Los Angeles singer-songwriter, David Ayscue, has just dropped his debut LP, ‘Southwood Waltz’.
The exquisite eight-track release portrays a man at the crossroads of youth and adulthood.
The LP lasts a total of 33 minutes and 37 seconds with the tracklist including:
New York
Child of Sin
Silverlake Sunday
Yesterday’s Song
Penny
Back in My Day
I Miss You
Where We Land
‘Southwood Waltz’ exposes the loves, characters, anxieties and adventures that have helped shape Ayscue, into the man he is today.
The seventh track, ‘I Miss You’, reminisces about past love and truly reveals Ayscue’s pure and soft vocals which blend gracefully with the underlying instrumental beat.
‘Back in My Day’, recites the 23-year-olds childhood in Marin County, California.
He said:
“It’s about feeling stuck as an adult… looking for something to grasp onto, and thinking back to a time when everything was so vivid and in-the-moment.”
‘Silverlake Sunday’ – which is one of Ayscue’s favourite tracks to perform – is and upbeat track that exhibits the guitar and vocal pairing but picks up with a range of instruments adding to the mix.
Growing up, Ayscue was exposed to a range of music genres like local rap, classic rock and folk.
After playing in open mic nights and student concerts in high school, in 11thgrade, he put pen-to-paper and realised his love for songwriting.
We caught up with the storyteller ahead of the release of, ‘Southwood Waltz’.
He let us in on growing up in San Francisco, his favourite track from the LP, and his upcoming show at The Hotel Café.
Hey David, for those who don’t know you yet, how would you describe yourself?
I just turned 23 and I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of things. The city of LA is becoming more comfortable to me — I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and spent high school at a boarding school in New Hampshire — and while those two sound like two very different places, LA has been the toughest place to adjust to by far. I love being outdoors more than anything… finding the good nature-y spots in LA has really helped me to acclimate to the city which I think is otherwise pretty crowded and kinda dirty.
How would you describe your music?
Lyrically, it’s very personal… I like to tell stories about my life and upbringing. Musically, I’d consider it to be some sort of acoustic, melancholic rock. The songs have a wide range of instruments on them — saxophone, strings, rhodes, electric guitar — that come together to paint a nostalgic but celebratory picture of my life.
Tell us more about Southwood Waltz!
Southwood is the name of the street I grew up on. Waltz is a cool, nostalgic word that isn’t used too much. The album is a collection of eight songs that I’ve written in the past few years and that I finally got around to recording this past year. I think it represents very accurately what I do lyrically and musically at this point.
What’s your favourite out of the 8 tracks?
Each song has its own heart and meaning to me so it’s very tough to pick which is my favorite, and that also changes quite often. The song “Silverlake Sunday” was super fun to record, produce and now perform, so i’ll go with that one for now.
What was it like growing up in San Francisco?
Amazing… where do I even start. I have so many fond memories of that place and every time I go back I’m reminded of how lucky I was to grow up there. I lived in Marin County from around age 7 to 14, so I consider that to be my hometown. It’s got this crazy blend of cultures and nature. You can get to the city, Point Reyes, West Marin with its Westworld-y rolling golden hills in no time. Marin has this very Earthy vibe to it because a lot of the hippies that were in San Francisco during the late 60s eventually moved into Marin County to start their families.
Who do you go to for inspiration?
In high school I listened to a lot of John Mayer and Dave Matthews. I admired their songwriting and ability to play these crazy intricate guitar lines while singing over the top of them — learning their songs was certainly a challenge and made me way better and playing and singing. More recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of early Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and the Avett Brothers. I love artists who tell stories in their songs. Theo Katzman is a newer artist that I’ve been very inspired by — he’s an amazing songwriter & performer.
How are you feeling about your upcoming show at The Hotel Cafe?
Stoked! My band is sounding awesome and a bunch of my lifelong friends are gonna be there, which is enough for me!
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