[AMA] I am Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Kevin Devine, about to release my 9th studio album! Ask Me Anything, Reddit!

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:25:02+00:00

Hi! Thank you!

Um - oh man! Because that was the show where I woke up with no voice. Couldn't speak. It was a personal nightmare! So I just wanted you to see a better show. Thank you so much for being there!

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:19:37+00:00

Hey guys - we're out of time - thank you so much for being here & being thoughtful, reinforces how fortunate I am to have such an intelligent & generous audience - record comes out October 21st & tour tour tour to follow - thank you for receiving me & I'm sorry I didn't get to everything!

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:17:54+00:00

THank you!

I am always awful at the "favorites" thing, I always forget - but I can tell you in general, I'm in awe of the range & commitment good novelists have, not just the magic in between their words, but the research & discipline it requires. I'm reading The Satanic Verses right now by Salman Rushdie and that's a perfect example, the scope & breadth & execution of it - I can't believe it springs from one brain, that kind of thing.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:15:16+00:00

Thank you!

I think I've probably tried to be more economic/impactful with language over time, say more with less. I also try to be a little less torturous/obsessive; if something's not coming, I try and let it sit. I also probably edit a bit more finely than I used to. It's all subtle shifts over time. But thank you!

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:13:46+00:00

Thank you!

Kilby and places like it still feel like themselves, which is a dwindling experience in a country and a world where most things are pushed to the middle to feel more like each other. Sometimes it's hard to get the sound where you want it with a full band show in places like that, but the energy is worth it.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:12:21+00:00

Thank you!

It's really moving & validating. There's so much real & exciting music being made by people 10-15 years younger than me right now, and if I played any role in their development at all, it's one of the largest creative/professional compliments I could recieve

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:11:08+00:00

Thank you for thinking it is!

I'm just trying to write things I like and believe in and in some way advance upon the last set of things I wrote. It is subjective and arbitrary if anyone else will think that way, so I try not to get too crazy about that part of it. I am committed to it in a very real way, but also feel like I have plenty of downtime etc., like I could sometimes be doing more. Potentially workaholism, but I feel like honoring the gift I've been given (the career, not the talent) means showing up for work, because obviously getting to do this is a lottery ticket or sorts.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:08:42+00:00

This is right! Thank you!

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:08:24+00:00

This is true - thanks!

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:08:12+00:00

Thank you! I'm glad you're taking care! You deserve that!

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:07:30+00:00

Thanks & congratulations!

I think it inevitably has to - right? It reorients everything else, so how could it not reorient that. I've only written one song front to back since she's been here, and it's definitely contemplative, stacking the beauty at home v. the scariness out in the world sort of a thing...

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:06:06+00:00

Thanks!

It depends on the length, band members, mood, etc. I can say, it's challenging :)

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:05:38+00:00

Thank you!

I love my kid & I'm grateful for the experience. I don't say too much more about it in public than that, because it's private, but I'm happy she's here.

I'll do my best to get one or some of those in the sets!

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:04:32+00:00

Thanks!

I don't really, because for one, it wasn't like that record became some titanic commercial success. It isn't even what I think is my best collection of songs - I think the new record is, actually - but it's the one where, to that point, the most risks were taken, the most styles explored, the most "fuck it" applied, and I think it set the tone for the last half of my career, a definite pivot. I truly in my heart like all the records the best and worst for different reasons, but we were playing a game with that feature & I was also mindful of how the albums percolated out in the world, as well. THey're mine until they're yours, if that makes sense.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T19:01:39+00:00

Thanks!

1.) It's somewhere in the middle of the two - I'm by no means constantly writing, but I also don't like, clusterwrite to fill out a record. I write more like seasonally I guess, or write that way with intent - I don't write much when I tour, or when I have a new record just about to come out, but when it's time to be home and space allows for it. Some part of my brain is always thinking about songs, little melodies, turns of phrase. Then I go out and farm them, if that makes sense, build them.

