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ROCKWiRED iNTERViEWS DELANEY GiBSON LA Di DA It’s been a little over a year since DELANEY GIBSON released her haunting debut CD ‘THE WORST KIND OF WAY’ to critical acclaim and industry accolades. Now, with the release of ‘HURRICANES AND FORGET-ME-NOTS’, GIBSON is eager to let the world know that the rush between albums has everything to do with inspiration and nothing to do with repeating herself. The honey voiced singer songwriter has not lost her knack for crafting songs that mix misery with whimsy and wit – an unexpected approach that made her debut so memorable and her latest offering so irresistible as evidenced by the tracks ‘PAPER BOATS’, ‘KILL ME NOW’ and the effervescent ‘LA DI DA’. From falling in love to losing in love, GIBSON sings it all and does it better than anyone else that comes to mind. “With this album I think I was a lot more specific in what I wanted.” says GIBSON of toiling in the studio. “I think with the last album, I let my emotions completely dictate. The songs on this album are so emotional that I wanted to step back and go over every lyric. With every line I was like ‘can I make this lyric any better?’ On this album, I really wanted to be a great writer. I took more time with this one. But other than that, not much has changed.”DELANEY GiBSON TALKS TO ROCKWIRED ABOUT HER LATEST CD HURRiCANES AND FORGET-ME-NOTS FiNDiNG iNSPiRATiON AMiD TURMOiL AND KNOWiNG WHAT SHE WANTS AS A SONGWRiTER  iNTERViEWED BY BRiAN LUSH ROCKWIRED spoke with DELANEY GIBSON over the phone. Here is how it went. How do you feel about HURRICANES AND FORGET ME NOTS now that the recording of it is behind you? I feel really good. I’m really proud of this one. This is one of those albums that’s I’ve wanted to make my entire life. I feel that the songs are really solid and I spent a lot of time in pre-production with them. With the last album (THE WORST KIND OF WAY), I pretty much just went into the studio and recorded them but this time around, I spent a lot of time writing and making sure everything sounded exactly like I wanted it to sound. We recorded the whole thing in two weeks so it was really, really well thought out. I feel good about. But when I listen to that first album, I don’t get a sense that it was a slap dash recording. It was recorded over two years. It wasn’t rushed. That album wasn’t pre-thought out. I re-wrote songs half way through the middle. It was actually a long, long process. With this one, I knew exactly what I wanted to do going in. I had no idea that that when you released THE WORST KIND OF WAY, the record label that was about to release it had actually pulled the plug. That’s right. From there I had to start putting it out on my own. It wasn’t exactly my plan from the beginning but it kind of worked out. How do you feel about having to do everything on your own now? I like it better. I never really had any label pushing me to do this or that so I really don’t know any other way to go about doing it. It’s a lot of work. I do all of the website design and the booking. I do every single thing myself so it’s a lot of work. On the other end of it, I love the control that I have. I don’t have to worry about having to do a song that somebody else wrote. I think it’s kind of the wave of the future where labels really aren’t so important anymore. As long you find your fan base and give them what they want then that is all that matters. I can also surmise that the difficult times that we’re living in fueled the creation of this CD. Is that a fair statement? Yes. I wrote the entire album from start to finish in one month. I sat down and all of the songs just came out. I wasn’t even going to make an album. I wasn’t even in the thought process of making another record. Because the last record took so long, I just assumed that that was how long records take. I got motivated by a producer and I wrote all of the songs and recorded them. It all kind of happened. Who all did you work with this time around? Is it the same team or is it different? It’s totally different. It was done at the same studio up in Ojai where I recorded the vocals for ‘THE WORST KIND OF WAY’. I worked with two producers – AARON GOLDBERG and CHRIS JAY- who work in a band called ARMY OF FRESHMEN. They are kind of a pop punk band which is not the style of music that I do at all. They were stepping outside of their sound and producing and they are both from my home town and one thing led to another and I ended up really hitting it off with them. It’s really magical how this record came about. It really wasn’t expected but it all worked out. Has the songwriting process changed for you at all? With this album I think I was a lot more specific in what I wanted. I think with the last album, I let my emotions completely dictate. The songs on this album are so emotional that I wanted to step back and go over every lyric. With every line I was like ‘can I make this lyric any better?’ On this album, I really wanted to be a great writer. I took more time with this one. But other than that, not much has changed. You say that all of the songs were composed in a month. Were there any songs on this album that were particularly challenging to write or was it all just mind to pen to paper? It all just came out. I was just really inspired. I had so much going on in my personal life that I just had to get out. It was one of those things where I wrote a song and showed it to the producers and they would love and say ‘come back tomorrow and brings us another one!’ Sometimes people do get writers block but I think that I had a lot to say. Of the songs off of this current album which ones stand out for you the most and why? What resonates for you the most? I think the most honest song on the record is ‘KILL ME NOW’. That song is very true to my life. I feel really connected tot hat specifically. ‘CAREFUL’ is another one. I pretty much feel connected to all of the songs a lot on this record whereas with the first album, I think there were only like four that I still play. With this album every song is a song that I have a deep, deep connection with. From the time you started recording THE WORST KIND OF WAY up until now, what has been the biggest surprise for you? I didn’t expect to make the second record so soon. We put out he last one in September of 2008. I didn’t expect to make another record for a couple of years. I’m really surprised by how well I’ve captured the live sound on this record. The momentum of everything in general has really surprised. Everything keeps moving and it’s getting bigger and bigger. I’m really grateful for that. What do you think is next for you musically? There will be more touring in support of the record. I want this record to get picked up for as much licensing and television as possible. If there is a label that wants to help out then I’m open to that. I’m trying to get this music out to as many people as possible. That’s my primary goal right now. There are so many possibilities. I get so many new things every day that it completely blows my mind. In the next year, I’m going to try putting out a song a month rather than doing one whole record at a time. Maybe releasing an EP or one or two songs a month is what I’ll start doing. I love how EPs are back in vogue again! They are! They’re quicker and the results are a little more instantaneous. But I still love LP’s and all of the artwork that goes into them. That brings me to my next point. You’ve recruited JEANETTE VILLAREAL once more to do the artwork for this CD. Yes I did. You need to keep her. I am. She’s a really good friend of mine and she is so talented. What was the best reaction you ever got to your music? It’s always amazes me how people come up to me and tell me how much they were able to relate to something in my music that was going on in their life. I got an e-mail from someone the other day saying that they can’t put this record down because every song is about everything that is going on in their life right now. I think that’s a good thing. As a songwriter, I’m just trying to be as honest as possible and sometimes that’s really hard to do. What kind of place were you coming from thematically with this album? The record is filled with themes of unrequited love. It was composed at a low point in my life and at the end of a relationship. It was a really exciting time creatively, but it also left me feeling squashed. I tried keeping some of the material witty and upbeat so it wouldn’t be completely depressing. I try to find the light side in everything. That’s why it’s called HURRICANES AND FORGET-ME-NOTS. What would you like someone to come away with after they’ve heard this album? Hopefully they will feel better about a situation in life and feel like they can have something they can put on in the background of whatever they’re doing and have a good moment in their day. I hope that if anyone likes the album that they tell at least one person. |
