan's new single and Dido's new single.

PM: Whoa.

DM: Those all went to radio the same week, and Butterfly got Most Added. We'll see what happens. I would be really surprised if--I mean, she's getting a really, really great push from her record company. And it's like that combined with the fact that she's just such a really--what's the word I'm looking for?

PM: Dynamic?

DM: Or "empathetic" kind of performer. You know what I mean?

PM: Yeah.

DM: Like when you see her play, you're like, "Wow," and I think you just immediately want to know what she's about.

PM: Oh, yeah! When she played at the Slow Bar, I stood about twelve inches from her nose, both nights. I thought, "Well, I don't care. I'm not budging from right here [laughs] because this is the seat I want."

DM: Absolutely. I mean, she's got it, as they say.

PM: She has unbelievable energy.

DM: Yeah.

PM: So in the opening song that you mention, "Nashville," there are two lines that I thought I'd like to touch on. You say, "I guess you got to run sometime." Does that mean running from here to New York City, or just--

DM: It just means running from a situation, really. It's such an obvious thing, that you have to deal with your problems head on, and you need to communicate with people and you need to talk about things, and just that basic approach to living your life is the healthiest one. And I would agree with that, but that line was just kind of about, well, fuck it, running is still what you might have to do sometimes.

PM: And what about the other line, "Laughing at a bad break, what's the use of wondering why"? Is that a certain bad break or just a bad break in general?

DM: Yeah, I was referring to the relationship I was talking about in the song. It was kind of unlucky.

PM: Right.  continue

print (pdf)     listen to clips     puremusic home