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Recently, we had the pleasure of speaking with Dab Heathcote. Among other things, we touch on what he’s been up to during the lockdown, his newest music, his origins, and what he’s looking forward to the most once COVID-19 breaks.
If you would like to learn more about Dan Heathcote, you can head over to his Instagram, Twitter, and SoundCloud pages, and dig in. Cheers.
Andrew:
Dan, I appreciate you taking the time today. How have you been holding up over the last year or so? What have you been up to?
Dan:
I’ve been writing a lot of lyrics/poems, and have just started to write some new songs. I am also about to release my debut solo acoustic album, Limbic System, on CD. It was released digitally on Bandcamp in late August last year.
Andrew;
Before we dive into your professional career, let’s go back a bit. What first got you hooked on music?
Dan:
I remember hearing Pink Floyd on vinyl as a kid. My Dad had most of their albums. I was fascinated by Dark Side Of The Moon and The Final Cut. At about age twelve, I bought my first albums — Nirvana’s Nevermind, and also, U2’s Achtung Baby. Those two blew me away. It wasn’t until later that I got a guitar at age sixteen, and started writing my own songs at about eighteen. The death of Jeff Buckley in 1997, and the posthumous release of his second album, Sketches For My Sweet Heart The Drunk, was when I knew I had to devote my life to music-making. Jeff had such a stellar voice and had something to say poetically before it was all taken away after he drowned aged thirty accidentally. The idea of him being dead, and time being in such short supply, I thought you have to do what you love, and if you have a talent you can’t let it go to waste. I was starting to discover my own talent and voice. I was always into writing, but then I found I was able to combine it with music to a more dramatic effect.
Andrew;
Who were some of your early influences?
Dan:
Other early influences include Radiohead and The Verve. Radiohead writes such original, and imaginative songs. The imagination is the main tool for songwriting, it helps to have a vivid one. OK Computer was like a prophecy about the modern world which seems to have come true.
The Verve had such an atmospheric sound, and their early records such as A Storm In Heaven, and A Northern Soul have guitars that are skyscraping, blissed out, and ambient. The sky was the limit in terms of effects like reverb and delay. It created another world. I got more into pedals and found that that kind of sound worked with the chord progressions I was writing. Distortion is good too. I loved the Grunge bands, and Soundgarden opened up the world of altered tunings. A lot of my songs are in DADGAD tuning. The rules and the strings can be bent to make them drone more!
Andrew:
Let’s talk about recent events first. Tell us about your new album, Limbic System.
Dan:
Limbic System is an acoustic record. It’s my debut solo album. It’s been waiting in the wings for a bit, due to the pandemic. It’s available to stream, and download digitally on Bandcamp. It’s a stripped-down record with just voice and acoustic. The vocals are very clear and present, like they are in the room with you, floating above the guitar. It has some tracks that maybe could have been on a record by my band Zadkiel, but for whatever reason, that hasn’t happened as yet (Although the band has been working on a version of “Needles and Thorns”). Limbic System is the name of the part of the brain that processes emotions. The record is very emotional.
The lead single, “Hive Mind,” is a fictional tale of revenge after a betrayal. The song talks about a corrupted system where angels have taken bribes.
“Elsewhere Debauchery Orchard” is about escape through derangement of the senses in an idyllic place, an intoxicating relationship. “Needles and Thorns” was written about an ex-girlfriend who had a serious drug habit, and how destructive that became, like a black hole pulling us both towards it. I was the one who resisted it, but I had to remove myself from the equation, and walk away not knowing how best to help her. I lost touch with her eventually, but the last I heard she was doing well.
Andrew:
What lyrical themes are you exploring with your new music?
“Chiron,” the second track on the album, is named after the wounded healer concept from Carl Jung, and depth psychology. It’s the name of a centaur from Greek myth who sacrifices his immortality to save others. In Jung, it’s the idea that when wounded we can heal others but not necessarily ourselves. “Chiron” is a love song, the chorus is very happy-go-lucky, and the verses are more moody, speaking about “the womb of heaven, a wounded being, healed by Chiron, the fever seer.”
“Cyberwomb,” the first track, talks about eating the sun, and the sin. Smell the flowers while you can. Eating the sun is a metaphor for drug-taking or attainment of happiness through love…searching for fulfillment through destructive or harmonic ways, “Smell the flowers while you can,” relates to making the most of things in life which is too short for all of us, really. There are other themes on the album too, but the main idea is this is all fleeting but beautiful even in the darkest moments. There is hope.
Andrew:
How about the production side of things? Do you self-produce, or do you bring in outside voices?
