By Darro Davis

You’ve been busy touring and promoting the new album, how’s the tour going?

It's been good. We're just kind of wrapping things up with our last little leg here, we have another week of shows up in Minneapolis, Chicago, and a little bit in Canada then back to New York for two big sold out shows.  So it's been full so far.

What's the comparison? Do you prefer playing with larger or smaller audiences?  

It depends on the setting.  If it's in a venue club style I could play to a bigger audience if it's a bigger club.  We've played some shows in small churches and stuff like that and that's been pretty cool.  So it's a toss up.

Speaking of churches, I read in an interview that you said you weren't religious, but for some reason your music gives off a religious vibe. I noticed from the rest of the songs they were two songs that stuck out the most "Playing House" and "Hanging On" are references towards relationships.

Yeah those are definitely a direct reflection of past relationships and stuff like that.  Some of the other songs play off of some of the same subjects but I think I incorporate the religious vibe and a spiritual, mystical element.  I use it in a lot of ways and I guess the mood of the music lends that kind of lyricism to it so that's where I usually end up going.

What's the importance of writing skills and a good song?  Do you write your music from your heart or think more of what the fans like or combination of both?

Sure. It's a combination of things, more than anything I think it's important that it actually means something and it's not just me writing romantic nonsense just for the purpose of creating that style of music.  So the lyrics are deeply personal to me.  On top of that I think it's always in the back of your mind that you want to create, based on the tone of the song and whatever key it's in, certain words and phrases that kind of play off of the melody.  It's very interdependent on what's happening in the song and decides how the lyrics will flow and the rhythm of the words.  A lot of times I'll start out singing over an instrumental and it'll be gibberish and then slowly try to formulate what I'm trying to say and what sounds good.  It's a combination of a lot of different things.

Do you listen to R&B?

I don't actually.  I listen to a lot of old soul and funk, but I've never been a big follower or fan of big 90's R&B or modern day R&B artists.  I will say that I am a fan of the new stuff coming out like The Weekends and Frank Ocean or some of these artists that are developing a different form of R&B.  I never went out and bought a lot of that stuff, like the new R. Kelly album or anything when I was in high school. 

Referring back to the song, “Playing House” it really sticks out the most to me.  Are you going to go more in that direction with your future work?

I don’t know.  I'm not really sure.  I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and write so I'm not really sure what I'll write next.  I haven't really been bored since the album came out in august and I've been just kind of out on the road.  But I really had fun making that song and people seem to be really enjoying it.  I'd like to explore that more for sure.

The cover on your album that your grandfather took, is a picture he took in Italy, I noticed a lady looking up towards the sky?  What's she looking at? The title of the album fits well with the image.

That's what grabs me immediately about the image is that she has this look, this kind of awe, like she's admiring something about her.  When my grandparents moved out of their house we collected a lot of their old Kodak slides and I found this one while filtering through them.  But what's really happening in that photo is that she's throwing birdseed in the air, if you look a little closer.  It's in a square in Venice where you used to be able to feed pigeons, they sold birdseed there and she's throwing it up.  

So it seems like you're getting a good fan base?

Yeah we've been putting in a lot of work out here on the road so I think it's been paying off.  We'll be done here in another week and then we have a few shows here and there, we're going to Tokyo for a show.  Then we get back into touring a little later in the New Year.  Hopefully I'll be able to get home in December and write some new material and get back in the flow.

I’ve seen you play and also looked at the audience and noticed couples holding hands, doing the behind the back wrap around and some people are in a trance.  But you are also really in the moment when you’re playing, but mainly with your eyes shut.  Do you see what I see?

I do sometimes.  I tend to spend most of the performance with my eyes closed because I end up singing a lot with my eyes closed.  I have trouble focusing on much else than what I'm doing. I always try to get a feel for what the crowd is doing, but like you said we're just kind of hopefully in the moment.  There's a lot of staring back and forth and the occasional person making out or hugging their girlfriend or boyfriend.  I tend to get pretty lost in what I'm doing so I don't see a whole lot.

Popularity seems to be growing with Active Child? Are you planning on adding more stage presence like adding visual projections and lights?

Yeah, I'm hoping to get bigger and bigger.  We're working on building up more production and getting lights on stage to create more of an ambiance than us just being up there.

Any last words?

I'm really excited about the future and I appreciate all the love and support.  I appreciate you guys coming to the shows and everything!

WORD.