Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes – Step Away

By starrymag | October 18, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) Synth-driven-indie-rock-and-roll-music-nerds-who-love-pop-music?

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) We all come from a variety of musical backgrounds so our influences are all over the place. Some of the big ones off the top of my head would be Tom Petty, Paul Simon, Talking Heads, Phoenix, Wilco, LCD Soundsystem, Tame Impala, Kendrick Lamar, King Straggler and all of 90’s hip-hop. That feels like the tip of the iceberg, though. We try to let everything influence us. I’m a big believer that all music has value, even if it’s not something I particularly enjoy. Someone felt the need to create something from nothing and that has value. Everything is worth listening to and being influenced by.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Step Away.” What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

A) “Step Away” is a reflective song about embracing sadness while being cautiously optimistic about what the future holds. I think that’s a sentiment that everyone can relate to. Whether it’s that the world feels heavy right now and it’s hard sometimes to feel like things are gonna get any better or whether it’s that you’re feeling stuck where you are and afraid to make a change – it’s saying that those feelings are valid, but that also that it’s okay open yourself to letting some new light in.

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

 

A) I recently moved out to Los Angeles after fourteen years in Nashville. I was getting stuck in the same creative cycle and felt trapped and angry at myself for that a lot of the time. I knew that I had to throw a wrench in everything. It was (still is) terrifying as hell, but it’s also the happiest and most clear-headed I’ve been in a very long time. Sometimes change is necessary even if it feels crazy. I wanted the video to capture all of those feelings. It’s meant to capture the energy of the first few months of living somewhere new and feeling a combination of excitement, fear and gratitude.

 

Q) What is your song writing process?

 

A) This process has shifted recently, but most often I’ll come to Marshall [Skinner] and Timon [Lance] with a musical sketch – maybe a chorus, maybe a verse, maybe I don’t even know what it is – and then we’ll start to flush it out from there, building an arrangement, scrapping it, rebuilding it, scrapping it again and then finally landing on something we’re happy with.

 

Q) Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

 

A) Typically, yes. It’s not always the case. But I would say 90% of the time we have a finished arrangement first – and oftentimes even a finished melody – before I go back and write lyrics.

 

Q) Splitting your time between LA, Ohio and Nashville, how does that influence your sound?

 

A) With this being a more recent development, we’re not sure how it will influence our sound, if at all. Timon is in Nashville, Marshall is in Columbus (Ohio) and I’m in LA. Each place feels like a home base for us in their own ways, Nashville especially. That will always be DE+TGL’s o.g. hometown. That’s where the band formed and where we all lived for a long time. I think being in three different cities we probably bring influences from each place into our writing, but something like that is a little tough to quantify.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes performance?

 

A) High-energy and good vibes and dancing. Our goal is always for fans to feel as much joy watching as we feel playing the music.

 

Q) Will there be a full album or EP on the way? 

 

A) In 2020 for sure. Right now we’re releasing a handful of self-produced singles (“Way You Are [ft. Ruby Amanfu]”) in July, “Step Away” in August and a new single “Out Alive” coming on 10/4). After Joel (drummer) left the band we took some time away to re-structure, re-brand as a three-piece and figure out what’s next for us. We wanted to invite people into that process by sharing some of the new music we’re creating without putting too much pressure on ourselves for them to be any part of a full album or EP.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you? 

 

A) Our all-time favorite spot to play is Exit In in Nashville. They’ve been supporters of the band since day one. We’ve done all of our album release shows at Exit In. There’s so much history in that club – and the guys that own it are true music lovers – it’s always an honor to play that stage. Anything in Chicago working with promoter Donnie Biggins/Harmonica Dunn is also a favorite. Whether it’s at Schuba’s, Subterranean or Tonic Room – Donnie makes every show great and treats every band he works with like family. We also love Seattle. We don’t get there enough, but it’s one of those cities that everyone in the band just fell in love with.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I can’t speak for the entire band here, but I would LOVE to collaborate on a song with James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem. I think he’s one of the most creative and unique minds in music right now. Or St. Vincent. Or David Byrne. Or The National. Or Anderson.Paak. Damn it, there’s too many!

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

 

A) My most listened to albums this year have been Helado Negro’s This Is How You Smile and Kota The Friend’s FOTO. Helado Negro’s album is one of those you can put on at any time and listen to start to finish. It’s chill, it’s vibey, it’s creative, it’s a nice dose of positivity. Like a cross between Devendra Banhart and Jose Gonzalez maybe? And then Kota The Friend was an accidental discovery that I can’t stop spinning. Super creative jazz-influenced socially conscious-ish hip-hop. Plus, he has a song about eating bagels, which I super identify with. Ooo. And the new Cage The Elephant album is unbelievable, too. The song “Social Cues” is so damn good.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) For all the things we hate about social media, it’s a way to have direct interaction and contact with people who are listening to our music. That’s important to us. We love feeling connected to people who are enjoying what we do and we want people to feel the same way about us.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) You are the only reason we get to do what we do. Thank you, we love you.

 

 

All Questions Answered By Singer Daniel Ellsworth