Louis sat down for a chat with Esco's very own country-rock demon, Davoli, as he reflected on the release and performance of his debut record, Notes For A New Year, earlier this year, and shared his thoughts on upcoming projects. Fresh from laying down early ideas in New York, Davoli discussed his writing and recording processes, influences, and what the wardrobe for the new record might look like.

LOTA: Let’s get straight into it and chat about where you’re at with the new record.

DAVOLI: I’ve hit a bit of a weird stage with it. I think the songs are written and have been for a while. But for whatever reason the studio side of it hasn’t clicked yet. I think it’s because I’m trying to do something a bit different to the first record in terms of sound. The first record was more insular, I mostly did everything myself. For this next album I’d like it to sound more like an album that was recorded in a space, with all the songs having a consistency going through them.

LOTA: Is the difficulty coming from you viewing it as a whole album from the start, as opposed to the first record that naturally built up over time?

DAVOLI: It could be. I wasn’t trying to fill in the blank track numbers or anything like that. I knew I wanted to do a full album rather than go to an EP or something.

LOTA: When you’re working on the Davoli project, is it just you in the studio usually?

DAVOLI: Yeah, usually. I like to try and get people in, and sometimes it works great, sometimes it’s a little disheartening because you know what they’ve played is great, but it doesn’t quite have the same vibe to it. I think that’s why I’ve hit a bit of a wall with this record. When I made the last record, I hadn’t played any of the songs live, and obviously since the start of this year I’ve had the band and that’s seeped into my thinking with the new songs. Now there’s more options. Which is good sometimes but also, I think limitations are really important. I was speaking to Connall about it actually, because I’ve got all these songs in a list and it feels like it could be an album, but it’s just the productions not there, so hopefully he’s going to help me out with it.

LOTA: Yeah, he mentioned about you coming up to Leeds to work on it.

DAVOLI: I think that would really help because it will be a fresh space. All the parts in the songs are all good, it’s just a case of getting the feel right and having that consistency through them.

LOTA: I’ve found when I’ve done recordings just in a room on my own, it’s so easy to stick to the initial idea or plan, and I guess for some songs that’s just what you need, but that energy you get from having someone else in the room, whether they’re playing or not, adds a moving part to the process which doesn’t necessarily alter the style, but provides it with some life.

DAVOLI: Part of it is about relinquishing control. When you’re used to playing every instrument then you bring in other people, you question whether it’s still going to feel like you. For me, the most important part of song writing is the lyrics, so as long of I’ve done that, it’s going to keep that personality. That’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about. Maybe it was like a one trick thing on the first album and I’m not going to be able to replicate it.

LOTA: But you feel confident in the writing?

DAVOLI: Yeah, I feel it’s changed slightly, it’s improved. It’s different to the first album. It’s a bit more subtle in places rather than trying to be as clever with the words.

LOTA: Did you set out to do that?

DAVOLI: I think it just happened really, it wasn’t a thought or anything.

LOTA: Well, what was the period you spent in New York like? Did you go over there to work on the record?

DAVOLI: Pretty much. I went to Uni with an American guy who ended up moving back there and he had a little studio set up in his spare room in Queens, so I just messaged asking to sleep on his floor for two weeks to work on some music and eat some pizza.

LOTA: It's certainly the place to be.

DAVOLI: Yeah, I like the feeling of being a small part of a big city and being anonymous. Everything is so massive and everyone’s so busy. I like that.

LOTA: It feels like every new street you walk down could be a new opportunity. But it still feels like a village because every street engulfs you and you can’t even imagine what lies beyond it. Do you feel it affected your writing being there?

DAVOLI: I’m quite a people watcher, always just in my own world writing things down that I think are funny or interesting. The whole trip, I had these noise cancelling headphones and a playlist on rotation, just watching people and taking notes. I’ve managed to sneak a few bits into some of the songs. There’s one where it’s like “Okay, this guy’s been to New York and he’s seen this”.

LOTA: Name dropping street corners.

DAVOLI: Yeah, it goes “Empire State…” - no. I had the big apartment windows open and recorded some ambient sound, which is on a few of the tracks. Whether I keep some of those acoustic recordings or not, I don’t know, but I really like them because I did them there, it’s just whether they can gel with the other ones recorded over here.

LOTA: It’s an interesting idea being in a new place when you’re writing. When I’m writing at home, I feel the ideas are so malleable to every thought you wake up with, every conversation you have feels heavy, like it’s going to have a direct influence on the work. So, the idea of being in a completely new environment, with new sounds and company makes it quite a vulnerable process, it opens up a direction that you can no longer predict.

DAVOLI: It also gives you a laser focus on it. I’m not getting texts asking to go to the pub or anything. You feel more present, you’re aware of what you’re there to do. I’ve come across the world to do this. It’s quite a weird feeling but I find it definitely helps.

LOTA: Do you feel like it made you reflect of what’s going on at home in a new way?

