David Duchovny is what you might call a modern-day Renaissance Man. Throughout his career as an actor, he’s starred in two of the biggest television series of the last two decades, creating two cult characters worthy of icon status. He’s stepped behind the camera to direct and behind the scenes to produce. He even wrote a few episodes of The X-Files, the hit television show he starred in from 1993-2002 (which is making a triumphant return next January on Fox). In the same vein, he man with a masters in English Lit published his first novel Holy Cow back in February. With a seemingly incessant need to be creative, Duchovny picked up a guitar and dove head-first into the realm of rock ‘n’ roll. After much fiddling on his guitar and penning lyrics onto paper, the end result was his debut alt-rock album Hell or Highwater, a melodic and moody (pun intended) outing that captures melancholy at its best. Just before David wrapped up a brief tour with back to back shows in New York and Philadelphia, he spoke exclusively with The Rock Revival about his music, touring, and what’s next for the Renaissance Man.
Going back to the beginning, how did this project come to fruition? Was it in the works for a long time or was there a sudden lightbulb moment where you said, “You know what?” I’m going to make an album.”
You mentioned that you started writing the songs and that you write all the time. You have a Master’s in English Literature, you’ve written episodes of television shows and a novel. Did you find that your past experience, even though it wasn’t music, translated well into songwriting and lyric writing?
You mentioned Tom Petty as a lyricist you enjoy. When I listen to the record, I definitely hear a lot of Tom Petty musically with the sound of the guitars, the song structure, and the sound of your voice. Also some R.E.M. Who were some of your musical influences as far as sound goes while making this record?
I can’t say that I have influences because I’m not really that good of a musician that I could copy anybody, but I think it’s something I unconsciously do because it’s what I listen to. I love R.E.M., and when my songs are going into production and they’re starting to sound like songs by rock ‘n’ roll bands, when they start to sound like more than just me and my acoustic guitar, when we start to layer in other sounds, I’m going to gravitate towards sounds that I like, and it’s those bands [that I listen to].
When I listen to the record, I get an overwhelming feeling of melancholy. Not an awful, terrible sadness, but a good kind of sadness. A sadness you want and need to feel. Was there a certain theme or concept in mind surrounding this album?
Therapeutic almost?
If you had to choose, what is your favorite song on the album?
I think the most complete song, musically and lyrically, is “Stars.” It’s kind of a self-contained good idea and it capsulates what all the other songs are saying in a simple and, I hope, elegant way.
You have been doing some live shows and you have a few more coming up. What has it been like transitioning from the studio to the stage, and bringing these songs to life in a live setting?
The Webster Hall show is coming up next week in New York City. I imagine that’s going to be a homecoming of sorts for you. Is there a special energy around this particular performance?
Well, when the album came out we did a show at The Cutting Room which holds about 800 people. We’ve played some bigger rooms of about 800 to 1,000 people, and I enjoy that. But it is a homecoming in a very real sense because Webster Hall is two blocks from where I grew up and across the street from where I went to grade school, so it’s a very interesting sense of dislocation in the sense of me doing what I’m doing now – singing – in this place, this building that I’ve walked past at least a thousand times.
And now you’re playing it. Full circle.
That’s right, that’s right [laughing].
Is this album a one-time project that you just wanted to accomplish and see what would happen, or is there potential for more David Duchovny music in the future?
Yes, I continue to write songs with the guys who are in my band when we play [are touring]. They’re all these Berkeley School of Music graduates who are way more knowledgable than I am musically; better and smarter. And we’re working on a batch of songs that are conceivably the next album. So, until somebody forces me to stop, I guess I’ll keep going.
I don’t think anyone is ever going to force you to stop.
Alright, then I probably won’t stop [laughing].
That’s an interesting question. I really haven’t thought about that. I’ll certainly pitch my music to be on the soundtrack [of a new project] if I think it fits, although it could be a bit distracting if the guy on screen is also the guy singing the song. I would think that would be weird, haha. But I think if you’re talking about scoring a film, I’m not that kind of music writer. I put chords down and I try to write melodies for them. Its really about the songwriting rather than the symphonic, orchestral music writing that movies have.
Your long-running show Californication wrapped up last year. Throughout the show, there were so many musical references from famous guest appearances by musicians to shots of you playing guitar, even one episode when Hank [Moody] was so devastated because “Surfer Girl” stole all of his vinyl records. Was that your influence on the show, or did the show influence you to eventually want to be a musician and write music?
No, that was Tom Kapinos, the show’s creator and an excellent guitar player. He always made sure that Moody had excellent taste in music, and if we could have guest stars on they were always heroes of Tom. We had Lemmy from Motorhead, we had [Marilyn] Manson on obviously, we had Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), so Tom has a bit of a heavier metal flavor than I do but we shared a love for Elton John and Warren Zevon. Those two were on the soundtrack a lot, “Rocket Man” [by Elton John] we used a few times. And for me, Warren Zevon was like the patron saint of the whole show in my mind. His LA-centered lyrics and his point of view of the world were the key to Hank Moody for me. So, Tom and I kind of danced around on that. I turned him onto Warren Zevon and we were both surprised that we loved Elton John and we pitched songs to each other all the time. Eventually, when I was interested in learning guitar, I was teaching myself and then I figured out that a really sleazy way to get free guitar lessons was to ask Tom to help Hank learn how to play guitar [laughing], and that’s what I did the last couple years.
Two birds with one stone.
Exactly.
xxxxx
source: rockrevival.com
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