David Dower Trio Interview
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: Sure, I’m an Australian jazz pianist who wishes the piano had more distortion effects! While jazz is my primary genre, I’m a huge fan of the likes of Ben Folds Five and Weezer, and heavy-hitting jazz musicians like Tigran Hamasyan, so chasing that ‘Big Sound’ is always on my radar.
I grew up in regional Australia, around 200 kilometers from Melbourne, and learnt to play piano on an old upright that Mum and Dad bought in a garage sale for $100; they took it home themselves on a trailer, and never had it tuned!… As far as pianos go, it probably felt and sounded horrific, but I had no idea that was the case, and from the age of six, I would play it endlessly.
I’ve always composed my own music, ever since I was little. I find it the best way to express how I feel about something or someone. Lots of my compositions are about specific people, and I love trying to capture a snapshot of someone in a song. Still to this day my 91-year-old Gran asks me to play “Gran’s Song,”which I wrote when I was 11… I remember most of it…
After completing a Masters of Music in Perth, I moved across to London, where the David Dower Trio was formed with British musicians Matt Fisher (drums) and Luke Fowler (bass). We were lucky that Luke actually ran a jazz venue at the time, The Junction, so we played there regularly for a number of years which allowed us to develop a musical connection, and create a sound that was raucous, inviting and fun.
In 2017, Luke taught us a traditional Bulgarian song he knew, called “Gankino Horo.”This song ignited my interest in the country and its music, which I feel was the starting point for where we find ourselves today.
Q: What inspired you to create Mravka?
A: Mravka is my effort to share the elements of Bulgarian music that I love with those around me. I love the rhythmic approach of Bulgarian music - multimeter grooves that are designed for people to dance… I also love the way the choral harmonies shift and move in unique and rich ways. I also love how, to my ears, there is an incredible about of passion in their traditional music, whether it’s overflowing joy or morbid sadness. It’s a very touching area of music that can be very moving and emotive.
I suppose with Mravka, I wanted to place my own stamp on this music; so within the same song that features a Bulgarian choir, you’ll hear distorted bass, or big rock-beats or a jazz piano solo. I think it pulls together quite cohesively, but I suppose the listener can be the judge of that!
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes on the album?
A: Clearly Bulgaria dominates the album’s concept, though I wouldn’t say it’s a traditional world music album…. It is a hard thing to define, and maybe that’s a representation of my musical experiences, tastes, and possibly what is going on in my head as well… everyone loves a bit of chaos…. Someone once told me my music is a juxtaposition between very happy and quite dark, and I think the pieces on Mravka fit that description quite well…. Within the same song there will be uplifting moments, a melancholic section, and then some distorted fuzz bass and a raucous rock beat. I don’t like the term genre-defying because it is over-used, so let’s for the moment say it’s Bulgarian-influenced-jazz-piano-trio-with-rock-vibes-and-sad-stuff, and maybe if we talk again in a few years I might be able to condense it down.
One of my favorite experiments on the album was writing for Zhivko Vasilev, a Bulgarian Kavalist who is genuinely at the top of his artistic game and is also a total legend. My piece “Kopanitsa” uses a Bulgarian Kopanitsa rhythm, which is a specific way of phrasing a groove in 11. I had a blast writing this for him, and the way he performed it gave me goosebumps in the studio.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: I feel like the biggest thing about this project was that I was the only person in Australia during the composing and pre-production periods. I guess this meant that being very organized was key. I created charts, demos, bespoke metronomes for the multimeter tracks, and practice tracks for the members of the Bulgarian choir; these demo tracks feature me singing all the Bulgarian vocal parts with some pretty B-grade Bulgarian pronunciation! Maybe I went a bit overboard, but I wanted to give everyone involved in the project the closest idea of what I had in my head, and the best chance of getting it right. Also, I knew we only had two days booked in the studio, so time was of the essence. Fortunately as well, I was working with exceptionally talented and diligent musicians, which meant that we pulled it off, but I’m happy I came in prepared!
When writing the songs, I actually spent a week or so isolating away in the countryside. Each morning, I would drive to the beach listening to traditional Bulgarian choir songs, to have those sounds and rhythms swirling around in my head. I found this to be really effective and inspiring. I always write at the piano, notating my ideas by hand to avoid being distracted by technology. It’s simultaneously a meditative and frustrating process, and lots of coffee is drunk, and there’s lots of self-talk on long walks! It probably looks insane from the outside, but it seems to work. Not every composing day is a great day, but I suppose it all adds up in the end.
