Renowned musician, producer, and record label owner David Franz is making waves in the music industry and has been for a while. After writing and co-producing for many other artists over the years, now is his time to break out and start making his own story. This past month, he released his debut album To The Unknown, which is a brilliant work of art with dark themes and underlying hopefulness with each song on the record. As David mentions, the album has a lot to do with a serious breakup, something many people can relate to and find solace in. He has always done a fantastic job at telling honest and compelling stories in his music, and it is very evident in this new project.
We got the absolute pleasure of getting to chat with David himself all about To The Unknown, making music in the pandemic, and what it’s like owning and founding a record label:
Hey David! Appreciate you taking the time to chat. For those who may not know who you are, give us a little background on yourself.
And I appreciate you! I’m a human noise maker, and helper to other noise makers. 🙂 Musician, producer, self-proclaimed man about town, record label founder, day-job haver, entrepreneur, educator, mentor/mentee, curious learner, and someone who books up his time too much.
Virginia Tech drew me in for two engineering degrees, then Berklee College of Music lured me into the sordidly beautiful music industry. Wrote the first book about Pro Tools music production software as a student but didn’t graduate from Berklee because I refused to take (and pay for) the Pro Tools course required to graduate. Started Underground Sun record label in a basement in Boston in 2002, moved it to a garage in Venice Beach in 2009, and now a few rooms in Ojai, CA.
My grandfather was an incredible musician, and passed along some serious juju to me throughout his life and especially on his deathbed. I hope I’m doing him proud.
What are some things that have been keeping you sane in these unprecedented times of the pandemic?
Who’s sane? Anyone? (smiles) Musicians have a special insanity that forces them to write what it means to experience life. It’s like another sense… a different way to perceive and process our world. It’s certainly the sense that I’ve been developing the most over the pandemic. I’ve been writing music constantly and I’ve already recorded a second album to follow up my first album To The Unknown.
I also got into livestreaming on the Underground Sun YouTube channel with the intention of promoting the artists on my label because no one could get out and play. Livestreaming, while exciting and a great creative outlet, comes with its own insanity of stress about gear and performance, and ultimately judgement of that performance. I tried to make a show that was as good as network TV with a socially distanced crew of 3. Them’s high hopes! I think we did a great job, but it was ultimately too taxing, and was not helping my sanity. So, I decided to focus back solely on music in 2021, particularly on my own music, and I’m feeling much closer to sane.
Since the pandemic the music making process has changed. Would you say you prefer making music from home or rather in a studio with others?
Super fortunately, I recorded this album in mid-February 2020, a couple of weeks before the entire United States shut down. I recorded the basics (drums, bass, guitars, organs, keys, etc) with real people in an actual studio (Carbonite Sound in Ojai, CA)!
My producer, Will Robertson, lives in Atlanta and I was originally going to record vocals at his studio (Gallop Studio), however once the pandemic lockdown kicked in, I wasn’t about to travel. So, he and I then figured out how to do remote recording sessions. Pretty cool actually! We’d set up a video chat on Skype, and then via Google Chrome Remote Desktop, he would control my Pro Tools rig remotely and, using the ListenTo plug-in, receive an already mixed stereo audio signal with my live vocal performance. It worked like a charm. All we really missed was the cheers of the celebratory beverages after the session. 🙂 That said, if I could have done those sessions in person, I DEFINITELY would have.
Your new single “Silver Arrow Sunday” is out now and is a brilliant desert rock tune, what was the process behind writing that one?
First off, thank you! I really appreciate it.
The bass line for SAS was floating around my head and then in my phone as a lo-fi recording for a long time, until I got the inspiration for the story while in a semi-dream state. I keep a notepad next to my bed for times like this, and that’s where I wrote the lyrics… while in bed, half-asleep, mixing reality with a dream.
Fittingly, it’s a mixture of life events and fantasy, but much more real than dream. Sonically and lyrically, I was trying to create the sound of a mirage. A mysterious figure appears to take you out of where you are, but where to? While the lyrics may seem a bit dark, ultimately the song encourages taking steps toward positive change… even if we don’t know where the change will take us.
The ostinado bass line sets the trodding but determined minor mood, the slide guitar slithers like a snake leading you through the desert sand, and the drum pattern on the toms leads you on a trance march towards the mirage.
You’ve been co-writing and producing music for various artists over the years but now you are making music under your own persona, what inspired that decision?
I love working with other artists to make their songs come alive. Being a producer (and label owner) has been incredible. I’ve learned so much from other artists and myself during that process, and honed many skills along the way.
But, co-writing and producing other people’s music didn’t provide the visceral feeling of putting my neck out on the line. Previously, it was always someone else’s name on the marquee, and I was fine with that. But I needed to grow. I needed to know what that is like, so that I can be a better producer and a better label owner. AND, I needed to do it for myself. To prove it to myself. And especially, to explore my voice, what sounds and emotions I can express, and face the reality of living with the sound of my own voice.
I’ve been singing in public since middle school choir and writing songs and playing in rock bands since high school. After I tried out for a band in college as the singer and didn’t get the gig, I (stupidly) decided my voice wasn’t good enough to be a lead singer and focused on playing instruments (drums, guitar, bass, keys) and producing other people.
