In 1998, English singer/songwriter David Gray released the album White Ladder, featuring the hits “Babylon,” “This Year’s Love,” “Sail Away” and “Please Forgive Me.” The album didn’t hit Stateside until 2000 when Dave Matthews signed Gray to his ATO Records and re-released the album.
White Ladder went on to spend a year on the Billboard Top 200, became the biggest-selling album ever in Ireland and charted around the world, including top five in his native U.K. Since then Gray has released five studio albums, enjoying commercial success overseas and a strong fan base that allows him to sell out theaters in the U.S. every time he tours.
But Gray, like many, admits, dealing with his sudden and massive success, was difficult. He’s finally come to the point where he can deal with it enough to release a greatest hits, a milestone for any artist. Gray spoke with Monica Molinaro and I about success, his ideal Desert Trip bill and going forward musically.
Steve Baltin: Who would be on your Desert Trip bill?
David Gray: It’s gotta be Nina Simone, definitely you have to have the Specials, Van Morrison around the time of St. Dominic’s Preview, so from the mid-‘70s. I’ve gotta have Tim Buckley around the time of “Dream Letter.” Then I’m gonna go back to my childhood and add Madness to the night with the Specials. Then Bowie during the Berlin period, I’ve got to have a shout out to Bowie there.
Baltin: How has the material evolved for you when you go back and relook at it?
Gray: It’s always a strange experience to go and look at stuff right back at the beginning, all of your recordings. Putting the record together, listening to stuff, like in the very beginning, it’s strange hearing the old you next to the current you or almost current you. It’s funny to think of yourself in all these different ways. In some ways it feels like the same person and in other ways it feels like a completely different person back then.
Monica Molinaro: Are there ways you can tell now that you’ve grown musically or you’ve changed or reinvented yourself?
Gray: Yeah, I’ve changed a lot in just the way that I work. I think what I’m aiming for remains the same, when I travel around and sing a song or perform a show or make a recording I’m trying to do the same thing. But the means that I use to get there are quite different now. I’ve learned a lot about the creative process itself. So, for me, it’s becoming an ever richer thing, the world of making music. I feel like I’m enjoying it more and more. That might be an illusion but I think I’m a slow learner and I’ve racked up a few records now I’m starting to get the hang of it, so watch out.
Baltin: Given you are just getting the hang of it does the success of songs like “Babylon” and “This Year’s Love” surprise you looking back on it?
Gray: Yeah, looking at the whole thing and taking stock of it, it’s quite extraordinary trying to think about it all, the fact that it’s all actually happened seems remarkable, I can’t quite believe it. And there’s more, life just keeps on giving.
Baltin: Do you have perspective on it now where you can and look see why this is happening?
Gray: I’ve come to terms with the fact it’s happened and I can understand it was the right music at the right time. It was a lot to take on board when it happened. If I’ve got one of my faults it would be to go into my shell a little bit when I’m freaked out by things and I think that success is a lot to take on board. It knocked me out of my stride for a while, the success and the way it changed my life. I had to find my way back to that and it feels like I’ve been on the right path. It’s funny reflecting back and looking back on it. I’m just excited about the future, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the past.
Molinaro: It must be really interesting as an artist and performer to interact with people who constantly are looking into your past.
Gray: It’s a point of friction between the artist and the audience. You feel intent on moving forward and doing something differently and challenging yourself and trying to find new terrain and new sounds and new ways to sing a song. And the audience is quite happy with the way you’re doing it, then you walk on a stage and you want to show them a new way. It’s one of the points of tension, but I think you’ve got to be brave, otherwise if you bow to the audience and gratify them you’re just making a trap for yourself. I’ve done it long enough to understand there’s no doubt you have to be as brave as you can be in putting new music out and presenting it to the crowd. That’s what I do each time I’ve got a new record.
Baltin: I have a two-part question for you on the greatest hits album. What was the first greatest hits album you remember hearing and, as an artist, what does it mean to you to have achieved that milestone of having a greatest hits collection?
Gray: The first greatest hits I had was Bob Dylan’s greatest hits, “Blowing In The Wind” up until “Like A Rolling Stone.” That was the first greatest hits record I ever got and his record changed me forever when I discovered that. I think they’re a very valid thing for those that have had a huge, lengthy career for albums, Marvin Gaye or Al Green or Motown greatest hits. That’s what you want, you can start there and if you want to investigate further then you can. It’s a valid way of drawing attention to your music and making it easier for the listener to check it out at first glance. Not everyone is invested in music in the same detail to the same level. You’re putting it in one place and making it easier, just trying to draw attention to the catalog and help people to enjoy it cause it’s there.
Molinaro: When it comes to new music that you’re working on is there any musical genre that you’re looking into incorporating into your work right now or is inspiring you to grow in a different way?
Gray: Yeah, I don’t know what everyone else calls it, but we call it electro-acoustic, like sampling real sounds. There’s a real forward momentum and a kind of slight electronic element to quite a lot of the stuff I’m working on. It’s really the most uplifting record I think I’ve made, the next one to come. Everything’s feeling light, but it’s not finished yet so it might slow down in six months. But at the moment I think it’s gonna be the most uplifting, sort of energized thing I’ve ever done on a track by track basis. There are so many positive sounding songs, I’m just basically enjoying it so much. And we’ve just had a whale of a time being creative and not worrying about it. It’s given me a new lease on life.