DAVOLI: It’s the first time I’d been away properly in about ten years. And out there it was really good creatively speaking for sure.

LOTA: And being with a new collaborator, I guess.

DAVOLI: Yeah, Addison was great. He’s into his jazz and stuff, so was asking if I wanted this and that on the tracks, I was like “maybe not the trumpet, man”, but he did play some Rhodes. He’s a very positive guy, it was nice to have him wandering in and out. It was also nice just being in an unfamiliar room with limitations. He just had an SM57 and that’s all you need really for what I was doing. It was nice having just one mic and making it go a long way. It makes you think about your choices.

LOTA: What are the main musical influences on this record that are different to he first one?

DAVOLI: I’d written some of the songs on this album before the last record came out. Because I was working on that first album for maybe two years. So, the influences are more and abouts in the same sort of place, but I started gravitating more towards more raw sounding things rather than people I'd previously been referencing like Sam Evian and those super effected sounding tracks. Especially with his vocals, they’ve got a lot of tape delay on. With this next record I wanted to strip it back a bit and limit myself to one use of tape delay per track. One use of reverb. You would think if you put everything in reverb, it’s going to sound bigger because it’s in a big space, but when everything’s in there it takes the power away from it and it’s all just washed. Whereas if you have everything raw, you can use your tape delay and your reverb to make something pop out of the track and actually hear the effect. Bands like Pavement and this guy Jason Molina, who’s got a project called Songs: Ohia, he’s really good at that. And MJ Lenderman aswell is doing well at the moment.

LOTA: I remember the last time I saw you we chatted about that Dick Stusso record.

DAVOLI: That’s the exact type of thing.

LOTA: I remember thinking of you when I heard it, especially that first track Well Acquainted.

DAVOLI: Yeah, there’s a good story with that album. I was digging up on it because there’s not a lot of stuff out there about him. But I think he had recorded it all with a bigger production, and then the studio they were working in burnt down and all the tape was lost. So, they went back and recorded it really fast, which is why it sounds just kind of loose.

LOTA: Wow - they’ve got a ghostly quality to them. And in terms of song writing, have you pushed yourself into any new corners, did you have any goals set, perhaps indirectly?

DAVOLI: I was going through some different stuff at the start of the year. I’d just come out of a relationship. I don’t really like when people are really on the nose in songs, but I think there’s a way to do it. You listen to Townes Van Zandt, or Neil Young’s really good at it. Harvest Moon, with that album he’s going through a divorce and the songs are just on point. So, I was trying to strive for something like that, but also just keeping it light really. So, a few of them are like that, but I don’t really think about it that much.

LOTA: No, I get it. Even if you are thinking about a specific person or moment, the process of writing about that is nice to just make a space for that in your life, and then a story or passage will come out of that as opposed to writing on the nose. I remember reading something that Nick Cave wrote comparing writing a song about someone to lighting a candle in a church for them. You go in and open a space to reflect on them in the hope that they will in some way feel that connection. Not as direct as writing them a letter to tell them what you’re thinking. I guess that’s what prayer is, opening a space within yourself to understand the feeling.

DAVOLI: I always think of music as a snapshot of yourself at a certain time. You’ll listen to in twenty years down the road and remember it. It doesn’t have to even be obvious, and nobody else might realise it.

LOTA: Yeah. Well, I’m excited to hear the new songs. I feel the last song on the first record ends in an interesting way, it just peters out. With our record we put an instrumental reprise of the whole thematic concept at the end and a big thud, but with yours, the drums just roll out and leave you waiting for a final something to follow. Which leaves it in an interesting place to pick up on, whatever that first note of the new record may be.

DAVOLI: I think it’s also a bit of subconsciously having that last song being like an exhale. There’s loads of crap, and this is just like winding down.

LOTA: I’m excited for the full album show coming up in January too. Do you feel that’s a closing ceremony for the album almost?

DAVOLI: Yeah, I think so. Because I’ve lived with it for so long, since like 2022, and we didn’t really get the chance to do a release show for it at the start of the year, so I thought it’s a good excuse to play it. And there’s about three songs on it that we haven’t actually played live yet, the weirder ones on the album. So, it will be nice to get those out and see what they sound like. Then play some of the new ones after.

LOTA: It’s nice to bookend the period off in your mind, wipe a clean slate, and hand the torch onto the next record. And on the poster, you’re wearing the same shirt as on the record sleeve, but it’s taken a year later while writing the next record in New York.

DAVOLI: I’m actually going to retire that shirt soon. When I decided I was going to be called Davoli and do an album I had just bought that shirt, so it has come everywhere along the way. And now I may have to ceremonially burn it at the gig.

LOTA: Between the two sets! That would be great.

DAVOLI: Get a barbeque going.

LOTA: New shirt for the new album then? We’ll take you on a shopping trip.

DAVOLI: Big decision. Perhaps it’s more of a jumper album.

LOTA: Wow. You’re really teasing the readers out there. Great to chat with you as always man.

DAVOLI: For sure man, see you round.