Dan:
I recorded the songs very simply with my producer Doug Robson. We used three mics on the guitar and then recorded the vocals separately afterward. I do record music on my own computer, and mix but not master it, but these are demos. I have a golden rule that something is unfinished unless it’s been mixed, and mastered by someone else.
Andrew:
Are you into vinyl? Cassettes? CDs? Or are you all digital now? What are a few of your favorite albums, and why?
Dan:
I personally like CDs. The sound is kind of polished and has a certain clarity that I love. Vinyl is good, a warmer sound of a band in a room with you, but CD sounds close to how it would sound in a studio, and that’s more my thing. I listen to digital on headphones which are good when traveling, but nothing beats a good pair of speakers with the sound bouncing off the walls.
I’ve mentioned some albums I love already, but not mentioned the new acts I’ve been into recently:
Martin Grech’s latest album, Hush Mortal Core, was ten years in the making but was worth the wait when it was released online last year. I loved his first two albums, Open Heart Zoo (released age 19), and Unholy (its heavier counterpart). Hush Mortal Core plays with time signatures more and goes towards modern Prog, which I have gotten into more now, especially Porcupine Tree, and Steven Wilson.
I also discovered I AM X in the last few years (Chris Corner from Sneaker Pimps). His lyrics and voice are fantastic. You can hear the struggle and self-examination in the lyrics, but the honesty and intimacy are mixed with a great turn of phrase. It sounds a little bit like Muse, but more Electronica. Volatile Times, The Unified Field, and The Kingdom of Welcome Addiction by I AMX have inspired me to go a bit more Electronic with my new demos.
I also love late-period Bowie. Especially, Outside, The Next Day, and Black Star. He was so uncompromising towards the end. A real visionary.
Andrew:
What other passions do you have? How do those passions inform your music, if at all?
Dan:
I love to read and watch films. I take notes whilst doing so, and so, they become lyrics that I piece together from the poetry I have written. I use a stream of consciousness and cut-up technique to assemble the lyrics into the actual songs. Film is like escapism into another world, but the themes often resonate for longer if the film is good. I like to rewatch the classics now and then. By classic, I mean, my favorite genres such as Sci-Fi and Horror. anything by the three Davids — David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and David Fincher. I also enjoy the work of Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, and Darren Aronofsky, to name a few. I love soundtracks for films/TV Series too. Blade Runner by Vangelis is probably my favorite, but I couldn’t pick a favorite film there are too many.
Books are good for using your imagination and I like to visualize the story in my mind’s eye. That often stays with me over the years, rather than remembering the dialogue. For some reason, the film in my head whilst reading a book lasts the most clearly. Some of my favorite writers are Jeff VanderMeer (Annihilation), and China Mieville (The City and The City).
Andrew:
In your opinion, what is the state of the music business these days? Should artists be hopeful? Scared? Both?
Dan:
The music industry is in a state of flux. In truth, it’s always changing, which presents challenges as well as opportunities. There seems to be a lot of noise to cut through and not so much investment in new bands and guitar music by record companies, (everyone seems to be a solo artist these days!). On the other hand, the internet has made reaching people directly easier in a sense. In terms of digital distribution, you can get your product onto the major platforms, where it can be seen, and heard by potentially millions of people…potentially.
In reality, the pay rate for these platforms is less inspiring. YouTube is a great promotional tool, but in terms of remuneration, it’s poor. You need millions of plays to gain some traction and make a comfortable living. I am old school and still buy physical products from record stores, or directly from the bands themselves (to cut out the middle man).
Spotify playlists seem a bit soulless to me. The album needs to survive as an art form, and attention spans have definitely dropped. The recording technology has evolved though and is more freely available, and new spaces have opened up to sell your music online which is good. I just think social media has distracted us from rather than directed us to exciting music. As for the live music scene, it has been dealt blows by both COVID and Brexit, but there’s nothing like seeing a band live…once it is safer to do so again. It might explode back into a resurgence. I hope so. I am cautiously optimistic.
Andrew:
Last one. We seem to be nearing a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of COVID-19 restrictions. That said, what’s next on your docket? What are you looking forward to most in the pos-COVID world?
Dan:
Ditching the mask! And getting back out there onto the live music circuit. Getting back together with bandmates, and planning our next record, and touring. I am also looking forward to hearing any new music which might attempt to talk about some of the rollercoaster feelings we’ve all have been through. The 2020s have been mostly a downer, but the situation won’t last forever. It can’t rain all the time. It will be a great relief once we get everyone vaccinated, and go back to business as usual. Some great albums might come out of this period…maybe something a bit different, a new genre.
I have family in Germany and would love to go there again to see them. There are some great festivals, and venues there too, so hopefully, I’ll get to be at the in some capacity either as a listener or playing there!
Interested in learning more about the music of Dan Heathcote? Check out the link below:
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