A couple nights ago I got to check out a guy from Baltimore named David Andrew Smith in Plymouth. His set was awesome (I actually enjoyed his originals more than his covers) and a real shot of life for the usually downer Acoustic Cafe shows. I got to talk to David for a little bit after his set and found he was a really awesome, down to earth dude. Here are some highlights from our chat.
I see you’ve got a band, so this is like an extension of your day job. Is the band what you normally do?
Well, I’ve always been in bands but I started to do solo stuff like 5 years ago. I moved over near Baltimore because before I was from Ocean City, Maryland. When I got out of college, I started playing music for a living so the only way I could do that was to play solo shows. Because like on Tuesday or Wednesday night most places don’t want to hire a band. So I started to try to get more college gigs and stuff. So I’ve been in bands for a while but the band I’m in now,the newest band, has been going for like 2 years.
And that’s the David Andrew Smith band?
The songs with the band are more distorted, kind of Foo Fighters rockfish stuff. Well, some stuff is like that and some isn’t. For a while I thought I could lump it all together. So I’ve been trying to separate it more and keep the band more distorted and rockin’, and keep the solo stuff acoustic.
Right, like the second you opened your mouth iwas like “90’s rock!” Who does this dude sound like? And I had narrowed it down to Ed Kowalczyk of Live and Steven Page from the Barenaked Ladies. I determined you are a combination of the two.
(Laughs) Oh really? That’s funny because I’m definitely influenced by Live but the Barenaked Ladies…..
Not crazy about the Barenaked Ladies?
It’s not that I’m not crazy about the Barenaked Ladies, I’m just not influenced by them. I like some of their stuff but I’ve never been like a crazy fan. That is funny though because I’ve gotten that before. Other people have said artists that I never listen to. Like some people say Martin Sexton.
Really? I didn’t get that at all. So what were you listening to when you first started playing music?
Well, Nirvana got me to start playing guitar and I really got into the Pumpkins. I really love the Pumpkins. Well, like their earlier stuff. I heard a guy talking on the radio about the Pumpkins today and he was really bashing their new stuff.
Yeah, and now Billy Corgan’s talking about how he wants to do some like 40 song collection? Bring back Zwan!
Yeah, Zwan wasn’t that bad relative to what he’s doing now.
So when you say Pumpkins you’re talking, like, Siamese Dream?
Yeah, like the first four albums. Especially Siamese Dream
Cut yourself off before Adore?
Adore grew on me. Machina I thought was awful. Adore, some of the songs weren’t that bad. It wasn’t their best but it grew on me. Mellon Collie was awesome. That was before he started to sing differently, you know? He sort of reminded me of a rat. Whereas he used to sing real breathy and pretty. But I understand why he did it, because if you watch the live footage from the Siamese Dream era he sang like he sings from Mellon Collie onward.
You played my favorite Crows’ song off my favorite Crows’ record tonight . (“Round Here”)
That album is amazing. That thing is a masterpiece. That first album is awesome.
So I’m really stoked to hear you band now that you toss Foo Fighters in there.
Yeah, well the distorted stuff, that’ what I get compared to the most.
Like a Jimmy Eat World kind of thing?
Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters, in that vein. I love both those bands. It’s funny because a lot of the songs I play acoustic are meant to be played on electric you know? But to make a living I’ve forced myself to get into the acoustic vein. Not that I didn’t like it, but I never pictured myself as this being my main thing. Like, me by myself without the band. So I have a band now, but its definitely a different situation than it was back in the day. My band now is mainly hired guns. Like I used to be in a band with a bunch of friends and it was our band, but over time I got tired of doing all the work. You know, like people wouldn’t show up for practice on time or they had drug problems or responsibility issues. One bass player I had we had to drag him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped. So eventually I got tired of the drama and I was just like I’m gonna do my own thing and do all the work, but I’ll get more money for doing all the work and I’ll just pay people to come play with me. I mean I have regular guys, but it’s my thing.
Are the guys listed in the credits for your CD part of your band or were they studio musicians?
Well, that took 3 years to make because I could only afford to go into the studio once every 3 months or so. I don’t think any of those guys are in the band anymore, but when I finished that CD was when I was starting my new band. So now I’ve kind of found better players over time. That CD was pieced together with studio people. I would play just the acoustic guitar or the drums or the other musicians would come in on a different day and we’d piece it together. On my next CD I wanna do it all live. I want to capture the full band. There’s something to be said about that. I mean I can hear on (the old album) that it wasn’t a full band in the studio together.