The Bulgarian lyrics were written by Mariana Vasileva, and that was a real thrill to collaborate with her. I would send her voice memos of me playing the melodies on piano, and she would send back lyrics… then I had to deal with the Rubik’s Cube of trying to fit the correct Bulgarian syllables onto the correct note!
It was a huge honor to work with the Bulgarian Folklore singers on this project; Rayna Vasileva, Gabriela Milanova and Pirina Hristova really brought the songs alive, and all have such stunning voices and are brilliant to work with.
With one song, “Tell Me What You See,” I wrote the lyrics collaboratively with my brother Patrick Dower, which I really enjoyed. I love Patrick’s writing style, and he really helped generate some beautiful imagery. Bulgarian jazz vocalist Vesela Morova truly captured the story of this song in her performance on the album. I also overdubbed some of my own backing vocals on this tune, purely selfishly so I had the chance to sing along with such a world-class vocalist! Brass overdubs were provided from MSO trumpeter Tristan Rebien, which bring an emotional depth and warmth to the track.
Q: What was your recording process like? And has it changed over the years? Would you explain some of the tools you use?
A: The whole album was recorded in the studio in two days; day one was all the trio parts, often tracked live at the same time. For the multimeter songs, I created bespoke metronomes that outlined the key groove for the tracks, which ended up being helpful and I would recommend that to anyone who is looking to recording things in odd-meters!
The second day was very busy, featuring a rotating roster of guests, with the Traditional Folklore Singers, Zhivko Vasilev on Kaval, and Vesela Morova, all coming into the studio to lay down their parts. The whole thing hinged on efficiency and professional execution, and I couldn’t be happier with the results! Elliot Frost provided some beautiful atmospheric guitar overdubs from London, which gave the tracks depth and poignancy, and it was a pleasure to work with him and workshop ideas from 15,000 kilometers away!
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: There’s not much else to say, other than just how blown away I am at how I got to work with such incredible people on this project. From the musicians involved, the lyricists, Ivan Boshev at Pekarnata Studios and Brodie Stewart who did the recording and mixing, Jesse Kidd and Rob Eggleston developing the album cover, and to the Bulgarian venue owners and people who come to the gigs and greet us so welcomingly every time we visit the country, it is an honor to share this experience with you all. Hopefully we can make it back to Bulgaria very soon to keep exploring and creating!
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: Sure, I’m an Australian jazz pianist who wishes the piano had more distortion effects! While jazz is my primary genre, I’m a huge fan of the likes of Ben Folds Five and Weezer, and heavy-hitting jazz musicians like Tigran Hamasyan, so chasing that ‘Big Sound’ is always on my radar.
I grew up in regional Australia, around 200 kilometers from Melbourne, and learnt to play piano on an old upright that Mum and Dad bought in a garage sale for $100; they took it home themselves on a trailer, and never had it tuned!… As far as pianos go, it probably felt and sounded horrific, but I had no idea that was the case, and from the age of six, I would play it endlessly.
I’ve always composed my own music, ever since I was little. I find it the best way to express how I feel about something or someone. Lots of my compositions are about specific people, and I love trying to capture a snapshot of someone in a song. Still to this day my 91-year-old Gran asks me to play “Gran’s Song,”which I wrote when I was 11… I remember most of it…
After completing a Masters of Music in Perth, I moved across to London, where the David Dower Trio was formed with British musicians Matt Fisher (drums) and Luke Fowler (bass). We were lucky that Luke actually ran a jazz venue at the time, The Junction, so we played there regularly for a number of years which allowed us to develop a musical connection, and create a sound that was raucous, inviting and fun.
In 2017, Luke taught us a traditional Bulgarian song he knew, called “Gankino Horo.”This song ignited my interest in the country and its music, which I feel was the starting point for where we find ourselves today.
Q: What inspired you to create Mravka?
A: Mravka is my effort to share the elements of Bulgarian music that I love with those around me. I love the rhythmic approach of Bulgarian music - multimeter grooves that are designed for people to dance… I also love the way the choral harmonies shift and move in unique and rich ways. I also love how, to my ears, there is an incredible about of passion in their traditional music, whether it’s overflowing joy or morbid sadness. It’s a very touching area of music that can be very moving and emotive.
I suppose with Mravka, I wanted to place my own stamp on this music; so within the same song that features a Bulgarian choir, you’ll hear distorted bass, or big rock-beats or a jazz piano solo. I think it pulls together quite cohesively, but I suppose the listener can be the judge of that!
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes on the album?
