David A. Saylor is back with a new solo album only 2 years after his previous work. Hence, it was a great chance to have a chat with David about the new album & music in general. Those chats with David are always a pleasure to read so… read below for more…
Hey David… here we are again talking about your new album. You’re a hard-working musician nonetheless. How fast time passes huh?!
D: Hi Thanos, Yes mate, I’ve been busy finishing my new CD “Strength of One”. I was lucky really because I had some good songs left over from my “Kiss of Judas” CD, so I was able to put together another project so quickly.
Two years after “City of Angels” and you’re back with a new album! What gave you the inspiration and the boost to record and release a new album?
D: Well to be honest, since I recorded “City of Angels” my first solo CD with AOR Boulevard Records I got the writing bug again. So together with my friend and co-producer Jon Dewsbury I started writing and enjoying it once more. The fact that my CD “Kiss of Judas” sold out so quick gave me more inspiration to keep going and from that buzz came “Strength of One”.
What did you have in mind to achieve in this album in comparison to your previous one? What were the things you kept and changed?
D: With “Strength of One” I just wanted to make good music and good songs as I’ve always tried to do on all my CDs. My main goal was to keep a high standard of material over all, always hopping that those who bought my other CDs would like and enjoy my new songs. It’s a fantastic feeling to know that people like your material, it gives you a real buzz, and keeps you young in mind and plus keeps you inspired to keep writing. Regarding the production on “Strength of One”, I recorded this project on Logic Pro X, yet “Kiss of Judas” and “City of Angels” was recorded on Logic 9, I kinda liked the drum sounds on Logic Pro X, also some keyboard sounds.
And where did you take your inspiration for “Strength of One”?
D: Like I say, I just had a few songs left over from “Kiss of Judas” so I just used those tracks plus wrote a few others like, “Falling Star”, “How Do I Believe”, “Beaten Back and Blue” and made up the numbers to get to 11 songs.
And why did you come up with the “Strength of One” title? Does it showcase the “loneliness” in today’s music or what?
D: The CD title “Strength of One” was the idea of Paul Rudland from my record label, when he told me I thought it sounded cool and it did say something to me, so I went with it.
The album features a cover on “Why Does Our Love Have to End” by Shy. How did you decide to cover a Shy song? Was it due to the late Steve Harris? Do you happen to know him?
D: The Steve Harris cover came about because Paul Rudland from my label thought it would a cover that I could do and that would fit my vocal style, so I had a listen to the track and loved it. I had only met Steve once or twice back in the early 80s to be honest, but have been a Shy fan over the years and have followed their progress from time to time.
Give us your thoughts about the rest of the tracks…
D: “Welcome to the Show”: I wrote this song as a CD opener…
“Now You’re Leaving”: This is a cover of a song by the band 2 AM, again it was suggested to me by my label, I hadn’t heard it before, but loved it.
“Flying High”: This song I wrote with my friend Jon Dewsbury back in the early 90s. It was on my very first solo album out in 1991 titled “One on One”, out on Home Records Madrid.
“Don’t Say Goodbye”: This is a song about a relationship and the pain caused by splitting up.
“My Heart Ain’t Feeling Nothing”: Again, this song is about someone in a partnership not feeling the love from his or her partner.
“Beaten Black and Blue”: This song is about reaching the end of a relationship and just wanting to get out as your hearts feeling black and blue, beat up so to speak!
“Falling Star (duet with The Val)”: I wrote this song with Gabrielle’s voice in mind, she is the lead singer of Spanish AOR rock band The Val. I just wanted to write a nice commercial ballad.
“It Must Be Love”: This song was also on my 1991 album “One on One”, I just wanted to re-record it slightly heavier on the guitars and a little more AOR rock, the original version was a pop ballad.
“How Do I Believe”: This song talks about 2 people having trouble believing in there love, so one is saying to the other how can I believe in us if don’t, or you won’t.
