What is the sensation of venturing beyond your comfort zone and facing the unknown? “Small Fish, Big Pond” encapsulates this feeeling with the use of melancholic synth arpeggios, gentle strings, and an ethereal, nicely developed cinematic soundscape. Read our discussion with the artist below!
Describe your sound in 3 words
Evolving, Experimental, Emotional
Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind your upcoming album, “A Sinuous Path to Pleasant Valley”?
A Sinuous Path to Pleasant Valley is an autobiographical piece. It’s simpler in concept than my previous works — A basic commentary on the peaks and valleys in the journey of life — but more complex in its execution. At the beginning of the pandemic, my wife, newborn daughter and I moved to Austin from NYC and landed on Pleasant Valley Drive. The last few years have been pretty good, better than some of the sinuous path I took to get here. On the record, I sought to refine my attention to detail in its sound design, to increase the technical ability of my composition, and expand my collaboration by bringing in a cast of talented friends
What led you to choose the theme of personal evolution for “Small Fish, Big Pond”?
It was an important moment in my life, choosing to leave my hometown of 25,000 people and move to New York City. NYC broke me very quickly, but then I reassembled myself and was stronger and better for it. I would not be where I am today without that experience. I didn’t necessarily start out writing about it, but it became apparent that’s what I was expressing in the composition.
How do you balance electronic elements with acoustic instruments in your compositions?
I’ve slowly been adding acoustic instruments over time. My first album was completely modular synths and samples. On this record, I was working on it mostly over the pandemic and wanted to tap into other friends in their home studios. So, I sent it around the internet and got some folks to contribute real instrumentation to it.
As far as balancing, I usually start with synths. And then sometimes I’ll think “Wow this synth sounds like a marimba, what if I just got a real one?”
If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
I think streaming subscriptions should be user-centric. I.e. if I only listen to Steve Reich on Spotify, he gets all my subscription money instead of mostly Taylor Swift.
Favourite album of the past 5 years?
Mmmmm hard to pick a favorite, but I’d say Jon Hopkins’ Singularity had a big impact.
If the music of David Slowing was a film, which film would that be?
Oh man, I dunno, there’s so many film composers I love. I’ll say it’d be the one that I score one day! Would love to do that. Something Sci-Fi.
Tell us one thing that not many people know about you!
My daughter’s middle name is Bene after the Bene Gesserit from Dune. I’m a bit of a Dune head. And yes, I love Villeneuve’s version.
Thank you!
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