A Conversation with Derek Fawcett – HuffPost 10.10.14

Mike Ragogna: Derek, your new solo album Feel Better is a fresh start for you creatively. Having been the front man for Chicago’s popular band Down The Line, what made you decide this was the time to release your own album?

Derek Fawcett: I’ve never been a hugely prolific songwriter. I kind of write “when the spirit moves me,” you know? As I’ve been playing more and more solo shows, and spending more time in that headspace, I started writing songs that sounded different than anything I’ve ever written, like a series of previously hamstrung ideas had wrested themselves loose. Between that and the positive responses from my solo live shows, it seemed like a good time to record my solo debut.

MR: What style of music would you call what you’re creating?

DF: I used to think that the standard “pop/rock” label was sufficient, but a lot of people keep referring to it as “Americana,” and the more I think about it, the more I think they’re right. The artists that I think were the biggest influences are people like Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, James Taylor, and Billy Joel…all of whom are mostly considered “pop/rock” stars. But were their signature songs released today, folks might call them “Americana” too — American stories, told earnestly, passionately, and with melodies that won’t let you go.

MR: You collaborated creatively with a few other musicians and artists on this project. What was the evolution of that?

DF: When deciding where to record, I had a couple great options, but I ultimately settled on Nashville, where Cody Fry [Ben Rector, Charlie Peacock, Hunter Hayes] and Niko Xidas [Matt Wertz], were pumped at the prospect of recording with me, while still being very thoughtful and thorough from the beginning of the process. It was extra special for me to work with them, not just because they’re both tremendously talented, but they’re also both former music students of mine, and we had performed together a bunch already in that context. Working with them on Feel Better was truly a ‘everything comes full circle’ moment, as I’m sure that I learned a ton from them while we made this album together. Cody and Niko brought on Mark Trussell [Billy Currington] and Stephen Wilder [Steve Moakler], both on “Kinda Like A Love Song I Guess.” Getting to work with Tim Marks [Taylor Swift, Lionel Richie, Jewel] on bass was a truly a lucky stroke. We had met once, years ago, through my dear friend Brett Farkas [Rihanna, Lord Huron, Solomon Burke], and when my friend Duncan McMillan [Aretha Franklin, Marcus Belgrave] heard that I’d be in Nashville recording, he instructed me to seek Tim out. We met up for coffee at Portland Brew in East Nashville, talked about our mutual friends, the state of Detroit — I grew up nearby, and he used to live there — and our families. At the end of our time together, he offered to play on my album before I could even ask him. I’ve been one lucky cuss to be able to work with these folks!

MR: Do you feel that you pushed yourself harder with the songwriting and performances on this project, maybe a little beyond your work with Down The Line?

DF: Down The Line was very much a 4-man squad, each guy making his own contribution, but the weight of the band never on any one of us. With Feel Better, the writing, arranging, singing, lots of the keyboard playing…all ultimately fell on my shoulders, though again, thankfully, Cody and Niko were huge contributors here, and the album sounds the way it does because of their fantastic influences. No creative project that I’ve ever been a part of has drained and stretched me quite like this one…the good news is, the ultimate effect is an album that feels — to me, anyway — urgent, pertinent, and compelling.

MR: You being the artist, it would be interesting to get a tour of the album from its creator. Can you give us your thoughts about the album’s tracks and maybe some more insight into the themes behind the songs?

DF: “Feel Better” was written in 2011, and is the first song and the title track. Lots of fun ideas followed: gang vocals, stomps, claps, etc. Lyrics here are like lead weights. The just being, “You won’t get better until you stop drinking, but in lieu of that, you should go.” The start of the chorus always reminds me of an intimate, vulnerable, high-voiced Neil Young moment. “Pick Up” is the first single — a chaotic, danceable romp of a tune, borne out of a dropped, important, emotional phone call while I was in Nashville working on the album. I feel like “Tongue Tied” by GroupLove is “Pick Up”‘s spiky-haired cousin. Listen hard for fun, unorthodox sonic additives. When I sing or think about the 3rd track, “Drive Away Cryin’,” I imagine a couple’s fiery argument outside some same-signage-since-the-’70s dive bar on Woodward Ave. just outside of Detroit. The guy projects strength, but is actually really torn up. With it’s 6/8 feel, it almost feels like a more muscular Nick Drake lament. Instrumentally, Cody and Niko exchange hi-fives throughout this track, great synergy between them).

Track 4’s “Never Here” mirrors what I imagine…not my scene! The euphoria-to-despondency of infidelity feels like, and now has a really dramatic piano arrangement for my solo shows (Tim Marks shines here with his leering bass lines). “Kinda Like A Love Song I Guess” is one of only two ‘rays of sunshine’ on the album and is probably the most “country” of the tracks. Mark Trussell’s dense, layered guitar-work here gives this song a color all its own. Simple story, but lovely in its simplicity. “Romeo And Juliet” reminds me a bit of the vibe in John Hiatt’s Crossing Muddy Waters album, which I love — earthy, earnest, spacious and sad. “Not My Call To Make” is practically the Feel Better story, if written by Tom Petty. “I am admitting and coming to terms with the fact that I have no control over what you do to yourself.” Despite the heavy subject matter, the payoff at the end still feels triumphant somehow. “Just In Case” is the 2nd sunshine ray, coyly saying that, “I might be able to find another way without you, but I’d rather not.” Imagine James Taylor and Fountains Of Wayne collaborating with Plain White T’s when they were recording “Hey There Delilah,” The album ends with “Nothing Left To Say,” a somber, Jackson Browne-at-the-piano soliloquy with a culminating twist. The musical idea began as an effort to write a song for a friend’s wedding, but it took a strange, dark turn early on, so I finished the song and sent her a card instead.

MR: At what point did you realize the album was finished? I imagine it’s hard for an artist to finally realize the canvas is complete.

DF: When I arrived in Nashville, I had some writing to do and decisions to make to arrive at 9 songs, which was my relatively arbitrary target. I finished a couple songs, wrote a couple, and got within striking distance, but I knew I was finished when I was sitting at my piano in Chicago — between Nashville trips — and came up with the last piece of “Not My Call To Make.” It was just this little piece of “glue” that made the rest of the song work — I had started writing it years ago, but it was always missing something. But I remember feeling like, “Whenever you sit down to write measure #1 of your next album, this section will be the piece of music that you wrote just before that.”

MR: Having worked with Tim Marks who’s worked with Taylor Swift, I’m sure you have an ear to what’s going on in pop music right now. What are your thoughts about the scene these days?

DF: It’s tough to boil any facet of music making in 2014 down into a single “scene,” even at the local level. In Chicago alone, there are dozens of “scenes.” Were I to try to sum it up, I’d say this. The following things are both true now and have been true for a long time… There’s a lot of music right now that’s very popular that makes a lot of musicians and critics roll their eyes, there are a lot of new musical gems that are getting unfairly overlooked, it’s very difficult to make money making original music, it’s challenging to make a musical statement that hasn’t already been made — and made better — by someone else, and the pursuit and creation of making original music is still one of life’s great thrills for all who undertake it.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

DF: I’ll share some advice that I’ve been trying to adhere to myself since, as a soloist, I’m still somewhat of a “new artist.” The most important thing that you can do is to do all you can to make great music. None of the other stuff like promotion, social media, etc., are worth anything if the music isn’t arresting. Every musician now competes with every piece of media out there now: every TV show, movie, cat video, and other song. Mathematically, it’s unlikely that any of us have a shot a capturing anyone’s attention, but that chance goes from infinitesimal to zero if the music isn’t genuinely great. To that end — to borrow some advice from celebrated jazz singer Kurt Elling — seek out people who are, in one way or another ‘better than you’ to collaborate with. You’ll constantly be striving for something better because you’ll need to hustle to keep up with your collaborators.

MR: What does the future hold for both your solo career and Down The Line?

DF: The Down The Line guys continue to be 3 of my best friends — all three will stand up in my wedding in January — and our music together continues to inform the music I’m making today. As for Feel Better, it comes out on October 7th, and I’ll be touring extensively thereafter. “Pick Up” has started getting played on about a dozen radio stations across the country, and I’ll also be performing live-in-the-studio for WRRW in Virginia Beach and on the Fox 2 Morning Show in St. Louis. Most of these shows will be solo performances, and I’ll be getting to a lot of my tour destinations via Megabus, so I’m anticipating a lot of songwriting, photography, and “reports from the road” between shows, be encouraged to follow along!