“Caught in the Middle”: This song is an anti-drugs song, the drug crack in specific. I just wanted to say something about it and so I did. It’s about someone hooked on crack and trying to live a normal life, so from there the title “Caught in the Middle”…
What about the guest appearances on the album? Brett Hammond (Push UK), Nik Lloyd (Push UK), David Mark Pearce & the Val (Gabrielle & Alfonso), as well as the backing vocals guys & gals.
D: I was lucky enough to have a few friends share their talents with me on my new CD “Strength of One”, all the people you mentioned are friends and very talented musicians, I believe they really added a lot of spice and quality to the project, They all really did do some fantastic guitar solos on various tracks. And Gabrielle from the band The Val sung some amazing vocals on our duet “Falling Star”.
Once again the album is out from AOR BLVD Records. They do seem to believe in you and support you in every new move right?
D: I am very lucky that Paul and Kelv from AOR Boulevard Records have given me the opportunity to make these solo CDs, I will also always be eternally grateful to them for releasing my 80s rock band Push UK’s masters on CD a few years ago, that was a great moment for all the band.
This album’s production is great too! I’m so glad about it since the last time there were some minor issues on that part. You along with Jon Dewsbury did it again… so what’s happened this time?
D: The production on this new CD like I mentioned before was done on a new program, the latest Logic... Logic Pro X, I believe some of the sounds were better, but I must say, I really like the production sounds of “City of Angels” and “Kiss of Judas”. You know, everyone has a personal opinion on CD productions, some like or dislike a production for many reason, I’ve learnt over the years that you will never please everyone, so just please yourself, and normally if you keep to a high standard if usually is transmitted in the songs.
Will you give any live gigs in the near future? Are there any plans?
D: At the moment there are no plans for live work.
What do you wish to accomplish with this album and with your music generally in the years to come?
D: I would love to find a fan base of people that like and appreciate my music, that’s priceless for me. It’s a real joy to be able to share my music with those fans. As long as they like my songs I will keep writing they truly inspire me daily.
By the way, how did your cooperation with the Greek band Wild Rose occur? Will this cooperation continue in the next years?
D: I met Andy through chatting on Facebook, I liked his work and he had heard about me through my CDs, so we got talking and it became apparent that Wild Rose needed a vocalist to finish recording their CD “Dangerous” so I did a short demo of one of the songs for them and they liked what they heard so they asked me to sing the full CD. I really enjoyed doing that studio session as Andy and the guys had some great AOR songs, top quality!
D: Hi Thanos, Yes mate, I’ve been busy finishing my new CD “Strength of One”. I was lucky really because I had some good songs left over from my “Kiss of Judas” CD, so I was able to put together another project so quickly.
Two years after “City of Angels” and you’re back with a new album! What gave you the inspiration and the boost to record and release a new album?
D: Well to be honest, since I recorded “City of Angels” my first solo CD with AOR Boulevard Records I got the writing bug again. So together with my friend and co-producer Jon Dewsbury I started writing and enjoying it once more. The fact that my CD “Kiss of Judas” sold out so quick gave me more inspiration to keep going and from that buzz came “Strength of One”.
What did you have in mind to achieve in this album in comparison to your previous one? What were the things you kept and changed?
D: With “Strength of One” I just wanted to make good music and good songs as I’ve always tried to do on all my CDs. My main goal was to keep a high standard of material over all, always hopping that those who bought my other CDs would like and enjoy my new songs. It’s a fantastic feeling to know that people like your material, it gives you a real buzz, and keeps you young in mind and plus keeps you inspired to keep writing. Regarding the production on “Strength of One”, I recorded this project on Logic Pro X, yet “Kiss of Judas” and “City of Angels” was recorded on Logic 9, I kinda liked the drum sounds on Logic Pro X, also some keyboard sounds.
And where did you take your inspiration for “Strength of One”?
D: Like I say, I just had a few songs left over from “Kiss of Judas” so I just used those tracks plus wrote a few others like, “Falling Star”, “How Do I Believe”, “Beaten Back and Blue” and made up the numbers to get to 11 songs.
