David houston sacramento

He even manages to pull sounds like whale lamenting from a cello on one song. Everything is extremely well-recorded. Big surprise, considering Houston's success as a local record producer. We can all stand a little more examination of the darker side of life every now and then, and I can think of no better way to do so than with Houston's "Songs From Winter. Alive and Kicking, December We couldn't have put this CD on at a better time.

The rain was blasting the windows, it was nightfall David's time. Dark yet luminescent, David's tone is well delivered. The Dark Lord reigns on this CD. Leonard Cohen toiling in Sacto; dark music that is not somber and very listenable.

The California Aggie, January 12, David Houston, a. The title is apt, because the CD features songs that are part of Houston's live repertoire he hasn't released previously. So, while the songs are new to be recorded, fans of Houston will instantly recognize the tunes from his excellent live shows. The record label is Houston's own, and it, too, is apt. Houston dwells on the dark side of life with both his sound and his words.

Houston loves to explore the darker side of the human psyche, and does it oh so well. For example, even his songs about love deal with the pain of the emotion. In "Dying For Your Love," Houston sings of a girl who confesses her love for someone else-- which she is afraid to reveal to the object of her affection-- all the while not realizing that she's breaking the heart of the singer who loves her.

Delightfully twisted and dark. Houston also documents his affection for the songs of Leonard Cohen by including three of them here.

One song, "Avalanche," is so much a part of Houdton's live sets that he truly makes the tune his own with his moving rendition. This CD is such a highly listenable collection of something old, something new, that it makes one eagerly anticipate the borrowed and blue sequel.

To say that David Houston has touched the lives of almost every professional musician in Sacramento would be no exaggeration. Whether in the role of producer, engineer or musician, his genuine, soft-spoken approach and incredible talents have enhanced the music of many. This admittedly "gloomy" collection of dramatic ballads and dark pop offers a depth of emotion that can be found only in a simple, sparse mix of instruments and voice. Throughout the album David's vocals literally ache with passionate despair.

However, each song is not without some inkling of hope - or at least a hook - that will have the listener hanging on every on every word. David's sound is complemented by the very impressive line-up of Erik Kleven on Bass, Melissa Olsen on background vocals and keys, and Pat Balcom on drums. Armed with these friends and a collection of very personal originals, David bares his soul in front of intimate gatherings around town on a regular basis.

He sat with me recently to share the following.. DH: This is sort of a representation of how I play live. These songs originate from before The Wendy Tapes [Dave's CD from a few years ago], and I'd perform them in my show and people would come up and ask,"Where can I get that song? Is it difficult to perform such personal material in front of a crowd, or do you just have to detach yourself when you're doing it?

Actually, being personal is what I do. I try to be honest with the listener and with myself and convey that emotion to them. If I detach, I'm not involved in the song one-hunderd percent. A lot of people come up and say, "Do The Wendy Tapes ," with a big smile on their face;it's kind of "happier.

This new CD is stripped down even more. The subject matter is pretty much the same. I think it's very intimate. Do the technical aspects of writing a song come naturally for you?

Do you spend a lot of time focused on creating a new sound that wouldn't necessarily be heard on the radio? Well, don't tell anybody this but I don't listen to the radio. I listen to a lot of local music; I try and support the local music scene, you know. If someone is having a CD release party, I go and buy one and listen to it.

And I try to catch the occasional MTV. I don't think that what I do is necessarily radio-oriented. I don't want to say that I'm not radio friendly or that I don't want it to be played on the radio. It's just that that's not my priority right now.

My priority is to write a good song and put it in an environment that touches somebody else. And, by not listening to the radio, your influences remain pure? Well, that doesn't mean that I don't listen to current music. You still find stuff that you like Have you received any indication that these songs will get on the radio?

To tell the truth, I'm really bad at self promotion. It's the first thing I would tell somebody who came to me and asked for advice, that it's easy to make the CD and get it packaged. The hard part is to try and sell it, which is the promotion: have it at gigs, try and get it on the air, get all the advertisement you can I'm awful at that. But it doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. I understand you have a pretty good-sized following. I'm trying [laughs].

I need to try other places. I tried to play at The Blackwater in Stockton, but nobody knows who I am there - not more than ten people. That can be extremely fun, too. I think there are seventy names on my mailing list [laughs]. Old Ironsides is doin' great, Fox 'n Goose They try to do a lot of local AND larger acts on there way up. Do you think downtown is too cliquey? It seems like some bands would never get a gig at Fox 'n Goose or Harlow's Well, wherever you are there is always a "scene.

I think the one that I happen to be plugged into downtown seems very open. Like Kevin Seconds doing the open mikes. He really tries to encourage everybody to play and is very non-judgemental. Getting straight to your question If there's a scene going on' it's easy to say "I couldn't play there," or "how do I Go to that open night mike for example.