Do you want to multi-track instruments or do it all live?
I wanna do as much of it as possible live to try and capture that, but I don’t mind going in and overdubbing harmonies or whatever. I’d like to try to get at least two guitars, bass, drums and hopefully vocals all together live.
I see you’re crazy about that looping pedal.
Yeah, well I use that live because I get bored. I’d rather actually have other musicians with me. So it does the job for what I’m going for. It’s a little gimmicky too I guess.
Baltimore is such a beautiful, cool city. Does it seep into your writing at all? Has it changed since you moved there?
My writing has definitely changed since I moved over there. The thing is I live in a suburb, it’s different than living in the city. I’d love to live in the city but a lot of shows I have to bring my own P.A. so it’s in my car and I don’t feel comfortable living in the city with a bunch of expensive equipment. I’ve already had my car broken into one like 5 years ago and I lost thousands of dollars worth of stuff, so that’s why I kind of stick to my suburban bubble. But I’m in Baltimore a lot. I grew up more in the country, very flat land with lots of corn fields. I’ve definitely noticed a change in my writing since I moved from the country to the city.
What is your writing process like? Lyrics first or do you sit down and play guitar?
I usually end up just sitting down and messing around on guitar and come up with something cool and try to sing over it. That was my model, but I rarely get to write anymore because I’m always so busy. Since I started doing music for a living I have to work like 60 or 80 hour weeks and then drive for 20 or 30 hours on top of that, it’s insane. So I haven’t written in over 5 or 6 months which sucks, because that’s what I’m in this to do. When I do get to write, nowadays it’s usually when I’m in my car driving and a melody comes in my head so I write it down and I write the chords in my head down on top of it and work it out that way. Usually the stuff I write like that is poppier. So much of the poppier stuff I have comes from those melodies in my head. A lot of times when I sit down with a guitar the songs come out darker, it’s interesting. I don’t know why that is.
So you’re not on a label. Is that a concern to you or do you feel like the way the music business is now and the way the internet works you don’t even need a label?
I still would like to be signed to a label at some point I guess there’s a level of legitimacy that comes with that but also there’s a level of distribution that comes with that that I don’t know how I’d get otherwise. Even if it wasn’t a label, even if it was just somebody with a lot of money to front. Because that’s what it is, it’s talent but it’s also a lot of money to help get your music out there. I’m definitely not opposed to it. My dream is to ultimately be touring the world and have people come out to hear the originals.
So what’s the next recording step? Is it a band thing or is it you with an acoustic guitar?
Actually, I want to do full lengths but I don’t think I’ll be able to afford it. So it’ll probably be two EP’s, one Rew Smith EP and one David Andrew Smith EP, and the David Andrew Smith EP would be acoustic, darker and mellow and the Rew Smith would be more rocking and upbeat. The thing is the last CD I did I’m still going to be paying off the loan for that for at least like another year. So the only way I can think of to record soon is fan financing, which I’m looking into doing. Something like, if you pay this much, we’ll play a house concert for you.
What do you think about illegal downloading? Someone like you who works so hard to record something, and then someone downloads it or they rip it off your MySpace. Does that bum you out?
Well, I usually try to give away like a CD a night anyway. So instead of getting ticked off about people downloading stuff for free, I mean, it’s gonna happen, so I’m trying to find a way to turn it into marketing. So hopefully if I give a CD away for free, maybe they’ll like it and they’ll buy a ticket to a show or buy something else.
Were your parents into music? What was playing around the house when you were growing up?
Well when I was growing up we were mainly only allowed to listen to Christian stuff, you know? But my Dad would play some kind of old jazz standards and stuff on piano. He still plays a little but, he doesn’t play that much anymore. He’d sing and stuff too. So it was that, and my sister is 10 years older than me so in the 80’s she used to listen to Bruce Springsteen and Journey so I was catching some of that.
I’m a Springsteen fanatic.
Oh yeah? I love Bruce Springsteen.
My parents used to play the Born to Run record all the time around the house.
Yeah, he’s definitely up there for me in terms of people I look up to and the kind of career I aspire to have.
I wish David the absolute best of luck! If you see his name on a marquee I recommend you check him out. The guy is super talented and you might be getting in on the ground floor of something big. Look out for a review of his EP "Sweet Sweet Nothing" which I will be posting soon.
Check out David's solo stuff at:
And check out his band at
And if you like what you hear, please please support David by purchasing something from here:
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