And why did you come up with the “Strength of One” title? Does it showcase the “loneliness” in today’s music or what?
D: The CD title “Strength of One” was the idea of Paul Rudland from my record label, when he told me I thought it sounded cool and it did say something to me, so I went with it.
The album features a cover on “Why Does Our Love Have to End” by Shy. How did you decide to cover a Shy song? Was it due to the late Steve Harris? Do you happen to know him?
D: The Steve Harris cover came about because Paul Rudland from my label thought it would a cover that I could do and that would fit my vocal style, so I had a listen to the track and loved it. I had only met Steve once or twice back in the early 80s to be honest, but have been a Shy fan over the years and have followed their progress from time to time.
Give us your thoughts about the rest of the tracks…
D: “Welcome to the Show”: I wrote this song as a CD opener…
“Now You’re Leaving”: This is a cover of a song by the band 2 AM, again it was suggested to me by my label, I hadn’t heard it before, but loved it.
“Flying High”: This song I wrote with my friend Jon Dewsbury back in the early 90s. It was on my very first solo album out in 1991 titled “One on One”, out on Home Records Madrid.
“Don’t Say Goodbye”: This is a song about a relationship and the pain caused by splitting up.
“My Heart Ain’t Feeling Nothing”: Again, this song is about someone in a partnership not feeling the love from his or her partner.
“Beaten Black and Blue”: This song is about reaching the end of a relationship and just wanting to get out as your hearts feeling black and blue, beat up so to speak!
“Falling Star (duet with The Val)”: I wrote this song with Gabrielle’s voice in mind, she is the lead singer of Spanish AOR rock band The Val. I just wanted to write a nice commercial ballad.
“It Must Be Love”: This song was also on my 1991 album “One on One”, I just wanted to re-record it slightly heavier on the guitars and a little more AOR rock, the original version was a pop ballad.
“How Do I Believe”: This song talks about 2 people having trouble believing in there love, so one is saying to the other how can I believe in us if don’t, or you won’t.
“Caught in the Middle”: This song is an anti-drugs song, the drug crack in specific. I just wanted to say something about it and so I did. It’s about someone hooked on crack and trying to live a normal life, so from there the title “Caught in the Middle”…
What about the guest appearances on the album? Brett Hammond (Push UK), Nik Lloyd (Push UK), David Mark Pearce & the Val (Gabrielle & Alfonso), as well as the backing vocals guys & gals.
D: I was lucky enough to have a few friends share their talents with me on my new CD “Strength of One”, all the people you mentioned are friends and very talented musicians, I believe they really added a lot of spice and quality to the project, They all really did do some fantastic guitar solos on various tracks. And Gabrielle from the band The Val sung some amazing vocals on our duet “Falling Star”.
Once again the album is out from AOR BLVD Records. They do seem to believe in you and support you in every new move right?
D: I am very lucky that Paul and Kelv from AOR Boulevard Records have given me the opportunity to make these solo CDs, I will also always be eternally grateful to them for releasing my 80s rock band Push UK’s masters on CD a few years ago, that was a great moment for all the band.
This album’s production is great too! I’m so glad about it since the last time there were some minor issues on that part. You along with Jon Dewsbury did it again… so what’s happened this time?
D: The production on this new CD like I mentioned before was done on a new program, the latest Logic... Logic Pro X, I believe some of the sounds were better, but I must say, I really like the production sounds of “City of Angels” and “Kiss of Judas”. You know, everyone has a personal opinion on CD productions, some like or dislike a production for many reason, I’ve learnt over the years that you will never please everyone, so just please yourself, and normally if you keep to a high standard if usually is transmitted in the songs.
Will you give any live gigs in the near future? Are there any plans?
D: At the moment there are no plans for live work.
What do you wish to accomplish with this album and with your music generally in the years to come?
D: I would love to find a fan base of people that like and appreciate my music, that’s priceless for me. It’s a real joy to be able to share my music with those fans. As long as they like my songs I will keep writing they truly inspire me daily.
By the way, how did your cooperation with the Greek band Wild Rose occur? Will this cooperation continue in the next years?
