Devics - A push to the heart

Three years on from the beautiful "The Stars at Saint Andrea", Dévics return with a new, moving album: "Push The Heart". Word reaches me that Dustin O'Halloran will be spending a few hours in Milan before heading back to the United States, and I tried not to miss the chance to have a chat with him.

I imagine we could easily have this conversation in Italian.

Maybe English is better…

I know you're living in Faenza now.

Well, I live between two cities now: I go back to Los Angeles very often.

How did you and Sara work on this new album?

With this record we had more time apart. We started writing it separately, then Sara came to Italy for a while, and then we went back to Los Angeles to do some recording, and to San Diego for some more, together with Pall Jenkins from Black Heart Procession. Then we came back here and did some more. They were literally very different places from one another. We started thinking about the songs independently.

Was it easy working this way?

You know, we've never gone through the same situation twice, because life evolves. Now I spend a lot of time here. It's always different. This time it was a bit of a challenge because it was the first time we spent so much time so far apart, but I think there are both positive and negative sides to every new situation we work in.

In the past, with our first two albums, we'd arrange the songs with the band and then record them, but with this record it was the first time we wrote and recorded at the same time.

So can we say that “ Push The Heart ” had a difficult conception, and yet I find the album's atmospheres to be fluid and linear. Was it easy to reach that result?

Absolutely not. This was probably the most difficult record we've ever made.

For this album we wanted a lot of people involved, but as soon as we finished it, Sara and I decided to keep working on it. It didn't feel like it sounded the way it should, it didn't flow the right way, so we took some songs out and decided to write others and approach them in a much more intimate way: in the end it was just Sara and me. The last two songs we wrote for the record, "Come Up" and "Salty Seas", are very intimate, and in fact it's just the two of us on them. We tried to keep them as uncomplicated as possible, to really get to the heart of the song. I think we got there in the end, but it took us a while to do it.

It almost sounds like you had a very clear recording process in mind.

You know what you want to achieve, but the way it actually comes out is always different (smiles).

On the first day in the studio in San Diego with Pall, we had so many problems with the computer. We had a week to record, and the moment we ran into technical issues, the whole process ground to a halt: you lose time, and that changes the way you play too. It never goes the way you plan it.

"Push The Heart" is a lovely title. Whose heart should we push, and why?

The interpretation is open... In the area between Bologna and Florence there's this beautiful waterfall in a village called Premilcuore. The English translation is very different from what it might mean in Italian, it has a completely different meaning.

On the other hand, it seemed to us that a lot of the themes on this record were about opening up and evolving. There's a lot of talk about love, but in an absolutely positive way, maybe even more hopeful than before. There are several meanings, and it struck us as a beautiful phrase because it can be interpreted in so many ways.

I was glad, but also surprised, to hear that you'd signed with Bella Union. You had your own record label, so what led you to sign with another one?

When we recorded our first two records, we set up our own label, and trying to do everything yourself, you know, it's really too much to handle. It's already hard enough being an independent band — there are so many things you have to take care of on your own — and trying to run a label at the same time was like walking down two different paths. If you want to do either one properly, you have to put in a huge amount of energy. It seemed to make more sense to have someone else take care of putting out the records, so we could focus better on making music.

Knowing that your record wasn't going to come out on your own label, but on someone else's, did that lead you to take a different approach to writing the songs and recording them?

It doesn't affect it at all. Probably one of the biggest ways a production can be shaped is by what means you have available for recording — whether you decide to go into a new studio, which could be expensive... We did a lot more "home recording," and that's something we started doing with our latest record.

Mmmhh... maybe that was a silly question.

No, it wasn't a bad question. We get some help from Bella Union, but it's still an independent label, so we have to rely on home recording and cover the recording budget ourselves. That definitely affects how you conceive of the record.

Your music pairs really well with images, and I know you've worked on some films.

Yes, quite recently I made a solo piano record, and thanks to that Sofia Coppola asked me to write some songs for her new film, "Marie Antoinette." It was thrilling because she's a great director. It was a wonderful opportunity, and the film is beautiful.

My interest in cinema has always been very strong, and I'd like to be involved in it more often.

You just mentioned "Piano Solos," your solo record. Why did you decide to make one?

It was something I'd wanted to do for a very long time. The piano has always been an instrument I consider personal. Even during the time I spend playing with Dévics, the piano is always a kind of place I return to after making music. It's always been, for me, a way to close out the day, and the record was a natural step because it was something I was already writing.

