Today I’m excited to share the latest music video from singer/songwriter Damion, called “Come Alive.” The single comes from his forthcoming debut LP called Special Interest, that will release on July 20th via Earth Libraries. On the song, Damion shared, “This is the last song I wrote for the album. It occurred to me that most of my songs are full of augmented, major 7 chords, and other weird chord clusters I can’t even name, so I wanted to write a really simple song with only major and minor chords. I recorded a demo by myself and the music sounded so vibrant and confident that I thought I needed to write lyrics from the point of view of a bush-league character.”
I was also able to catch up with Damion for more insight on the upcoming debut record.
Can you tell me a little bit what influenced the direction you took on your debut album?
I had the rest of the songs for this record written and ready to record before this one even started. I remember listening to Paul Williams’ songs for Phantom of the Paradise and thinking I wanted a song like that on the record. I don’t think this song even came out sounding that way, but that’s definitely where it started. I added the synth lead part despite the fact that it made the song sound so much like “Seven Year Ache,” but it didn’t feel nearly as good on any other instrument, so I figured it was the right call.
What inspires most of your songwriting, and how do you typically write your material?
I get an idea, usually when I’m out driving or walking around, then I let it just sit in my head for a while before I try to do anything with it. Usually music comes pretty easily, along with a few lines of lyrics that make no sense yet because it’s just like the second line of a verse or half of the chorus and nothing else. So I kind of have to figure out what the song is. I generally have no idea what the song is about until it’s like 90% done. I always demo songs really thoroughly by myself, because listening back on the stereo is really the best way to know if it’s a good song to listen to. I think the best songs are the ones whose melodies hit me before the words. Sometimes I’ll hear a new song and it’s the chords and melodies that stick with me. I’ll listen again and realize that the lyrics are incredible, but I didn’t even pay attention to them the first time. The best songs almost always follow that pattern. I like simple lyrics that don’t necessarily work as words on paper, but are right for the song. The most perfect song ever written in my opinion is “Marie” by Randy Newman.
Has the environment you’ve lived in led to any musical inspirations? Also, a lot of this new album reminds me of that lo-fi AM Radio type of sound. Was that intentional?
I’ve lived in Bloomington for a while and played in a bunch of bands here, but I’m not sure if the town has influenced the kind of songs I write as much as it has influenced the way I conduct myself in bands and in the studio. I mostly played hardcore punk or way harder rock stuff in other bands before, but the community is so small and tight that going to other kinds of shows and playing in a bunch of different kinds of bands has been really easy. As for the other point, the only actual AM Radio I listen to is Coast to Coast AM. As an umbrella term I get what that means, but the stuff underneath that interests me the most are one-hit wonders like Starbuck, or people who are seriously underrated by current standards like Laura Nyro, Italian movie scores from that era that are kind of like regular film scores, but they have guitars and drums and rock way harder. And a huge thing I gravitate toward is that moment when country started to groove in an almost r&b direction, like Jim Ford and Mac Davis records from the early 70s. I truly don’t think of myself as a very nostalgic person, but I definitely do take influence mostly from that era.
How did you stay active during the pandemic?
During the pandemic I got way better at solving crossword puzzles, practiced the piano a lot, and have tried to learn more about recording.