D: I met Andy through chatting on Facebook, I liked his work and he had heard about me through my CDs, so we got talking and it became apparent that Wild Rose needed a vocalist to finish recording their CD “Dangerous” so I did a short demo of one of the songs for them and they liked what they heard so they asked me to sing the full CD. I really enjoyed doing that studio session as Andy and the guys had some great AOR songs, top quality!
How do you see AOR/melodic rock music in today’s music industry in general?
D: I believe the market is smaller than it was back in the 80s, that goes without saying, but It’s been great to find out over the years that there are small groups of hard core fans around the world that still enjoy supporting 80s AOR music, this gives the opportunity for all 80s AOR rock bands that are still together to keep writing and playing live at festivals and so on… It’s the fans that keep the whole AOR market alive!
Time for our weird questions!!! How do you see the “free downloading issue” of our time? In a world where people easily download music for free and hardly pay for it what can we do in order to change things?
D: I will start my reply with honesty… I’ve downloaded from time to time, it’s a modern day thing, so unfortunately we all have to embrace it like it or not. Having said that and speaking as an artist/songwriter, I would like to just let people know and make them aware that producing music cost money and time so and most artists live off the money they get from sales of their songs and CDs, so the correct thing to do when buying CDs or music from an artist is pay a small fee per song, to help him or her or them to keep writing an funding their recordings. This way everyone wins, the fans get new music all the time and the artists can afford to make new songs.
Are funding platforms like Kicksatrter, Indiegogo etc. the answer to the “free downloading culture” of the 21st century? It’s kinda weird. On the one hand the fans get the music for free without caring that much about the artist/group and on the other hand the fans pay for an album that they haven’t even heard… and most of the times it hasn’t even been recorded! What’s your say?
D: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc. are like you say, platforms for bands to raise money to record their CDs. We all know it’s expensive to record 10 or 12 songs in a studio, so the money is needed for sure. So if trough these platforms fans can help their favourite artists to keep recording that’s gotta be a good thing right? The opposite to this would be that they keep buying the CDs and paying for downloads of their artists music on online digital stores. It’s true what you say about using this system in affect you are paying for a project you haven’t heard yet, I guess you just have to trust the artists you support to keep a standard of material and to give you what you expect musically.
Is music art? Or it used to be? How can those mainstream hit songs we repeatedly hear on the internet, radio & TV be taken as music art?
D: Music is art, for one it has to be created by someone right? Regarding main stream songs, as you know the industry is very different now, most charts are digital download charts to chances are the songs in the top 40 are going to be the ones played on internet radio stations together with main stream radio. It’s just they it is now days, labels won’t invest money into new acts so they have to do it themselves by playing live everyone possible to get there name about and create a wide fan base.
What has changed in today’s music industry and how do you see the “Views, tweets & Likes” mania of our time?!!
D: Everything had changed in the today’s music industry as I mentioned before. Regarding tweets and likes on Facebook, these things are the future I guess, people spend so much time on the internet and specially sites like Facebook. I do haha, funny enough I do try to uses it as a work took mainly, but I guess everyone can’t help but be sucked in with putting photos on their page, sending messages to a friend, commenting on someone else’s views and pics... we all do it hey... haha… sign of the times! But I did hear from industry experts that Facebook will be the way forward for everyone to do business in the future... social media is where it’s at!
Imagine that you’re living in a post-apocalyptic world – like the one in “Walking Dead” What would you choose to be? A survivor – who fights every day for his life or a zombie who seeks out survivors to eat them and why?
D: I would be a survivor for sure... reason for this is my parents divorced when I was only 5 years old and I’ve grown up having to look after myself pretty much, without a father figure, so I’ve got the survival instinct in me.
Which character from the “Game of Thrones” would you have been – if you lived in the Seven Kingdoms? The other guys from the band?
D: Tyrion. He’s great!
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you reckon is the one, that’s more likely to send you straight to Hell, in the afterlife?
D: Greed!
