David J | Bauhaus | Love and Rockets | Interview | Reissue of Solo Album, ‘Urban Urbane’

David J is a founding member of legendary Bauhaus and Love & Rockets and has been releasing solo albums since the 1980s.

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‘Urban Urbane’ is his fifth solo album, originally released on MCA in 1992. The album has been recently reissued by Schoolkids Record. It’s a musical travelogue of sorts with the initial recordings taking place in the tiny English village of Guilsborough then London, New York and Los Angeles and aside from referencing those last three ports of call, the songs also name check New Orleans, Saint Petersburg and Memphis. It is a kind of collection of poetic snapshots from an itinerant drifter on the run. The record is graced by contributions from a stellar cast of guest musicians including T Bone Burnett, Peter Murphy, Sonic Boom, Danny Thompson, Max Eider, The Uptown Horns and Charlie Giordano (East Street Band) amongst others. It was co-produced by the great Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Los Lobos et cetera).

To celebrate ‘Urban Urbane’s’ 30th Anniversary, Schoolkids Records released a beautiful collection exclusively for Record Store Day for the first time ever on vinyl. It contains a 2xLP gatefold record, with an entire second LP of unreleased outtakes and demos and full download code. We managed to get a hold of David J just before RSD 2023.

“‘Urban Urbane’ is a travelogue of sorts which reflects my itinerant lifestyle”

It’s really fantastic to have you. Have you found the recent isolation creatively challenging or freeing?

David J: Thank you. For me it was an intense period of creativity. Aside from writing and recording several solo songs, I also collaborated with Victor DeLorenzo and Darwin Meiners on a new project called Night Crickets. We recorded an entire album via remote during lockdown and have continued to work together in this way. Consequently a second album is nearing completion. I also returned to painting which is something I’d been meaning to do for years. When Covid hit, I thought, well, now is the time! There will be a show of this work in LA in the summer. So yes, very productive times.

What led you to start working on ‘Urban Urbane’? Are you excited about the upcoming reissue via Schoolkids Records?

‘Urban Urbane’ is a travelogue of sorts which reflects my itinerant lifestyle. I had just signed to MCA and they threw a bunch of money at me so I decided to blow it all on recording with a dream cast of musicians and producers. Half of the record was made in New York City and half in LA with some initial recording taking place in Guilsborough in the UK. I’m very excited by the idea of releasing the album for the first time on vinyl on Schoolkids Records. I’m a big supporter of Record Store Day and Stephen Judge, head of the label, is one of the good guys.

 

The recording process probably took quite some time as it was recorded at various places. Do you feel that reflects the sound of the album?

Yes it does and not only the sound of the individual studios but also the very different environmental qualities of those places. I was really drawing from my experience of being in those different cities and soaking everything up.

And you had some truly incredible guests on it, including T Bone Burnett, Peter Murphy, Sonic Boom, Danny Thompson, Max Eider, The Uptown Horns and Charlie Giordano (East Street Band) amongst others. How do you remember the studio time?

I remember it as being delightful! Very focused and productive. I learned a lot. There was a spirit of free flowing collaboration which is something I relish.

It’s a double vinyl reissue, with an entire second LP of unreleased outtakes and demos and full download code. Tell us about those recordings.

Well, ‘St. Petersburg, October 69’ is all about Jack Kerouac and his last night on Earth. I started it at Far Heath Studio in Guilsborough and finished it at Dave Stewart’s Chapel Studios in Los Angeles. T Bone was especially inspired by that session and I love his guitar work. He gets the best tones on his instruments and is, of course, a brilliant player.

‘Some Big City’ is the demo of that track which appears in a very different form on the album proper. It was recorded at Far Heath Studios which is a little place in the English countryside. At the end you can hear the rain striking against the window which looked out on all these rolling verdant hills.

‘Loner’ was also recorded at Far Heath. It was just me layering instruments and singing on top. For that heavily distorted guitar I had a telecaster going through a tiny practice amp and just overloaded it to the max. I love the tone of that. I left the track off the album as I wanted to go for a more ensemble feel.

‘A Passport And No Tears’ fits the album so well, thematically but again, it’s just me and didn’t fit in with the ‘band’ concept. I think it has a lot of self effacing charm and I’m glad that it will finally be released as part of the set.

Would you be interested in talking about ‘Quelle Tristesse’? Would you say you approach music making any differently these days?

Well, ‘Quelle Tristesse’ is just one track which is a tribute to my dear departed friend, Pat Fish AKA The Jazz Butcher. I wrote it the day after he died and like other elegies that I have written, it is the way that I process those very challenging experiences. I asked various musicians that had played with Pat in the past to contribute to it and this was done via remote with the files journeying around the world until they ultimately returned to me to mix. I will be including it on my next full album which will be released some time next year.

“Reaching for something just beyond our collective ability”

I gotta ask, if I would play ‘In the Flat Field, ‘Mask,’ ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ and ‘Burning From the Inside,’ what would be some of the recollections of the albums. What runs first through your mind hearing those Bauhaus albums?

With all of those Bauhaus albums I would say that the overriding feeling is a sense of reaching for the stars. Yes, reaching for something just beyond our collective ability as musicians to fully articulate which resulted in a certain kind of naive, broken beauty.

What are some of the most important players that influenced your own style and what in particular did they employ in their playing that you liked?

As a bass player, Errol “Flabba” Holt for being the rock solid root of the roots of reggae. Jah Wobble for being totally in the pocket and for that beautiful fat tone.
Paul McCartney for being innovative, driving and super melodic. Fernando Saunders for being sinewy and ever so tasteful on that fretless. John “The Ox” Entwistle for being one of the first bassists to step up and make the bass a lead instrument rather than simply part of the rhythm section.

Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.
 
Very much looking forward to RSD this year. My experience of working with the Schoolkids label has been really wonderful. ‘Urban Urbane’ will be the third release that I have done with them and somehow feel that it will not be the last. Long live the independents!

Klemen Breznikar

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Schoolkids Records Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube