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07.12.04
With lyrics poetic and a voice distinctly his own,
Brian Donahue tells us about his latest musical creation,
his aspiration to work with films, and his gorgeous
baby boy.
 Tell
us a little bit about the album. How would you classify
the sound, and what do you think of your music. When
did you start recording this? Anyone notable that you
worked with?
Strangest Love was kind of an evolution as well as
a return to my roots. Music has always been cathartic
for me, and the songs I write are always releasing some
emotion or mood I'm feeling so that I can sort of acknowledge
it, immerse myself in it, and hopefully kind of tuck
it back away by the end of the song.
When I started writing as a teenager, mostly on keyboard,
I wrote some really mushy, heart-on-sleeve, pop-oriented
stuff. Pretty basic stuff - a lot of ballads from a
lonely, chubby high schooler's perspective. Just after
high school and the demise of our mostly-classic-rock-cover-band,
I decided to start a new band, by posting flyers for
members. I met two complete strangers who became two
of my best friends. Along with an ever-changing drummer,
we were a band from about 1992-2000. We all came from
different musical backgrounds, and we all grew together
into what I believe was a pretty rad rock band by the
time we were done. My songwriting got darker, and hopefully
a lot deeper, then my earlier attempts. But I still
tended to gravitate towards more down tempo stuff, and
sometimes it was really hard to write a new "rock"
song to keep our set from getting bogged down. Towards
the end of Glori-H, we were finally recording a full-length
of stuff we had been working on for years, and the recording
was going slowly, mostly because we had no money. Things
got stale and we all were getting a little tired. We
decided to call it quits, and I ended up finishing our
record mostly on my own.
I also started to focus on writing and playing the
solo acoustic material that would become Strangest Love.
I wanted to just let go of trying to sound this way
or that way, and just sort of write freely and explore
my natural voice rather than trying to be a "rock
'n' roll singer." I came up with a lot of mellow,
moody material - befitting of a solo singer/songwriter,
I guess. I started playing solo acoustic shows, and
sort of established a home base at La Tazza 108, a cool
loungey club in Philly.
 In
2001, I got together with a great multi-talented musician
friend of mine, Russ Starke (www.russellstarke.com),
who was interested in playing bass on my stuff. We played
together as a duo for about 6 months, and then found
a great drummer (who fortunately met my "Russell-only"
requirement), Russell Gellman. We were all curious to
see how these pretty little acoustic songs would sound
with a band behind them. Thanks to the Russells, they
were sounding pretty great, and we started recording
in late 2002. Initially we were trying to do a quickie,
and get a quality demo of 8 songs. I re-united with
a producer/engineer friend of mine, Tommy Joyner, partner
at MilkBoy Recording, and the two of us kind of got
carried away producing the material. Things started
sounding really great, and we basically worked on and
off for a year to make a fully produced album. I've
never been great at classifying music, but I tend to
call my own stuff some version of emo/folk/pop/rock.
I think most of the music I love doesn't really fit
neatly into a single category.
Your voice is so distinct. Did you take lessons?
I never took private singing lessons, but I did sing
in the chorus throughout elementary and high school
and really enjoyed it. I had a really pretty tenor voice
back then. Then I went through my rock phase and kind
of found the more gravelly, loud side - and probably
ripped up my vocal chords in the process. When I started
doing solo acoustic stuff I wanted to rediscover the
pretty side of my voice, but also couldn't really shake
the raspiness I'd developed.
Impressive! When did you realize you wanted to
be a musician? Do you do this full-time?
 When
I started writing songs in my teens, I knew it was something
I'd never give up. It was so therapeutic and rewarding.