Chatting with you David is always a pleasure. Thx for the music! Close this interview in your own way… take care dude…
D: Hey Thanos, the pleasure is all mine, thank you again for taking the time to talk with me, I’m grateful for your time and support. Take care and hope to speak again soon. Love to all!
D: I believe the market is smaller than it was back in the 80s, that goes without saying, but It’s been great to find out over the years that there are small groups of hard core fans around the world that still enjoy supporting 80s AOR music, this gives the opportunity for all 80s AOR rock bands that are still together to keep writing and playing live at festivals and so on… It’s the fans that keep the whole AOR market alive!
Time for our weird questions!!! How do you see the “free downloading issue” of our time? In a world where people easily download music for free and hardly pay for it what can we do in order to change things?
D: I will start my reply with honesty… I’ve downloaded from time to time, it’s a modern day thing, so unfortunately we all have to embrace it like it or not. Having said that and speaking as an artist/songwriter, I would like to just let people know and make them aware that producing music cost money and time so and most artists live off the money they get from sales of their songs and CDs, so the correct thing to do when buying CDs or music from an artist is pay a small fee per song, to help him or her or them to keep writing an funding their recordings. This way everyone wins, the fans get new music all the time and the artists can afford to make new songs.
Are funding platforms like Kicksatrter, Indiegogo etc. the answer to the “free downloading culture” of the 21st century? It’s kinda weird. On the one hand the fans get the music for free without caring that much about the artist/group and on the other hand the fans pay for an album that they haven’t even heard… and most of the times it hasn’t even been recorded! What’s your say?
D: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc. are like you say, platforms for bands to raise money to record their CDs. We all know it’s expensive to record 10 or 12 songs in a studio, so the money is needed for sure. So if trough these platforms fans can help their favourite artists to keep recording that’s gotta be a good thing right? The opposite to this would be that they keep buying the CDs and paying for downloads of their artists music on online digital stores. It’s true what you say about using this system in affect you are paying for a project you haven’t heard yet, I guess you just have to trust the artists you support to keep a standard of material and to give you what you expect musically.
Is music art? Or it used to be? How can those mainstream hit songs we repeatedly hear on the internet, radio & TV be taken as music art?
D: Music is art, for one it has to be created by someone right? Regarding main stream songs, as you know the industry is very different now, most charts are digital download charts to chances are the songs in the top 40 are going to be the ones played on internet radio stations together with main stream radio. It’s just they it is now days, labels won’t invest money into new acts so they have to do it themselves by playing live everyone possible to get there name about and create a wide fan base.
What has changed in today’s music industry and how do you see the “Views, tweets & Likes” mania of our time?!!
D: Everything had changed in the today’s music industry as I mentioned before. Regarding tweets and likes on Facebook, these things are the future I guess, people spend so much time on the internet and specially sites like Facebook. I do haha, funny enough I do try to uses it as a work took mainly, but I guess everyone can’t help but be sucked in with putting photos on their page, sending messages to a friend, commenting on someone else’s views and pics... we all do it hey... haha… sign of the times! But I did hear from industry experts that Facebook will be the way forward for everyone to do business in the future... social media is where it’s at!
Imagine that you’re living in a post-apocalyptic world – like the one in “Walking Dead” What would you choose to be? A survivor – who fights every day for his life or a zombie who seeks out survivors to eat them and why?
D: I would be a survivor for sure... reason for this is my parents divorced when I was only 5 years old and I’ve grown up having to look after myself pretty much, without a father figure, so I’ve got the survival instinct in me.
Which character from the “Game of Thrones” would you have been – if you lived in the Seven Kingdoms? The other guys from the band?
D: Tyrion. He’s great!
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you reckon is the one, that’s more likely to send you straight to Hell, in the afterlife?
D: Greed!
Chatting with you David is always a pleasure. Thx for the music! Close this interview in your own way… take care dude…
D: Hey Thanos, the pleasure is all mine, thank you again for taking the time to talk with me, I’m grateful for your time and support. Take care and hope to speak again soon. Love to all!