DDA, singer/songwriter David Andrew Devine’s (The Number Theory, Zigman Bird) new musical endeavor, 4, is a culmination of all various influences, including 60’s psychedelia, 70’s easy rock gems, 80’s new wave, alt-rock shoegaze and more. The following has been edited for length and clarity
DDA is something of a solo project compared to your previous bands The Number Theory and Zigman Bird. Is this something you’ve been wanting do for some time?
It wasn’t something I gave a lot of thought to actually. I’m sure not having a band at the time had something to do with it. It was also borne out of curiosity of whether my acoustic music could be translated to a full band format.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve discovered about your own sound now that you don’t have to filter it through other people’s opinions?
I would say I didn’t expect it to be as open-sounding,and less driving, but I think that was due to having most of the acoustic guitar down laying out the song for most of the material and then building off that. And that’s a different dynamic than driving distorted guitars as a starting point. But I’m also starting to get some electric guitar sounds that are encouraging, since I haven’t experimented with them enough recording digitally.
Speaking of experimenting, what inspired the songs on the EP and were there any particular events or emotions that shaped the songwriting of each of them?
The songs are pretty straightforward. They’re just life experiences. A song like ‘Clean Living’ is just a commentary on the health craze, and being afraid of diving in and changing up what is so comfortable for many of us for so long. ‘Camp Jam’ is another, just life experiences of spending time with close friends, listening to and talking music all day.
How do you feel this EP represents your evolution as a songwriter?
Well, hopefully it’s helped make me more of a complete songwriter and being able to record all the parts of a song is helpful to that end. The lyrics are always a bit of a slog though.
Were there any particular musical or lyrical influences on this record? How about songwriters that inspire you?
Not particularly, no. I would say I’m opening myself up to more styles or genres of rock and pop. I’m less concerned if something doesn’t fit the style of my other things.
Now that 4 is out, do you have any plans to perform the music live and if so, would it be as a solo artist or would you recreate the albums instrumentation with a group of musicians?
I haven’t given much thought of that. It was intended as a recording project and I’m comfortable with that for now.
What do you hope music lovers take away from this EP?
I suppose I hope listeners think it’s entertaining and different. The usual. That it’s not bad, at least lol. I’m aiming low. At the end of the day it’s just my art and I hope people enjoy it.
4 is available now on all major streaming platforms and can be downloaded here.