David Nance has dove into the jagged pool of heavy rock and wicked grooves. Powered by roaring instruments and lyrics that are unshackling, an urge for freedom and life is brought up with his enlivening flair. David is a Grand Island, Nebraska native. He has previously spent time living in L.A., but found himself winding up back in the city of Omaha, Nebraska with his wife and beloved dog. He feels that Nebraska is an ideal environment for sending creativity out into the world and watching it grow. Just this past July, David has released his second album, a burning yet delightful collection titled Negative Boogie. This album epitomizes his sense for rugged guitars, and thunderous vocals while scattering unique chimes and drums in a sporadic fashion. A raw undisguised vibration pours out of his music and ripples through each track on this album. While having kept the creative process organic, Negative Boogie has upgraded since his last album, More Than Enough, by kicking it up to a studio recording. B-Sides caught up with David before his show in Detroit that was scheduled to go at the UFO Factory, but switched venues at the last minute due to some damage by neighborhood construction. The consummate pro, David took it in stride and was a great chat.
Welcome to Detroit, David! Last minute you had to change location because of the damage at the UFO Factory. Has something like this ever happened before?
David: Changing venues? Yeah, it’s happened in the past, but I can’t recall. It seems like it’s the kind of thing that just happens. It’s no big deal.
So, you’re from Omaha, Nebraska. Nebraska is known for having quite a bit of tornados. Have you ever been caught in the middle of one?
David: Yeah, I live in Omaha, Nebraska. I’m originally from Grand Island. They don’t really roll through town that much or anything. There’s a lot of tornados in Nebraska, but Omaha doesn’t really get hit that often for some reason. I remember on my block growing up –you know those blue, orange, and white Fischer Price basketball hoops? I remember I had one of those and a tornado came through and lifted it up, and it took it over to my neighbors house that was a couple fences over. He had a trampoline, and they tied it up to his swing set so that we could dunk from the trampoline. It turned out alright! I think most people get screwed over by tornados and stuff, but it kind of worked out in my advantage! I was like five or 6.
Onto your new album, Negative Boogie. It upgraded from a 4-track to a studio. It’s getting really great reviews!
David: Our label gave us some money to go and do a studio. We didn’t really have any money to do that kind of thing. But they funded the bill for doing it so we got to go and do our thing and had a lot of fun doing it. It was pretty cool!
Did it take more or less time to create than the previous album?
David: You kind of just need a plan of attack for doing it. We had three days to just do whatever we wanted to do. The first day we tracked 15 songs, and the next 2 days we were just filling in the cracks. It’s alright, you know, usually when you’re recording by yourself you don’t really have a time limit. But this is like, everyday is $400 or something. So you really feel every second.
Did that make you feel rushed?
David: Yeah, I definitely felt a sense of urgency. The music we’re doing isn’t very complicated and doesn’t require any sort of finesse, really. Just beat a guitar, and it sounds OK!
On this album you played around with a lot of different sounds like cow bells and steel drums. It really enhanced the sound of the guitar! What made you want to include those?
David: In the recording studio, you have a lot of stuff to fool around with that you don’t really have at home –or at least I don’t. I don’t have that much stuff. But they had all this stuff so we decided to just use as much as they can.
I think ‘Trianglehead’ is a favorite of mine. Also, your cover of ‘Silver Wings’ by Merle Haggard worked so well with your voice. Was he ever an influence in your work? Or is the song sentimental to you in anyway?
David: No, there’s not really any importance in the song. I just liked the song at the time. It was just supposed to be a wrench in the album and contrast the other songs. Just wanted to have a country song in their to kind of throw you off guard.
Is there a specific song on Negative Boogie that has a greater value, or stands out the most to you?
David: As far as the content of the songs? No, not really. I mean there’s some that feel more flowery in the lyrics. It’s always cool when that happens. I feel like I can’t really write. Sometimes it comes. But, they’re all just songs, you know?
Well, they all make up a great show. Your live performances are very captivating and entertaining. Is that a goal of yours when recording?
David: You always try. Especially this time. We want to make it good live because it’s always just been on a machine and you’re worried about blowing out the microphone, or something like that. But this time, there is someone turning all the dials for us and doing all the tough stuff, so you can just worry about playing. Which is pretty great, it’s a pretty great luxury to have! It’s been fun. It’s been changing a lot and it’s cool. We don’t really practice or play shows that much at home, but we’re going to.
Sounds like there has been a lot of new and positive experiences coming along. I’m really looking forward to watching you and your band perform live! Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions!
David: Anytime! Yeah, the venue looks great in there. Glad you can watch it!
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