Just go in, and hang out with everybody, and it's pretty friendly. There's an open mike night out in Folsom, and that would be the same situation for me. If I went out there, I wouldn't know anybody. I'd be on the outside of the clique. It would be just a matter of going there every week and getting to know the people. Do you ever have trouble articulating the sound that you want to the rest of the band? That's what was so great about this new record. I try to create a very spontaneous environment where Erik, for example, is free to play whatever he wants within the frame of the song.

So one night it might be one thing; another night it might be totally different. And Missy and Pat are the same way. They're very intuitive musicians as far as grasping the initial intent of the song, but having the freedom to not play the same vibe everytime.

One night a melancholy, durge song just drags on. Another night, the same song all of the sudden has a heavier beat to it. It just changed because we felt different.

Just come in, don't think about your part We did everything within two or Three takes, and that's what we used. Though you're a seasoned veteran of the studio, I'm curious if you spend any time practicing the guitar. I practice, but I don't just sit around and figure out licks. I'll play a song. It still feels new, like I'm learning something everytime I play a song on the record and try not to fall back on the same thing.

I think a lot of my practicing is in writing the song Are you just as comfortable on the stage as in the studio? I think once it starts - once you actually get into the song - most of the time, yeah. Other people say, "Why do you like to go out and play? It seems so egotistical," and I say, What do you mean? It's fun to communicate with people.

I'm not a really good communicater just talking. I wouldn't be quite as honest. I would avoid the emotional part of it. People say I'm pretty aloof that way. But when I'm singing, I don't do that.

I think that's one reason I enjoy it. When you're performing, do you set your own mix or do you have someone else monitor it? I used to have someone help me. So the other band kinda tweaks your sound and you tweak their sound. It's cool that bands can work together like that. I guess most of the places downtown are so small that you can kinda tell when your up there You can't.

Because it changes so much from one song to song. I do some songs that are really soft, with vocals that are almost spoken. So a sound man might turn that up.

So it's a luxury that is very important. On your CD, did you agonize for a long time over the mixes? A lot of times , yes, I agonize over mixes. This time I didn't. The whole intent was not to agonize over the mix. I think I mixed the whole thing in a weekend.

Is your studio open to the public or do you just take in projects that you want to? Yes [laughs]. It's not really open to the public, but I'm open to projects that I want to take on. Mostly it's word-of-mouth and recommendations. When I was younger, I sold a guitar once and totally regretted it. I went into withdrawals and said that I'd never do that again.

So now, when I feel like I have to change my sound and get a different guitar, I won't sell it. I'll keep it and four or five years later I'm glad I did because I'll pick it up and start using it again. Readers can check the weekly listings but what dates do you have coming up? I'm definitely doing the last Saturday of January and February at Luna's. Generally we do every last Saturday there. We really like to play there because it's so intimate. It's sort of our little gig together that we always look forward to.

Although such records can be iffy propositions, David has managed to make this record every bit as good as his other fine original CDs. He got the idea as he was working on the release of his Public Nuisance material, when he was ask by Old Ironsides' Kim Kanelos to play at one of the venue's theme shows Thus this CD is all songs from Which songs are they you ask?

Ah, that's half the fun here. David didn't put a song list on the CD artwork, preferring to let people try and identify the songs themselves. He will eventually post the list on his Web site, but meanwhile you can have fun testing your '60 musical knowledge. Public Nuisance was one of the great lost bands of the Sixties, having built up an admirable reputation in the Sacramento area through live performances while never releasing any recordings during its time beyond a failed single.

Once Pat Minter replaced Holmes as bassist, a shift was made towards vocals and the more British influenced rock that was all the rage.

Houston and Minter shared songwriting and vocal duties, and several more recording stints yielded enough material for two albums. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond their control kept all of it from seeing the light of day until it was finally compiled on a double-CD collection in called Gotta Survive. Tracks from another recording session remain lost, but everything that could be recovered is apparently included in this collection.

As welcome as the archival approach is, it does prove to be too much of a good thing in a few cases. Listening to both versions of the first two recorded songs will likely be of interest only to completists since the later renditions are superior to the originals. So more can be less, but ultimately we should be grateful that music of this overall quality should finally be made available after being lost for almost 35 years.

But these sentiments will never really go out of style as long as a national policy of aggression exists to rebel against. Since the dissolution of Public Nuisance, David Houston has kept himself busy recording music for other artists at his own studio. You are commenting using your WordPress. When you're coming up everyone you admire is a giant. As you find your own way, tell your own story, the heroes get smaller. I think the next record producer I fell in with was someone I'm still friends with today - David Houston.

David founded a studio in south Sacramento called Moon Studios,. David was in the late '60s proto-punk rock band Public Nuisance,. David's still at it today, producing mostly indie artists, those left of center enough to understand his ethos and quirkiness. I did so many sessions as a musician where David engineered or produced. They've all blended together now. What I will always remember about David though is his tempo. Not time as in drum time, but the pace at which he carried himself.