Davy Jay Sparrow - Sound In The Signals Interview
Your new album Olde Fashioned just came out and it is such a great album. Can you tell me a little about the recording process for the album and what your mindset was when you were working on this one?
Thanks! I really enjoy the album as well. We went into the studio with the goal of sounding like a garage band from 1947. Of course, I’m really into Bob Wills, Spade Cooley, and other greats of Western Swing, but I really dig the some of the more obscure Western Swing and Hillbilly Boogie bands that only recorded a handful of songs back in the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. They’re gritty, fun, and red hot! I love traditional and old time music, and there’s something about those obscure Western Swing band recordings that reminds me of the work done by the Lomaxes. I think it would be safe to say that I wanted to try to make what sounds like a field recording of a Western Swing band. The real trick is to capture our live set with good sound quality. I personally enjoy music that is fun, spontaneous, imperfect, well-informed, and well-performed. All artistic vision aside, what really matters to me is that a person can listen to our album and feel good on the inside. Maybe even start to swing them hips! If that happens, we’ve done our jobs as musicians and entertainers.
A lot of people always reference your set at Muddy Roots and how great it was. How do you think festivals like Muddy Roots have helped you and what was your experience like at the festival?
Muddy Roots Festival 2011 was both strange and fantastic. Anybody who knows me knows that I am anything but an outlaw in the Muddy Roots sense of the term – I shave every morning, comb my hair, tuck in my shirt, I don’t drink or smoke reefer, I rarely (if ever) wear t-shirts or jeans, I don’t cuss or yell in my music (…occasionally in real life), and I really dig Lawrence Welk! Yup, I know. I’m a weirdo.
I was a bit concerned with how I’d go over at the festival because of these things, but the crowd really responded well to us and made us feel very well-loved! It was a big morale booster for the band to know that so many “outlaws” can have such a good time with such relatively wholesome and non-aggressive entertainment. I’m not ‘edgy’ or dark. I keep my music and politics separate. I’m not pro Punk-Country or anti Pop-Country, and I have no interest in any type of culture war. I don’t wanna save country music, I just wanna play it. It’s all about havin’ a good time, ya know? I think that people really responded to that. It was great! Because of the fantastic crowd response we earned at the fest, it’ll put a tear in your beer to hear that we won’t be a part of the Muddy Roots 2012 lineup. Hopefully we’ll make it happen again in 2013. We’d just love to get a chance to come back and play for ‘em again. It was a lot of fun for everybody!
Olde Fashioned has a really great vibe and is really well done. Can you tell me the songwriting process for you (how do you usually write from start to finish)?
Thanks again! One of the most important parts of songwriting for me is that I have steady employment doing something besides singing and songwriting. Inspiration for a good song almost always comes to me when I’m supposed to be doing something else! I am usually focusing on some task or another when POW! …a title or chorus or little phrase pops into my head. I quickly jot it down. Then, it can be minutes or hours or days or months before I find a traditional country or blues or swing or hillbilly melody that fits the idea. I take the melody and twist it around a bit until I can pass it off as my own, I stick the original idea in there somewhere, and then try to come up with verses that sound like they could have been written in the 1940’s. I always make it a point to avoid anything too personal or modern in my lyrics. There’s no reason to try and update or personalize this stuff. I just keep it simple! It doesn’t always happen this way, but I’d say that this is the most common songwriting process for me.
The album artwork is also interesting for the new album. The color scheme is something I usually don’t see on a lot of artwork. Who did the artwork for this album and why did you decide this was the best artwork to represent the new album?
Thanks one more time! I personally design all of the band’s artwork (album covers, flyers, etc.) and put a lot of effort into it, so it’s nice to have it noticed. The color scheme is one of the most important aspects of representing the mood of the music on the album. I chose primary colors because of the simplistic and uncomplicated nature of the music we make. Our music is so basic and fun that it only seemed natural that the album art should be the same. As for the design, you can view my inspiration for it HERE. That’s right… the album design was inspired by a Gene Autry Christmas album! I just hope I haven’t infringed on anyone’s copyrights! I liked the design so much that I decided to make my own version of it. Kinda like my music, I guess. I’ve always thought that the best artists value the ability to bring a particular vision to reality over the desire for total originality. Anyone can be “original,” but it takes a lot of care, creative discipline, and the ability to pay attention to small details to successfully work within a genre.
You are giving away a few free songs on Bandcamp. How important is it for your project to have a place like Bandcamp for people to check out your songs and what made you decide to make the stuff available for free instead of charging a price?
Bandcamp really isn’t that important to us and is actually a bit unnecessary because we have an official website (www.davyjaysparrow.com) that I personally designed and update regularly. The reason I put those songs up for free on Bandcamp is because they were either cover songs that I can’t afford to pay royalties on or they didn’t fit on the album anywhere. Not that I have anything against free stuff, but a man’s gotta eat! I guess I don’t have much of an opinion on Bandcamp, other than it’s easy to use and a bit on the generic side. It’s great for artists who are just starting out, but not so great for artists who have already put in a lot of work and money to build and maintain an official website…
What do you ultimately want people to take away from your music when they listen to it?
Take a break from your troubles and all of the craziness in the world. Don’t take any of it too seriously. Just listen to some good Old Timey, Hot Doggin’, Foot Stompin’, Honky Tonkin’, Western Swingin’ music and feel good about yourself for a while! Music is a way for me to be a kid again. My buddies and I dress up like old time cowboys and play Boogie Woogie songs about swingin’ gals, eatin’ food, and makin’ love. How bout it? Get up and dance!
If you had to pick one song you think would be the best start for people to check out from you. What song would you pick and why?
My initial reaction to this question was “Hot Tamale!’ because it’s hot, fast, and catchy. But then I realized that it’s in the key of D Minor, which is pretty atypical of us. Then, I wanted to say “Slow Slow Boogie” because it’s a saucy Boogie-Woogie tune about makin’ love. But then I realized that it’s a slow song, which is also atypical of us. Finally, I decided upon “Honky Tonkin’ Daddy” because it has been my theme song for nearly 2 years and I open nearly every set with it. It’s fast, jumpin’, and features a good olde fashioned cowboy yodel!
I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have any closing comments you’d like to make?
Thanks a lot for the compliments and questions! I’d just like to impress upon everybody who loves country music the importance of supporting it live when ya can and supporting the artists through online record sales when ya can’t. I’m able to track what places our online sales are shipped to and I use that information to decide what place we should book shows! …And if you ever do find yourself in the crowd at a Davy Jay Sparrow & His Well-Known Famous Drovers show, remember: Nothing makes us happier when we’re on stage than to see a pretty gal DANCE!
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