Dave Hause

Heavy Pop: Hey Dave, first of all I want to thank you for giving us an interview. How are you doing?

Dave Hause: I’m doing fine, thanks.

Acoustic solo records are currently very much in demand, so a great many lead singers follow the common concept of doing an acoustical version of their songs as well as recording some new ones.‚Resolutions‚ doesn’t really follow the same concept as it is something unique and distinctive.

Thanks, I think it’s unique and distinctive too.

I am as happy as I suppose I could be with a record. There are always small lyrical, vocal,  and even arrangement changes I would like to make once a record is complete and some time has passed, but ultimately I’m happy about the whole thing.

What was your motivation for producing such a record?

 I just wrote a bunch of songs that felt like they would fit together as a record, so recorded them.  I’ve been wanting to make a solo record from the earliest days of The Loved Ones and just hadn’t gotten around to it.

Well as you discussed earlier, there is a demand for acoustic music, however that wasn’t my vision for ‚Resolutions‚. I did however tour all over the world on ‚Resolutions‚ playing the songs on either an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar or a piano, and people had been asking where they could get versions of the songs recorded that way. I figured it would be interesting to put them out as small independent releases with cover songs.   Rather than just pick a bunch of random covers, I came up with the idea to release each 7″ on a different label with covers from that label, and it all started to click.  It took awhile to record and then to orchestrate the releases, but it’s finally going to come to fruition which is lovely.

In Europe, there’s a lot hype surrounding Bruce Springsteen, where his records are often seen as benchmark or musical reference. These days you are pretty much expected to be a Bruce Springsteen fan. What’s your take on this? Does he have the same kind of influence on you like for instance the Bouncing Souls do?

My take on the Bruce Springsteen thing is that I’m a little tired of hearing about Bruce Springsteen. I think he’s a great songwriter, a wonderful performer and all around a lasting American treasure that has had an enormous influence on myself and many of my friends and colleagues. That said, I haven’t been blown away by his last 2 records and I’m not convinced he’s putting out his best work.  As far as other older singer/songwriters go, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon and Tom Waits have waited longer in between recent records and turned out work that was much more compelling to me.  I do love Bruce Springsteen, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be as closely associated with him musically, in a comparative sense, as some of my friend’s music is.

I’m looking forward to playing with many of the bands on the festivals I’m doing at the end of the month.  The Bouncing Souls are dear friends as well as many of the other bands and solo acts that are performing and it’s great to have that camaraderie and respect when you’re out on tour.

Are people in the states even aware of European festivals like the Groezrock? I read a survey once saying that many fans in the US believed the Groezrock to be one of the best festivals ever, do you agree?

It influences my work and the income disparity and erosion of the working class in America has had a huge impact on my upcoming record.  Rick Santorum is an embarrassment to Americans. He doesn’t stand a chance even in the Republican race, let alone the presidential.