A Q&A With David Moore

Classic rock, folk, and Americana, from Texas…

What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
‘Mysteries Of Life’ was written by my good friend and writing partner Jim Patterson. It was written back in our club playing days (1981) and was part of our set list. Jim was a somewhat more philosophical thinker than I was at the time, however I can’t recall any conversations we had about the origins of the song. Honestly, I had to look up the definition of astral projection myself to see what it meant.

What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
Initially the hardest part was finding a guitar player who could play Jim’s part. I was fortunate to be introduced to Jay Michael Smith of The Speaker Wars at a private showing they played in September of 2024 by my good friend Brian Patterson who plays bass for The Speaker Wars. I contacted Michael to see if he would be interested in helping me on a project, he agreed, and finding a guitar player was solved. After that the greatest challenge was a technical issue. I wanted to use the drum part our old drummer played on the song back in the day. Wayne Jarvis was our drummer and he passed away in 2014. So I used an old recording of the song and carefully recreated Wayne’s drum part using MIDI. A very laborious process, however I think the time spent on that paid off.

Who produced the release – what did they bring to it? If you produced it yourselves what do you enjoy most about producing your own material?
I produced the recording which was fairly easy, as I wanted to capture the sound of the song as we used to play it. Michael did a masterful job of recreating Jim’s style and sound, I had the drum part Wayne played on the song, so I recorded the bass part as I used to play… and added some rhythm guitar to fill it out some. Wayne’s brother Wes sang the song originally, and I tried to do the vocals but was unhappy with the results. Ralph Galetti of Albuquerque answered a query I put out for a vocalist. He sent me a demo, we discussed it some, and then he recorded the vocals at his studio. I like the way his sound matches up with the song. I grew up being a big Led Zeppelin fan, and I spent a lot of time studying Jimmy Page’s producing. I would like to think some of that rubbed off on me… he certainly influenced how I look at mixing and producing. I’ve always enjoyed working both sides of the glass. Just as writing and playing a song is a creative outlet, taking the recorded tracks and fleshing them out into a fully produced sound is a rewarding creative experience also.

What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
The music which shaped me were the early bands of the late 60s and early 70s. Back then originality prevailed in both the writing and production of the songs. I think the modern day indie artists tend to reflect more of a genuine originality that seemed to have been lost in music for a while. So by crafting my sound around the music I grew up with, I would like the listener to be exposed to the styles which influenced me so much… and maybe they would be curious enough to want to find and listen to some of the music which I personally feel was the golden age of rock music.

How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
On this current project, due to the fact that I have others involved and we are all in different locations, the first thing to do on my part is to get the drum track laid out once I have decided on song length, composition, etc. Then either I record a rhythm track or I may send it to Michael along with a reference for him to record a guitar part. After that it is just a process of fleshing the song out with other tracks. Once all the recording is done and edited I work on the mix. Then when I have a final mix together I send it to Jeff Lowes of OTR Mastering (Jeff mastered The Speaker Wars first album). Once mastered, I send it off to the distributor to be released. That is when the real work begins with promotion, artwork, updating the website, etc.

What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
I guess to answer that I would just have to go back to my roots. Donovan, Guess Who, Steppenwolf, early ZZ Top, Steve Miller Band, The Beatles, Bad Company, early Santana, early Aerosmith… of course Led Zeppelin.

What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
I would have to say the US, UK, and Australia. Also I would add Brazil and the Philippines to that list… two countries with a great music tradition. Actually I would enjoy playing anywhere that people would enjoy hearing my music. As far as venues my first pick would be the SXSW music festival here in Texas.

If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
Man, you really stumped me on that one. That is a tough pick because I write in different genres and I don’t feel that any one track encompasses my music. I guess if I have to pick one I would go with ‘Mysteries Of Life’. Fairly upbeat, reflects my classic rock heritage pretty well, centered on some good guitar work… although I didn’t play the main guitar part in the song, my music has always tended to lean into the guitar because the Pages, Becks, Gibbons, SRVs, Van Halens, etc. were all heavy influences on my music.

What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
If through my music I can expose some of the younger listeners to a new/old style of music… the analogue sounds of the past coupled with original new songs, I will have accomplished my goals. Beyond that, just recording and producing new music and the satisfaction I get from that is enough for me.

Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
Enjoy life!!! You only have one shot at it, so live each day as if it were your last.

Find out more about David Moore at davidmoore1056.com