Q&A: dba James Takes Deep Dives on Production Process, New York Indie Scene & New Single “7*” That Hones in on Honesty
THE VERY EXISTENCE OF A PROJECT LIKE — dba James proves that the digitality of music does not imply superficiality. The minimalist-maximalist producer has returned with yet another thought-provoking single, “7*,” challenging every sonic status quo at his own pace.
Glittery production with bittersweet lyricism, the stable duo and through line for dba James’ discography get realized once more in this latest follow-up single to “45” and “Comeback.” Alongside his peers in the New York indie scene, dba James is part of a movement that is redefining the boundaries of bedroom pop, where lyrics go introspective into scapes of vague metaphors, with sound distortions that trigger deep consciousness and production that feels larger than the space it occupies.
In an era in which singles champ long-form projects, with every release cluttered by mass content and TikToks, dba James somehow never followed the popular route and still garnered cult-like support. His SoundCloud is full of fan-favorite tracks that may or may not ever get an “official” release, his singles drop days after simple yet ominous spray paint teasers, yet an EP is in the book and due later in 2023.
Upon the release of “7*,” Luna caught up with dba James on his production process, the correlations between singles, and through lines and their meanings.
LUNA: What's one song you’re currently obsessed with?
DBA JAMES: Right now I actually have a few. [There are] a couple that I have on a pretty constant rotation. One is “No One Dies From Love” by Tove Lo — [I] just started listening to her last week, or two weeks ago, and she's absolutely incredible. Slept on for me. And then this post-hardcore band called Touché Amoré. They've just released a double single, and a song called “Green” off that double single … I've been listening to a lot.
LUNA: Out of the three singles that you have this year so far, “7*,” “Comeback,” and “45,” which song do you like more?
DBA JAMES: That’s a great question. Probably “45,” I think. I feel like whatever the air pressure was that day I recorded it, it just had a quality to it that I haven't gotten consistently in music. I also wrote it at a time right when I moved back to New York, so there's a lot of exciting energy around and there's very minimal editing on that song. It came out really quickly. So for that reason, I think it's kind of my favorite.
LUNA: And do you mix your own songs?
DBA JAMES: I try to. Most of them I do; I have help sometimes. I'd say 90% of what I release is mixed by myself. And even if I have somebody touch up the mixes, they are done before I send it. I don't really know how to mix super well — it's something I've been trying to learn for a long time and I don't really have that analytical brain that mixers do. So every time I mix something, it comes out kind of weird, (laughs) and for me, that's great. I think it makes things a little more unique, but I definitely don't mix for other people.
LUNA: “Comeback” out of all of it probably has the cleanest production, which I wonder, in terms of production and mixing, was that song done by someone else? But that one is stylistically interesting because it's between “45” and “7*.” What happened with that track?
DBA JAMES: That was a kick I was on over COVID. I wrote that in early 2021. I recorded it and mixed it myself. I was listening to Benny Blanco a lot at the time, and Selena Gomez, Bad Bunny — I was just getting turned on to Bad Bunny and that really clean, sparse vocal thing. The vocals are in the center of your head and then everything else is on the sides — it's very spatial. “Comeback” is me learning how to do that, and then I kind of lost interest in that practice. I actually deleted the session file for the song. So I only have the MP3 of it. I don’t have anything else. We wanted to work on that song a lot — there are so many times where it came up and we were like, “We should change a vocal or we should do something,” but I don't have the session anymore. So “Comeback” is unique because the last time I closed the session was probably two years ago, and it hasn't been touched since. So it's fun to hear exactly where I was and not have a chance to change it at all.
LUNA: But if you deleted the session, what are you playing as the track when you perform it live?
DBA JAMES: For “Comeback” specifically, we haven't tried it live yet. But I think a way to do it is just, like, blast the MP3 out. And just play it in the room, like, my band can play it. We've learned it and we play it together. But you know, we haven't tried it live yet. So I'm not really sure what we'll do. I've done an acoustic version of it before, but it doesn't really hit the same. I'm not really sure what we're gonna do for the live show. We try to keep [as] this similar to the album as possible — none of the parts really change. We've added transitions and some songs are fast — we would speed up some songs and change the key so I can be louder and stuff like that. But yeah, the goal for me live is just to match the record. That's been sort of challenging because we're playing small clubs right now, so getting the systems to sound like the record is hard, but it's fun. When I go to see a band live, I’m the type of person that loves it if it's exactly how I hear it on my phone. I think that's special.
LUNA: I was gonna ask, because it's been singles after singles so far, and back in December you weren't sure that there was going to be a compilation yet. Is that in the works at the moment?
DBA JAMES: That's the next thing that we're focusing on … just keeping the writing going as much as possible and eventually coming away with four or five songs to put on the EP. I don't know when it's going to be out yet, but I just know that I've gone so deep into the writing process for this and there's so much music. It's going to be one of the most difficult things to compile for me personally, just because there's so much. But yes, there is an EP coming. Hopefully with some tour dates and shows.
