Singer-songwriter David Bayless is taking a monumental step forward with the release of his debut EP, Seismic. It’s a major moment for his solo project which seeks to strip everything back to the bare essentials in order to put emotive storytelling at the forefront. Originally from a small mountain town in Northern California, Bayless now calls Zürich home, where he studied at the Hochschule der Künste Bern and has played in bands like Via Fucina and Colossal Rex. While those projects leaned on the energy of collaboration, Seismic represents an unfiltered, vulnerable side of Bayless‘ artistry. With the quietly powerful triptych of vocals, guitar and lyrics, these five songs wrestle with themes of identity, collapse and quiet resistance. With intermittent flourishes of melodica, mellotron or percussion, the backbone of this EP is the fingerpicked acoustic strings and double-tracked vocals. Those subtle, layered textures are far from perfectly polished, instead there’s a slight raggedness to the record which conveys the humanity at its core. From the production side, Bayless deliberately avoided pitch correction or a heavy-handed approach, choosing instead to embrace the rawness of each performance. For On The Record, David Bayless talks about the making of Seismic, his new chapter as a solo musician and why fragility can sometimes be the strongest artistic statement.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with David Bayless can you introduce yourself?
Thanks for having me! I’m from a small town called weaverville in northern California, and through a series of inexplicable events I ended up in Zürich, Switzerland where I’ve been fortunate to pursue music studies at Hochschule der Künste Bern. I’ve been writing songs since I was a kid but until now I’ve only ever released music in various projects.
Seismic is your debut solo EP, so what did you want this collection of songs to say about you as an artist at this stage in your journey?
I wanted Seismic to be an honest reflection of where I’m at mentally and musically. I realized that with music I’ve made in the past, I wasn’t being vulnerable enough to really make it resonate emotionally the way I wanted it to. I chose to call it Seismic because it reflects the ever-changing nature of life, and how change seems to come from somewhere deeper than what floats on the surface. And I guess you could say that a theme is letting go of control and accepting that change, even when it’s painful.
How was this solo experience different from playing in your previous bands Via Fucina and Colossal Rex?
It presents different challenges. Having other people to jam and collaborate with is incredibly rewarding. You can rely on each other’s strengths and other people always think of something I wouldn’t be able to come up with in a lifetime. When you’re doing it on your own its possible to suffer tunnel vision and have blind spots that don’t get sorted out. With a solo release there’s also a risk that there’s too much of one person’s stamp on it and therefore could lack dimension and depth. But it’s also nice to be able to pick out song titles and album art without having to explain them to anybody!
You’ve approached the recording and production process very mindfully by embracing all those little imperfections, so was that something you prepared for or was this a decision on the fly?
I guess it’s kind of a reflex against this pressure that music has to sound over-the-top perfect if it’s to be considered “good”. One of my formative albums is “Niandres Lades and Usually Just A T-Shirt” by John Frusciante, which is just so fucked up and beautiful. To me its proof that heart and authenticity are infinitely more important than technical perfection. I appreciate well-crafted recordings and performances. But I’m not that kind of performer and its a more honest reflection of who I am to leave it a little more raw and uncomfortable. Plus, I didn’t want to spend 2 weeks making each song sound perfect and suck all the life out of them.
How else have you emphasised the private, intimate feeling of this EP?
I spent a lot of time thinking about the lyrics. I had to dig deep to figure out what I wanted to say, which meant a lot of rewriting. I wanted the lyrics to be able to stand up on their own. I don’t know if I achieved that, but at least its honest.
Across the five tracks, you touch on identity, collapse and quiet resistance. Were there personal experiences or reflections that tied these songs together under the title Seismic?
Yeah definitely. Identity is a theme in the songs Arachnid, Exoskeleton and Husk. The latter two songs are about learning that sometimes we have to leave parts of ourselves behind if we want to grow, or else we end up stunted and annoying or at worst, destructive.
What drew you to the Greek myth of Icarus in the song of the same name?
Icarus is the story of someone close to me and how their inevitable downfall resulted in other people getting hurt and killed. It can be challenging to play live because its a difficult subject. I don’t want to say too much about that one, but you can get a pretty good idea about it from the lyrics.
How did you balance critique and commentary in tracks like ‘Exoskeleton’?
I don’t know if I balanced it really. I remember when I wrote Exoskeleton, I was concerned it sounded too preachy but my friends seem to like it. I guess the verses are the commentary and the chorus is the critique. It’s good to try and have some kind of contrast in the material, whether it be lyrically or musically.
Do you think the minimalist, acoustic instrumentation helped to create space to explore emotional authenticity over sonic perfection?
It’s hard to say. Partly yes, because of how of double tracked acoustic guitars and vocals tend to sound. But I don’t necessarily think lo-fi recordings sound any more authentic just because they’re lo-fi. I think it’s more about the quality of the songs and the intention in the performance.
What else can listeners look forward to from you?
Via Fucina, a project in which I play guitar, has an album coming out early next year. I’m really excited about it. Check us out on instagram!
You can listen the album track ‘Exoskeleton’ in our Folk This Way playlist.
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