A Conversation with Gavin DeGraw – HuffPost 10.28.13

Mike Ragogna: Hey Gavin!

Gavin DeGraw: Hello Mike, how are you? It’s nice to hear from you again, man.

MR: Same here. So you made your move on Make A Move. How was this move different than the last move?

GD: That’s funny. I think this album is kind of a continuation in the direction of Sweeter but we took it even further. So Sweeter was my first attempt at co-writing for the album. There were three or four co-writes on that album where everything prior to that, I was the only writer. With the success of the album, especially with “Not Over You,” the process was much more doable, working with other people. When it came time to make this album, I wanted to just continue that angle of writing with other people. It took a lot of the pressure off and it made it a lot more enjoyable for me. This album is really a full swing in that direction versus it kind of being a halfway. I think these songs are a lot more interesting because there are so many different personalities on the album as far as the writing is concerned. A couple of songs with Ryan Tedder, a couple of songs with Kevin Rudolf, Butch [Walker] produced some stuff; Benny Blanco, Busbee… There’s really quite a collection of personalities on it and I think you can really hear it.

MR: Yeah. And one of the cool things about the album is you integrated everything without losing your own sound.

GD: Thank you, man. Hopefully, we’re approaching enough different styles here. But with Martin Johnson, we kind of got together the way I first started with Ryan on the last project. I got together with Martin at Backwoods studio here in Nashville and we wrote a song called “Everything Will Change” that we were really happy with. We liked the direction of the song, we thought it was an inspiring song, we thought it was inspirational, and then we got together again in Los Angeles at a place called Conway studios. It’s an interesting studio because it’s such a collection of artists who come in and out of that place and there are so many big shots who are recording at all times in that structure. You’re kind of walking around going, “Holy s**t, I can’t believe they’re here, too.” It’s just constantly happening while you’re there. But while we were working together there, Martin had kind of a drum beat going and I strummed the guitar fast and he goes, “Sing something to this, sing something, anything, just whatever!” and I said, “Okay,” and I started singing. I sang “Melt Antartica, savin’ Africa, I failed algebra” and he goes, “And I miss you sometimes!” I said, “Hey, that’s actually kind of funny.” That gave us a direction for our stream of consciousness angle of sorting out information and then bringing it back to the personal, making it a little bit of a love story. There’s sort of an erratic element to the lyrics but at the same time I think it keeps the song very interesting.

MR: What are you doing internally as you’re writing these songs? Do you have a constant goal to get better? Is it an organic process or what?

GD: I think everybody’s goal artistically is to hopefully improve and at the same time, continue to just broaden your horizons. It’s hard to say if it’s necessarily better or not, but personally, I feel this is a growth year happening and I feel really proud of the outcome. Personally, I’m happy with the fact that I was able to adapt to writing with other people, I think it really changed my life and changed my career. It really made the whole experience of being in this particular industry a lot more satisfying for me on a personal level. I was writing alone so much, I was feeling a bit like a hermit. I’m a social enough person but as far as my career was concerned, I was so isolated in my artistic process that I wasn’t feeling the community element of the music business. Writing with those people really helped me enjoy it a whole lot more. I think that’s it. I think that I’m feeling improvement not really because I’m writing and it’s because of me, but that I’m feeling improvement because I’m writing with other people and because I’m with those other songwriters and artists and producers who I find to be inspiring. I feel them challenging me in the best possible way. It’s sort of like when the magician is tugging on the endless rope of handkerchiefs. I really feel them pulling that stuff out while we’re in the creative process and I find it to be a lot more rewarding because there’s someone to say, “Yes, I like that idea now, better than the last one,” or “You can do better than this one. I think you’re halfway there, let’s keep going.” That barometer really helped.

MR: And in some respects, it’s like you’re mentoring each other.

GD: I think so. Realistically, the fact is that there are really, really gifted people in this game. Some are enjoying success right now, some have had success and they’re about to have success again, we just haven’t heard from them in a little while because that’s the nature of the beast, but there are a lot of talented people here and it’s just a matter of hopefully finding your niche in a timely manner and hopefully, it will fit into a slot if possible or maybe break new ground somewhere or find a market by the fluke of opportunity that happens. You never know when it’s going to happen or if it’s going to happen but I think one of the goals of this particular album was to make it very diverse and by making it diverse, hopefully, it will be a broad enough landscape artistically that by the time the album release came out, there’d be something that might work on the radio. That’s just the nature of it. You’re hoping to put enough entrees on the menu that everybody at the table can order something.

MR: [laughs] Nicely said. I also have to ask you the traditional question. What advice do you have for new artists?

GD: Oh wow. I’m not really much for advice because I don’t necessarily feel much like I’ve figured it out. I’d say that being adaptable is just as important as having a style. It’s a really funny balancing act between having certain things that are your trademark and that are your thing, and at the same time, being able to adapt with whatever the musical landscape might be. I think there’s both. Hopefully, it doesn’t sound like too much of a dichotomy, but I really think there are always those two things. One is adaptability and the other is making sure you have character.

MR: Hey, and speaking of Kevin Bacon–fine, we weren’t–but I would like to point out that you are now in the first of Six Degrees of Ryan Tedder.

GD: [laughs] Ryan is definitely one of the common denominators in the music business. He’s an incredibly talented guy, he’s a very likeable guy, and he’s someone who really encompasses what I just said about having adaptability and having trademarks. He really is one of the people who has a beautiful, musical mind. He’s creative and at the same time, he understands each artist. He’s really, really good at bringing all of that stuff together. It’s a very unusual characteristic.

MR: Very nice. Gavin, I want to wish you all the best making your latest move.

GD: Thank you so much, man, and thank for mentioning Kevin Bacon because he’s one of my favorite celebrities of all time.

MR: You’ve got it. Bye, buddy.

GD: See you later, bro.

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne