Trevor Drury is a singer/songwriter whose latest single Second Chances highlights his unique sound. Jason Barnard finds out what sparks Trevor’s creativity.
Second Chances has a stripped back production which only adds to its power. What led you to write it?
I’m not really sure, we were in the studio trying to find the right tempo and feel for the song, and it just seemed like the song wanted to have a lot of space. It was interesting as well to not have a ton of piano. Songs have a way of shaping themselves in the studio, it’s not something I really consciously construct. If anything I just push away the stuff that doesn’t work, or that “rubs” me wrong. In this case it resulted in a much more open production.
Can you tell me the inspiration behind Star Ride?
Star Ride was written mainly for fun. I was messing around with the more “radioesque” side of my writing at the time. Most of what I had created until then was telling a personal story, but Star Ride was more about the sound than the story. I’m afraid there isn’t much deep rooted inspiration, it was just a fun track to come up.
It has a brilliant music video. Who was behind it and where you involved in shaping it?
I let go of a ton of control on the Star Ride video, I wanted it to be animated. I got kinda tired of being in all my videos and wanted something different. @eddienunezart and @cassanovafilms worked together to create an amazing animation and story.
How do you write generally – do you start with a musical phrase or lyric?
Normally, when I’m writing, I just start messing around at the piano, and what ever melodies or thoughts or lyrics pop up in my head start organizing themselves into a song. I find a general version of the song, and then once I’m in the studio it undergoes a collective change. The songs always end up forming themselves, I just kinda direct it. The downside to writing that way is that writers block can be prominent. I’m kind of at the mercy of if a song decides to come to me, I can’t really sit down and write on command. It’s also really tedious to write that way, forcefully.
What other tracks of yours would you recommend?
Probably my coolest track is “Alice”. It’s not out yet, but it’s a banger. I think so at least. It’s just fun and has a lot of unique elements to it, it’s much more my style.
You seem to draw from a range of influences. How would you describe your sound?
I’m not quite sure what my sound is now. 2020 has been a dry spell for my own creativity, but I listened to A TON of music, especially at the beginning of the year. My influences are now more along the lines of Sufjan Stevens, and big soundscapes with lots of imagery and lots of soundstage. Maybe that’s just a result of getting great headphones for the first time, but I’m much more intrigued by songs that present themselves like a good book, in my mind I mean. I don’t worry too much about my sound, I’m much more interested in layering, and being a center in which sound is whirling outside and inside myself. When I first started writing I was thinking more along the lines of story telling as a “piano man” but now that’s shifted into crafting and observing sound as a whole. I’m not sure what that’s going to do to my writing but hopefully it will be good. I do have a tendency for my interests to bounce around, that’s why I’ll never box myself in a certain “musical brand”, I can’t.
Where you originally from and how long have you been making music?
I was born in Arizona, but lived in SoCal, San Diego all my life. I started learning piano pretty young, maybe 12, maybe slightly younger. But I didn’t start writing anything until I was 19 it just clicked on one day and I could write. Before I couldn’t write anything, I could only play what was written.
What’s the music scene where you’re based now?
Well it’s 2020 and we’re in lockdown so the music scene is the one I see when I close my eyes and press play haha!
What artists, past and present do you admire?
I think Sufjan Stevens is probably the best artist I’ve ever heard. I mean the guy is just beyond incredible and his range of ability is immense. He really opened my eyes to the fact that music is multi-dimensional. Also, I realized the other day that “Ventura highway” is actually my most favorite song, America has a special place in my heart they just wrote music that was.. right. Correct.
You’re also a model, how does that compare to also being a music artist?
They’re very different, modeling feels like a skin suit I wear, or like a mask I put on, and being a musician can have that same quality but the difference is that my music usually focuses on the nature of that “mask” and modeling is the embodiment of that mask. Squaring the two is strange. I hope I’m not stepping on any toes. I know some view it opposite than I do. But heck, frankly this year the most authentic I’ve felt hasn’t been from being a model or musician, but rather from just listening to music, and listening. Generally I try not to think about the two in any comparative way.
What are your plans for the next year?
If we manage to make it to 2021 I’ll let you know haha. Thank you!
Further information can be found at officialtrevordrury.com
