Musicvein™

In part 1 of ‘In Conversation with Daniel De Bourg’ we heard about his passion for artists like Prince and Aaliyah, how after a night out and feeling worst for wear he ended up auditioning for the X Factor, his thoughts on reality TV shows and the exciting news that he’ll be releasing not 1 but 3 EP’s this year!

Today in part 2, Musicvein finds out just how Daniel finds inspiration for his songs, the creative processes he takes and we chat about London Bread.

MV: Where do you draw your inspiration from for your songs?

DDB: That would have to be everyday life really. The songs that I write are real, they’re personal, they’re me. When you listen to London Bread, you hear how I build myself up in ‘Brink of Amazing’ that’s a song about the industry but then I put myself down a lot. ‘Run’, ‘She Said’ those songs are a reflection of how I’ve been in relationships. ‘Run’ is a very moving and tragic song of a man who finally falls in love with someone but knows that he’s such a bastard that he has to push the woman he loves away – it’s a classic tale, it’s real life you know. I try to put a bit of me in everything so it’s a bit cheeky, saucy at times (he beams). I’m not great at relationships though and it’s clear on the album especially in ‘She Said’ (he then recites the poignant line) – ‘…she said I’m the lowest MF that she’s ever seen…’ an ex-girlfriend actually said that to me! She hated me that much! She didn’t exactly tell me not to breathe air – I was being poetic at that point but what she said was harsh – so I drew from that. 

At the time of making London Bread I was going through a heavy Drake influence, which you can hear. I wanted to make, without full on copying him, the type of album Drake would make if he was a bit more of a technical vocalist. I worked with an amazing Executive Producer, Carmen Keys, who’s also an incredible writer. We drew on experiences of fun, sex, all sorts but it was real life, we wanted the listeners to believe everything they were hearing and feeling.

MV: London Bread is quite an emotional rollercoaster of songs, tell me How does the creative process begin for you?

DDB: That can happen in so many ways for me, but I like to start with a concept first. You can have a beat, build a track and have melodies for days but it doesn’t mean a thing until you have a lyric. My advice to anyone starting out and writing songs would be to write a story, a movie anything, then when you have that in front of you, the song just sort of writes itself. You’ll find that as you’re reading the words the melody just comes to you, your natural instinct as a musician kicks in, you’ll find your hookline – that’s the most powerful thing that hits you. ‘She Said’ was written in literally 5 minutes, I had a story in my head – Bam!

MV: So what would you say is your favorite song(s) of the album?

DDB: ‘She Know How’ (he says hand cupping his chin and reflecting) that is definitely one of my favorites on London Bread. I love it, it’s just a sexy, sexy song and one of the first ones I wrote in the project. ‘Run’ is another one. It’s a real epic piece of music, the way the track builds, getting more and more dramatic as it nears the end – it’s just a real powerful piece.

MV: If you could work with anyone past or present, who would it be and why?

DDB: Man that’s a difficult one, I’d have to say Aaliyah. She would have been perfect, I’d want to write with her, work with her (more like you’d just want to dance sexily with her, yeah lothario I hear you, we both laugh) No (he says coyly) I’d have just wanted to work with her cause she was about to do something phenomenal – God Rest Her Soul.

MV: OK, If you could perform at any venue, anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

DDB: Madison Square Garden! oh yeah it would have to be there. Simply because I always hear people saying that they’re going to play there (puts on a mocking voice ‘I’m playing at Madison Square Garden New York’). I want to be there you know, the place is steeped in history. I used to say the O2, London, but I’ve done that with X Factor – it was OK, but MSG that is the one, full orchestra behind me Yeah! (puts his hands up as if addressing a crowd – I roll my eyes, such a joker)

MV: So would you say X Factor was the highlight of your career so far?

DDB: Actually, not dissing X Factor in any way but releasing London Bread and watching it climb up and up in the charts and reaching people around the globe, that would be the highlight of my musical career for sure. That and a combination of everyone pulling together to get this album off the ground, which all started off with me using a rubbish camera in my bedroom, posting videos on Youtube which culminated in me working with Boy Wonder! It’s madness but a good madness.

MV: Finally will you be doing any live shows to promote London Bread more?

DDB: Definitely, definitely will be doing that. The tour will start off State-side first, Canada then Europe. But as you know, as well as touring there will be more Youtube videos AND the 3 EP’s all being dropped this year!

 

Wow, I thought I was a real chatterbox but Daniel De Bourg took that title like Usain Bolt! It was a refreshing interview, full of laughs, insights and I look forward to catching up with him again when he releases those EP’s – will keep you all posted!

London Bread can be purchased from iTunes and while you’re at it why not click on over to Bandcamp where you can purchase Daniel’s award winning Mixtapes too!

 

Related articles

In Conversation with Daniel De Bourg Part 1

London Bread by Daniel De Bourg (review)