I felt like I could take all this bottled up emotion
I felt I had, work with it, wrap it up in a song, and
then I could visit it whenever I wanted, so I'd never
forget it, but I also could put it aside, and not let
it weigh on me. It's a coping mechanism for me, and
I don't think I could ever stop playing music and remain
(relatively) sane. Unfortunately, no one has backed
the Brink's trick up to my door yet, and said "Here
ya go,- play music!" But I'm still waiting... It's
a really tough thing to support a music habit and exist
in the real world, too. Time is scarce to focus on what
you really enjoy - not just for musicians, but for most
Americans trying to hold down a day job. In addition,
my girlfriend and I had our first child a year and a
half ago, and he's just so cool and fascinating that
it's even more difficult to pull away and try to sit
down with the guitar for a few hours. I just try to
manage my time as best I can, and make sure I make time
for music, and all the business-y stuff that comes with
being an independent musician. Sites like DiscoveringArtists.com
are great, and I'm so happy you listened to and enjoyed
my record, and were willing to feature it.
Your song "Hurricane" rocks. What does
it mean to you personally and why do you think it's
been so well received?
I can't say for sure why that song seems to resonate
with people, but maybe it's for the same reasons it
is special to me. It just seems simple and pure. The
inspiration for the song came on a dreary fall day when
I was dragged to Atlantic City for some "morale-building"
with some co-workers. There was a hurricane forecast
for the next 24 hours but we couldn't re-schedule. The
sky was an odd color, the boardwalk was mostly closed,
and they were using bulldozers to reinforce the beaches
in case of tidal waves and flooding. It was just a surreal
and depressing day under the guise of a fun outing where
we all were supposed to be bonding while popping nickels
into slot machines. I had recently broken off a long
relationship, so in that atmosphere I was drawn to thoughts
about that. When I got home and grabbed my guitar, Hurricane
just kind of poured out. Basically I was just kind of
picturing the end of a relationship as being on the
beach just after a hurricane, looking over the rubble
and picking up the pieces, wondering if there's anything
left that's salvageable.
If you could achieve one goal with this music,
what would it be and why?
There's just no bigger sense of accomplishment for
me than writing a song that I'm really proud of, and
that moves me, and that will always be my primary goal.
There is also an incredible sense of validation and
connection when other people are moved by something
you've written. Of course I would love to get to the
point where I could play music for a living, and devote
the attention to it that I'd really like to. I used
to dream of being rock star, but that's not really something
that motivates me at this point. If it were, I think
I'm probably writing the wrong kind of music. I think
I'd be completely happy to just be able to make a comfortable
living through music. I was a film major in college,
and would love to have some songs in film, or write
music for film. If I could do that, and continue to
write, perform, record, and make a living, I think I
will have achieved all my goals. But I'll always find
something else to aim for.
Who have people compared you to, musically?
 The
one comparison that I can't seem to shake is to Ed Kowalczyk
of Live. I'll be the first to admit that I was a huge
fan of Throwing Copper, and some of their other stuff,
and that definitely influenced me in the Glori-H days.
But I am a little surprised when people mention it now
when they hear Strangest Love, or see a show. I guess
we both have similar vocal qualities, although they
seem very different to me. And I guess we're both from
Eastern PA! Other than that I hear comparisons to a
wide variety of singer/songwriters. I think people see
a guy and an acoustic guitar and think they all sound
similar - and maybe we do! The ones I like to hear are
of course artists I love, like Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley,
R.E.M....
"Strangest Love" has some poetically
eerie lyrics. Explain where they came from, and if it
was based on personal experience.
Everything I write comes from something personal,
even it's just a mood I'm feeling that I turn into a
story that may or may not be based on personal experience.
The mood takes over the song, and I draw from personal
experiences to match the mood. So most songs end up
being a kind of collage of true and fictional stories
that just build the theme of the song. Strangest Love
fits that mold. It's about a relationship where you
can't have what you want, but you can't give up what
you have. You get torn between trying to grab more,
and trying to let go.
Brian, thanks so much for taking the time to talk
to us about this awesome album!
Interviewed by Kristen
Fischer
DiscoveringArtists.com
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