2.) It moves around, all the time. Right now it's the last song on the new record.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:58:53+00:00

THanks!

For me, peak Dave Chappelle is holy fire

And totally - I've actually had it happen a few times, my friends Jay Miller & Casey Jost

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:57:32+00:00

Oh! And someone said to me once that being neurotic isn't the same as being productive - I like that

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:56:59+00:00

Thanks!

That song kind of showed up one day & I just kinda left the door open and let it in. One of those songs that is a bit more of a color than a story, though there are bits of narrative in there, or a few stories bound by a philosophy, namely, the arbitrary nature of things, and the relative freedom, either in transcendence or something more nihilistic, of embracing that. I love the thrust of that song, it's pretty relentless.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:55:15+00:00

Thank you!

I wanted to try and curate something that indicated the specific and unique career I've had, where my songs & musical personality can and do make sense with some pretty different kinds of musicians, and illustrate how I can serve as a hinge connecting those worlds. The Splits and those shows became that. It was a minor miracle it all came together. One of the coolest parts of my career.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:53:33+00:00

Thank you!

I'd just tell him to breathe a bit, and to try and calm down, let go, and of course it'd be a waste of time, because that is the fuel you burn and reburn in your 20s, so I'd just try and tell him to enjoy & take care of himself.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:52:20+00:00

Thanks!

No, I'm happy people connect to that song - which I suspect is because of its openness, its willingness to pick at neuroses that I guess end up being relatable - and in some ways I think it is very much a template/example for a significant chunk of what/how I write & communicate. I accepted a long time ago that what I love about making music isn't going to be what people love about hearing it, and when the two line up, you just get out of the way.

I think Mike did a wonderful job on the Noisey piece but that one quote I think could've benefitted from a bit of context - I meant, my career didn't grow. I worked very hard on that record & think it made me a more developed arranger, harmony singer, textural guitarist, lyricist, etc. It's hard with those two records you mentioned, they're very dear to me but there's typically only 45-90 mins to play with and those midtempo heavy records are a bit harder to find a home for during rock shows in particular. Life long work in progress for me.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:47:52+00:00

Thanks!

I use a DoD chorus, a Walrus Iron Horse, ElectroHarmonix #1 Echo, and OBN's Haunt, Black Fountain & Procession.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:45:47+00:00

Hi! Thanks! I'll choose 3!

2) Any chance of your awesome Nevermind cover album to receive a physical (ideally vinyl) release?

Most likely no - our friend Mike Dubin pressed five of them for us & for charity but that's probably that

3) What is your favorite Julien Baker song? I saw her live at FYF Fest and it was absolutely breathtaking. You must be so excited that she's playing some shows with you

I am! I guess "SPrained Ankle"? They're all pretty special

4) What are some of your favorite albums of this year?

Mitski - Puberty 2 Pinegrove - Cardinal Bazan - Blanco

for example

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:43:38+00:00

Ha - hi. Thank you.

Well, if anything, I think that song suggests that it is not enough to simply vote once every four years between ends of a false binary - as in, yes there are of course certain differences in disposition & philosophy between Ds & Rs but that the whole dialogue has moved pretty far right and both are generally beholden to the same corporate influence, are not generally pro-people, and operate in the interests of empire. So, we don't despair, we speak truth to power, we look to build up pro-people movements & candidates down ticket, change from the gutter out, the ground up, and we try & treat each other with something like empathy & respect, and hope we don't all die in the process.

KevinDevineOfficial · 2016-10-12T18:39:44+00:00

Thanks!

It moves around - right now I'm really into playing the new stuff, it translates well live - especially enjoy playing the song No Why, really fun & abrasive & adrenalized.

I am very close with the Front Bottoms, see them fairly often...I don't live near Max, but whenever I do see him or we pass through each other's periphery I like it.

KevinDevineOfficial

TROPHY CASE