LUNA: I know that you play a lot of New York shows and Heaven Can Wait seems like such a cool place, and literally all my favorite artists from that scene have played that venue. Have you toured much before? How is it different when you compare it to the current New York underground scene?
DBA JAMES: Yeah, I have toured quite a bit. I think something special about the scene in New York is that it's so populated. For every one genre, there are four or five people kind of doing the same thing. So you start to see a lot of pods develop, groups of people chasing a similar execution of a sound. And elsewhere in the US, you're lucky to have one cool, exciting, interesting group per major city. So yes, it’s competitive in that way. But it's also really fun because I've never been able to have so many friends that are doing exactly the same thing that I'm doing. There's a lot of camaraderie, and being able to be surrounded by people who are on the same wavelength as you. So I'd say that's the main difference. In New York, it definitely feels really intentional. Certain bands will seek out certain venues to play because there's a community or kind of like a vibe that's already curated there. So I think that's really fun. But I hope I can see that in more cities across the US. I remember Houston had a really interesting hardcore scene — obviously, the Midwest is really big. But yeah, that's the main difference.
LUNA: Beyond your own EPs and singles, have you worked on anything with your friends? I've seen Richie Quake on your story, Middle Part, Morning Silk. So I'm sure that you guys have been in some sessions, but is there any collaboration work in the book?
DBA JAMES: Totally, tons. I wrote a song with my friend Anna Shoemaker recently, called “Lucky Ones.” And [with] Middle Part/Andy's band, we recently wrote an EP with him. He just released an old EP but there's a whole other one that's coming out that we all wrote on. Then there's this new artist called SPEEDRUN. My friend Nina–
LUNA: She plays bass for Middle Part!
DBA JAMES: Yes! She has an EP coming out that I worked on with my friend Frank, who's in Morning Silk. There’s tons of stuff — you forget how much you do — because that's how we hang out usually, we would just be at somebody's house and practice. There's a ton of content coming from the scene specifically that I'm really excited about.
LUNA: I'm so glad that I'm still up to date with most of it. But to circle back a little bit, “7*” reminds me of “Trad Future” and “Birthday Smoke.” These three songs seem to be a little bit more existential. Would you agree?
DBA JAMES: I think it's safe to say they come from the same place. There's definitely a program that I've used on all three of those songs that has a very distinct sound. I also feel like when I think of them in my head, they have a very similar intention — all of them have the same mood in my mind. I wish I knew it at the time when I was writing it because I would have put them on an EP together. I think you're definitely right about that. Definitely [the] same world for those three songs.
LUNA: I don't know production well enough, but I think last time around I described “Birthday Smoke” as a little bit glittery. I would compare it to a synth, but it's definitely not a synth. I don't know what it is. But it's that thing.
DBA JAMES: Yeah, it’s over-processed audio. Eventually when you mess with it 10 times, the computer starts to make stuff up. It kind of sounds like a synth, but it's just the computer trying to read this signal that you've been winding through it so many times. I do that with guitars a lot of the time. I would do that with vocals — I would have multiple layers of vocals that are all just pitched up and then resampled over and over again. It gets darker and darker and darker, and eventually it comes out kind of like a synth.
LUNA: What would you say are some of the overarching themes for dba James as a project?
DBA JAMES: There's a few, I think. On a personal level, my values that I carry come through the music. I call it “critical spirituality,” a certain type of consciousness and awareness that I try to carry with me all the time and try to show in my music as much as possible, just to give somebody the sense that I'm actually aware of myself and where I am, what's going on. I think that's number one, just high awareness.
Another theme for dba James as a project is first-person diary or catharsis. A lot of the songs that I write don't make any sense because I'm using the medium to self-soothe a lot. I don't know if that's necessarily a theme, but it's something that I do constantly in the music. And I'd say third is just honesty, even if it doesn't really make sense, or follow[ing] some sort of strict narrative. I always try to say things that just come immediately, for my own health. And that's something that's made this project a little more difficult than other projects in the past for me, is that there is a lot of stuff in my music that I don't really talk about with anybody. I, a lot of the time, save things that I'm experiencing and instead of verbalizing them I’d purposely save them to write them into songs. So I think honesty is a huge one for me.
LUNA: Those are really cool, and I think it makes a lot of sense. I’m obviously super excited for anything that's coming up next. If you can summarize your year so far with a chord, what would that chord be?
DBA JAMES: That's a great question. Wait, hold on, give me one second. There are two chords… So it's definitely the first chord … it's a C major seven with a nine on top. This year is really bright and light. Airy. I love that chord specifically because it makes me smell something. It triggers the scent of jasmine…
LUNA: I do know what jasmine smells like — I had a plant of jasmine as a kid. It's very specific. I feel like I associated the smell and that chord with rain a little bit.
DBA JAMES: Yeah, totally. It's very sweet, but it's not like saccharin. You know, it's still kind of sad.
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