But as the world keeps showing us, life is short and I’ve delayed my dream long enough. I like the challenge of starting this part of my journey later in life, and I feel like I’ve got something to prove.
Your upcoming debut album To The Unknown was written in Joshua Tree, what about Joshua Tree inspired the album?
There’s something in the wind out there. The unearthly starkness of the landscape, the survival of life despite the elements, and the individualist, isolated togetherness of the Joshua Trees. All of my senses are inspired out there… from the touch of the breeze, to the sound of coyotes after a kill… from the smell and taste of the arid heat, to the big sky views of dragonfire sunsets. There is some sort of energy vortex that inspires creativity for me out there.
Back in 2015, I packed up all my studio gear from Venice into the back of my Toyota 4Runner and brought it all to a tiny, yet super vibey, one-bedroom VRBO on the edge of the park. During my week there, I wrote the first two songs that inspired the entire To The Unknown album. They were “Tree Pose” and “Trouble With The Truth”.
“Tree Pose” started, as many of my songs do, with an acoustic guitar riff that I recorded to a click. I then laid down drums, bass, keys, and several guitars… and then vocals. All in one night, over the span of several hours. It came together extremely fast. And those original tracks are all in the version that is on To The Unknown, augmented with more tracks recorded at Carbonite with the band. It was important for me to keep those original tracks in there, and keep the spirit of the original idea that sparked the whole journey.
“Trouble With The Truth” was inspired by the second season of the show True Detective. Honestly, I wanted Lera Lynn to sing it, like she sang all those hauntingly gorgeous songs in the show. I met her once at SXSW and she was lovely, but I never got around to asking her… not that she would do it, but a man can dream!
What was the process like writing songs for To The Unknown ? Do you usually write them over time or all in one go?
The songs on To The Unknown were written over a four year period, starting slowly then ramping up. I had been writing songs for other projects over that time, but it wasn’t til I went through a breakup that the songs really started to flow. Funny how that happens, eh?
Now the spigot is on full blast and I’m writing constantly. I guess this is what they call Flow State. 🙂
Your record labels Underground Sun and Underground Sol each feature different genres, what is the story behind creating the labels and deciding to have one focus on soul and one on electronic music?
Underground Sun was founded to help support any music that I was making with any artist. Once I started getting into more electronic music production, I felt the need to differentiate the sounds. Underground Sun got most of its notoriety via the amazing artist Iyeoka, but when we started releasing remixes of her music, it seemed to confuse the fans.
So, I teamed up with Justin Paul (DJ/electronic music producer) to create Underground Sol, with the intention of releasing remixes of U SUN artists and other electronic based music to make the differentiation more obvious. That said, we may be re-combining the two labels back into Underground Sun because music fans seem to me more accepting and open to variety and diversity these days more than in the past.
How would you describe your music in three words?
My good friend and branding guru calls it “shamanic outlaw rock” but I just call it To The Unknown.
Which song or project of yours are you most proud of?
This is a tough one. Each song and project has taught me so much. I’ll have to go with the album “Say Yes” by Iyeoka. The songs she and I wrote together enabled us to tour the world and connect with millions of people through music, which is what I continually strive to keep doing.
Our first show in Istanbul, at a sold out 500 person venue called the Babylon club at the time, was where it all sunk in. 500 amazing Turkish fans sang along with our music. That was the most gratifying musical moment of life to that point. Since then, thankfully there have been many others, but I sure do like that one moment a lot.
Is there a moment or memory in your life that you always want to hold onto? Or a moment that has taught you a lot?
I wanna hold on to the last two times I sang with my mom. The first is when she, my brother and I sang all the harmonies for “Ventura Highway” by America, before she was too ill. The second was when she was humming along with me, as she was succumbing to cancer, fading away on morphine, three days before she passed. I have a recording of it. Heartcrushing, but super sweet.
What music have you been listening to lately? Favorite artists?
For the album To The Unknown, I think I was inspired most by Tame Impala (Innerspeaker and The Slow Rush), The Black Keys (Brothers and Turn Blue), Lera Lynn (True Detective Season 2 Soundtrack), Lana Del Rey (Ultraviolence), Jim James (Eternally Even), and of course The Beatles’ entire catalog.
Lately, I’ve been listening a lot to The War on Drugs, Khruangbin, King Tubby, Allah-Las, A Tribe Called Quest, Thundercat, Amber Mark, SAULT, and Durand Jones and The Indications.
Lastly, what is a message you hope fans who listen to your music take away from it? (Thank you again for your time!)
While this album has some darker themes and has a lot to do with a serious breakup, I hope the music gives some solace to those who are in similar tough emotional positions, knowing that I and so many others have been in that same position and we got through it. These are songs that vocalize frustrations to encourage personal strength, songs about breaking through boundaries to achieve growth, and of seeking more enlightened futures through conscious and mystical means. Ultimately, the music is hopeful… there might be a labyrinth along the way to get through, but all of the songs point towards getting to a better place.
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Listen to a standout single from To The Unknown “Silver Arrow Sunday”
