Having the legendary Tim Rogers ask your parents if his band, You Am I, could take you on tour way back in 1999, set a young Davey Lane on an unforgettable musical path. Some 18 years later, Lane is putting his own stamp on music with his unique style of pop rock. Following his remarkable 2014 release Atonally Yours, I’m Gonna Burn Out Bright recently hit the airwaves in mid August. We caught up with Davey recently over a pint of ale.
How would you describe your music Davey, you’ve ended up with a sound that seems really hard to pin a genre on?
A good mate of mine a while back described my music as “wonky pop”, and I agree, that pretty much sums it up. It’s pop music basically – but pop music that sounds like it’s been melted in the sun. Wobbly sounds, and chords/melodies that are a little unpredictable or uncomfortable sounding at times. I guess I try to make the kind of music I like to listen to!
Did this record come out sounding how you thought it would when you first set out recording it?
I’m not really sure exactly what I was setting out to do. I’d just split with my old management – amicably, but I was basically starting from scratch again, and in a bit of a depression hole at the time. Questioning one’s own existence, the meaning of life, all that. Whenever the black dog strikes, I try to throw myself into making music, and that usually helps to lift the gloomy fog. I basically set about recording songs without any specific aim or goal. I wrote about 20 extra songs that didn’t make the record for one reason or another, maybe they were a bit too straight-ahead or just didn’t fit the mould of the type of record I began to realise I was making.
Your album launch at the Gasometer was a sell-out, that must have been quite a thrill for you and the band?
It was a sell-out but that room doesn’t hold many folks! To be honest, playing live couldn’t have been further from my mind while I was making this record. Touring is expensive when you don’t have many people coming to shows and it takes a mental toll as well, so I was thinking the Brian Wilson path at the time and make something that could only really exist in the studio realm. Then I realised I’ve got a great band and it’s so much fun. They’re tricky songs to play live, but I think we’re gettin’ the hang of it!
You have a song on the new album, 1X-BX. It goes flat chat for around 10 seconds. What was the motivation for doing this song?
IX-BX is a song written in code. It’s a clue to my next big step in life but first, I challenge anyone to decipher it! 11 seconds was all I needed to spell it out.
This album engulfs you the more you listen to it. However, ‘Bound To Break Me’ appealed to me straight away… was this track written for anyone in particular?
I was sick of writing pessimistic songs. This was a direct reaction to that. The future’s always uncertain but as long as you love you can be loved in return, it’s as simple as that. It’s probably the straightest song on the record, and probably closest to the kind of sound people associate with me.
What can we look forward to next from Davey Lane?
I’m working on two records at the moment. One’s a record of songs I’ve written on piano, and recorded with my mates Brett Wolfenden and Mark Wilson. That’ll be under some sort of name. I’ve already got a vision for the next solo record and it’s way more guitar oriented than the last one, a little more rock ‘n roll. I’ve got no lack of inspiration for lyrics at the moment, so I’ll harness it while the ideas are still coming…
When & Where: Saturday 7th October – Major Toms, Kyneton – October 7 & The Eastern, Ballarat – October 14
Written by Glen Anderson