I wanted to make something that was absolutely not rock, completely minimal, and with no lyrics. Something that was open to everyone, something that was... stripped bare: you know, with Dévics the recording process — and the whole songwriting process for a record — can be very long. You always have to think about so many things, and sometimes you end up overthinking it. There are so many decisions to make, and everything gets complicated. For me this was a chance to do something that was truly pared down to the essentials, completely uncomplicated, and genuinely personal.

I didn't even know Bella Union was going to put it out. It was something I did mostly for myself. It just happened that I played them the songs, and they liked them.

I was surprised by how many people listened to it. You know, it was already strange enough for a piano record to come out on a rock label, but to have that kind of success!

I'm already working on number 2 and I've almost finished it. I hope it'll come out this year, maybe towards the end.

I admit I'm surprised you'd consider an instrumental record "stripped bare." I almost get the feeling you didn't want to release it…

You know, it's brave to make a record with just one instrument, and I don't think I'm a virtuoso pianist – honestly, I don't even want to be, not at all – but it's so "open" that there was some hesitation. In the end it was really wonderful, because I think that's how it's supposed to be. Maybe that's exactly why so many people liked it: because it comes across as something "natural".

We've talked about your solo projects. Does Sara have one too?

Yes, Sara is working on her solo record. I sometimes help her out, and she's also working with our bassist, Ed Maxwell. She's already got a few songs ready.

Will it have that classic Dévics sound?

When she works on her own, Sara writes in a completely different way: she's more geared towards singer-songwriter territory. She hasn't been playing guitar for very long, and her approach is very innocent.

I think it's important for both of us to have solo projects, because in any collaboration you have to compromise. It's healthy to put our energy into solo projects, because it's nice to have something where you can do exactly what you want and where every mistake is entirely your own. (smiles).

Let's go back to talking about you. You have a classical training and you've always mentioned Debussy, Chopin and Satie as your main influences. How do you draw on your studies when working on a rock record?

It's probably something that happens on an unconscious level. I think it mainly affects how I decide to use my voice, for the chorus and maybe for a few melodic lines. I couldn't really say: it's not a conscious thing. What's probably more conscious is moving away from the classic rock influences. I think that's the only conscious part of it, simply because I realize that so much has already been done and, even nowadays, there's a huge amount of new music out there, but it's still always a repetition of what was done in the Eighties.

I firmly believe it's important for musicians to be aware of the era they're living in and not be nostalgic: that was their moment, and those people, at that time, created certain situations, but they were in their own era and doing things that had never been done before. I think that matters: it's important to experiment, even if you're not following a trend.

From my point of view, a classical influence is timeless. On "Piano Solos" there were tons of classical references, but what stands out most in the band's songs is probably the harmonic sense.

You play a huge number of instruments. Do you approach each instrument differently?

The only instrument I've ever studied is piano, so my approach to any other instrument I play is basically not knowing what I'm doing (smiles), which, in my opinion, is the best thing, because you have no rules: you're truly open. It's a lovely moment that unfortunately doesn't last long, because after a while you start to understand how the instrument works. I'm always very curious whenever I get a new instrument, and I try to learn it. It's about staying in touch with an innocent, basic kind of writing. It's a connection you have to know how to maintain in order to find balance, so you don't overanalyze what you're doing and always remember where things come from.

I like simplicity, and I've never wanted to play something that could be extremely complicated, because I think there's a lot of beauty in simplicity. It's something I pay very close attention to.

You were talking earlier about voices. I think your voice and Sara's could blend really well together, so why don't you ever duet? Is there a particular reason?

Usually the fact that I sing isn't a conscious decision. Sometimes I write a song on my own and something good comes out of it that we like, so then we might think about using it for the album.

There are times when Sara likes to sing in the background of something I've written, and I like that because her voice helps keep a connection with the rest of the record.

The closest thing to a duet we've ever done was on our previous record, “The Stars At Saint Andrea”, for which we wrote the lyrics together. Usually she writes her own words and melodies, and I write mine, in case I actually have to sing.

What was your idea of Italian music before you spent so much time in Italy, and how has it changed? If it has changed at all...

Honestly, the most common idea we have in America is of older music, of classic themes. Since I've been here, I've tried to find something new, but it's hard for me: it's a pretty vast field. Some friends have introduced me to a few interesting things. Probably what I like most are soundtracks from old films. I know a few bands like Giardini di Mirò and Yuppie Flu. I try to discover other bands, but it's difficult.

Can I ask where the name comes from?

For us it's become a description of our music. I don't give it any meaning beyond that. We don't connect it to anything else, partly because when we chose it, it wasn't associated with anything in particular, and I think we liked the idea that the name could represent only our music: it wasn't tied to anything.

It has an ancient meaning, but it's not something we feel attached to.

(Milan, January 11, 2006)

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