Daverage J. Normal
He's name is
David, the London based artist signs his work under the name Daverage J. Normal or DJN. His inspiration: mostly just cooking away in the back of his mind and from noodling around with synths, generally leaning towards a retro-futuristic and science fiction vibe.
He writes music because he feels a need to express a part of hisself and connect with others. His focus is on music production especially synthesis and sound design.
"I like to think my sound is retro-futuristic.", he says. When not spending time in the music lab DJN can be found playing bass guitar with either Looking for Droids or Empty Friend.
Decompression (feat. Dave Kirk)
Daverage J. Normal oder auch DJN ist bei uns ja kein Unbekannter mehr, man erinnere sich an "Voidhawk" oder auch "Dark Stars" aus seiner letzten EP "General Dysfunction". Jetzt, sprich vor ein paar Wochen, brachte der in London beheimatete Künstler "Decompression" heraus. Die Entscheidung mit Dave Kirk zusammenzuarbeiten war eine gute respektive eine perfekte.
Dave fühlt sich hörbar wohl im Gravitationsfeld von Daverage J Normal, welches dieses Mal mehr in Richtung Chill Out geht. "Imagine looking back at a memory so clear in mind but only visualised in pastel colours...", so der Musiker selbst.
Mit der Gabe ausgestattet, auf einen retro-futuristischen Pool der Kreativität zurückgreifen zu können, bricht DJN wieder auf, neue musikalische Horizonte zu entdecken und diese mit seiner Signatur zu versehen.
Die Interpretation des Themas brillant, der Part der Vocals begibt sich auf eine Reise durch den fantastisch geschaffenen Soundkosmos, schwerelos und beruhigend die Stimmung.
"Decompression" by Daverage J. Normal a journey thru' your minds and to new horizons. Electro Chill Wave meets Art Pop to please your ears.
Q&A
Who is the human behind the artist Daverage J. Normal?
The human behind DJN is me, known to my nearest and dearest as David. A nominally regular dude flitting through life in a most average way and fast approaching 40, allegedly.
Who inspired you to make music in general?
I have been involved in playing music since I was a kid, so I guess that credit would go to my parents. They created an environment where I was exposed to playing at a young age so it's something I have always been doing, be that going to music school on Saturday mornings or band practice in my teens.
I played the trumpet until I was 15, taught myself the bass at 14 and started playing in a band with mates from school at that time, and still play bass to this day, the trumpet not so much, but I do have a didgeridoo. My favourite band is Primus.
...and especially to the song "Decompression"?
The music for Decompression was written in the spring of 2019. I can't say it was inspired by any one thing in particular other than the habit I've created of proactively spending time writing and creating. If we look at what life was like at that time, I was in a relatively chilled place, the weekend it was written I had been at the recording studio during the day with Empty Friend tracking an EP (Falter) and my appetite for making music that day had not been sated so the night was spent scratching that itch.
How much time did you spend to find the right sounds for the song?
Apart from the percussion, all the synths were decided on in a matter of minutes. This track is made up of sounds from a Novation Bass Station 2 ( bass line and lead) and the organ sound is Retrologue 2. The lead part is washed around with a fair amount of delay which really gives it, in my opinion, a nostalgic yearning and the bass sound is very much towing a ' You take my breath away' vibe, perhaps.
The vocals were recorded in DK's living room, he did a few takes and harmonies and I mixed them in with the track at home. On the raw vocal tracks you can hear the occasional driving past. As tracks go, it was a really quick and natural process which just happened.
However, this track sat around for ages not really doing much as the drums really weren't that great. So it was put to one side and life went on. It was only in July 2020 that I went back to it and remixed the track with new drum sounds and a little bit of extra rhythmic movement which brought the track to life as you hear it today, the difference is night and day and it really needed to resonate with DK too before I considered releasing it.
It's a collaboration with Dave Kirk, how was it to work with him?
Easy as pie. I've been making music with DK since summer 2017. He is the lyricist and front man of Empty Friend, I'm the bassist, so it was really an extension of that existing synergy.
He is a fantastic story teller and has a great deal of insight into creating a character or reflecting a theme within his lyrics, he has a great set of pipes too. Hopefully we can find another track to work together on in the future, I really rate his style and trust he will always deliver a grade A concept and delivery.
What is your creative process like?
I used to worry about this until some wise words were shared with me. Creativity isn't a talent, it's a way of operating, which is credited to John Cleese in the 90s. If you sit down and do something, and put yourself in that mindset, stuff will happen, and if you capture that stuff, there you go, you've got something.
There are times I sit down and just noodle or jam until something pulls me in a certain direction, I might just decide to start making a synth patch, play some riffs on the bass, or I will start with drums and go from there. I have one 1 rule which I do my best to follow which is to do something musical for at least 15 minutes a day, that 15 minutes can easily turn into an hour or more and through habit comes productivity.
What's your most useful talent besides music?
Others might disagree, but it is knowing when to listen.
How would you describe 2021 in a sentence?
2021 is the year where I stopped telling myself "I will do it tomorrow".
What was the first ever Pop/Electronic/Wave etc. ... song you listened to or remember on?
So.... Cindy Lauper's The World is Stone. Given my present musical leanings I have no explanation for this but for some reason it is always there at the back of my mind like an earworm I can never really get rid of, it's no trick of the light it's hard on the soul...
Do you remember your first ever self-written song?
I do... I was in a 'punk' band when I was 14, it was a track called Premature Ejaculation, I vaguely remember the verses, the chorus is what you think it is lyrically. Thankfully no recordings exist of this song, it exists solely in my memory, that of my bandmates at the time (maybe) and anyone subjected to it all those years ago, perhaps.
So I could question whether it existed at all or is just a figment of my nostalgia.
What’s next for you?
I plan to keep on doing what I'm doing, writing, releasing, learning (lots of this to do) and evolving. I've got some tracks which are almost ready to go, a concept EP which stands on its own, and some other tracks in the works that I intend to release over the course of the year.
I'm keen to work with other vocalists and it would be great to get on board with some more collaborations in 2022. I've also been working on a podcast series which looks set to get off the ground in January, so keep an eye out and thank you for listening.
Photo credits:
Bright Light In The Dark.
https://www.brightlightart.net/
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