A: Clearly Bulgaria dominates the album’s concept, though I wouldn’t say it’s a traditional world music album…. It is a hard thing to define, and maybe that’s a representation of my musical experiences, tastes, and possibly what is going on in my head as well… everyone loves a bit of chaos…. Someone once told me my music is a juxtaposition between very happy and quite dark, and I think the pieces on Mravka fit that description quite well…. Within the same song there will be uplifting moments, a melancholic section, and then some distorted fuzz bass and a raucous rock beat. I don’t like the term genre-defying because it is over-used, so let’s for the moment say it’s Bulgarian-influenced-jazz-piano-trio-with-rock-vibes-and-sad-stuff, and maybe if we talk again in a few years I might be able to condense it down.
One of my favorite experiments on the album was writing for Zhivko Vasilev, a Bulgarian Kavalist who is genuinely at the top of his artistic game and is also a total legend. My piece “Kopanitsa” uses a Bulgarian Kopanitsa rhythm, which is a specific way of phrasing a groove in 11. I had a blast writing this for him, and the way he performed it gave me goosebumps in the studio.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: I feel like the biggest thing about this project was that I was the only person in Australia during the composing and pre-production periods. I guess this meant that being very organized was key. I created charts, demos, bespoke metronomes for the multimeter tracks, and practice tracks for the members of the Bulgarian choir; these demo tracks feature me singing all the Bulgarian vocal parts with some pretty B-grade Bulgarian pronunciation! Maybe I went a bit overboard, but I wanted to give everyone involved in the project the closest idea of what I had in my head, and the best chance of getting it right. Also, I knew we only had two days booked in the studio, so time was of the essence. Fortunately as well, I was working with exceptionally talented and diligent musicians, which meant that we pulled it off, but I’m happy I came in prepared!
When writing the songs, I actually spent a week or so isolating away in the countryside. Each morning, I would drive to the beach listening to traditional Bulgarian choir songs, to have those sounds and rhythms swirling around in my head. I found this to be really effective and inspiring. I always write at the piano, notating my ideas by hand to avoid being distracted by technology. It’s simultaneously a meditative and frustrating process, and lots of coffee is drunk, and there’s lots of self-talk on long walks! It probably looks insane from the outside, but it seems to work. Not every composing day is a great day, but I suppose it all adds up in the end.
The Bulgarian lyrics were written by Mariana Vasileva, and that was a real thrill to collaborate with her. I would send her voice memos of me playing the melodies on piano, and she would send back lyrics… then I had to deal with the Rubik’s Cube of trying to fit the correct Bulgarian syllables onto the correct note!
It was a huge honor to work with the Bulgarian Folklore singers on this project; Rayna Vasileva, Gabriela Milanova and Pirina Hristova really brought the songs alive, and all have such stunning voices and are brilliant to work with.
With one song, “Tell Me What You See,” I wrote the lyrics collaboratively with my brother Patrick Dower, which I really enjoyed. I love Patrick’s writing style, and he really helped generate some beautiful imagery. Bulgarian jazz vocalist Vesela Morova truly captured the story of this song in her performance on the album. I also overdubbed some of my own backing vocals on this tune, purely selfishly so I had the chance to sing along with such a world-class vocalist! Brass overdubs were provided from MSO trumpeter Tristan Rebien, which bring an emotional depth and warmth to the track.
Q: What was your recording process like? And has it changed over the years? Would you explain some of the tools you use?
A: The whole album was recorded in the studio in two days; day one was all the trio parts, often tracked live at the same time. For the multimeter songs, I created bespoke metronomes that outlined the key groove for the tracks, which ended up being helpful and I would recommend that to anyone who is looking to recording things in odd-meters!
The second day was very busy, featuring a rotating roster of guests, with the Traditional Folklore Singers, Zhivko Vasilev on Kaval, and Vesela Morova, all coming into the studio to lay down their parts. The whole thing hinged on efficiency and professional execution, and I couldn’t be happier with the results! Elliot Frost provided some beautiful atmospheric guitar overdubs from London, which gave the tracks depth and poignancy, and it was a pleasure to work with him and workshop ideas from 15,000 kilometers away!
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: There’s not much else to say, other than just how blown away I am at how I got to work with such incredible people on this project. From the musicians involved, the lyricists, Ivan Boshev at Pekarnata Studios and Brodie Stewart who did the recording and mixing, Jesse Kidd and Rob Eggleston developing the album cover, and to the Bulgarian venue owners and people who come to the gigs and greet us so welcomingly every time we visit the country, it is an honor to share this experience with you all. Hopefully we can make it back to Bulgaria very soon to keep exploring and creating!