of all the juniper versions of damien's songs face is one that i like, but it still isn't a touch on damien solo.. none of the juniper stuff is imo.. they sound like a lot of other irish bands with driving guitars and rushed melodies, and damien's voice isn't anywhere near as expressive or stands out as much when he was with them.. (btw closing doors, has anyone on the planet but you ever heard juniper's version of insane? i'm beginning to think it's a myth
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so maybe finding his voice is a good way to put it, but i think it was more than that or just how he recorded songs (tho that's v interesting about the shoes and older chests, i never knew that) it was how he changed how he wrote songs and decided to live his life differently.. i don't know if you call it an epiphany or revelation or paradigm shift or what but i think it started before he left juniper, with eskimo..
DR If you look at my life, my songwriting life changed when I was in Juniper. I got to a point. There was a time when I had three days to write songs and I was frustrated in the fact that I was thinking I was a songwriter and that is my job and I should really be working at this as a songwriter writing songs. I realized it was a completely wrong approach having this idea that you are supposed to work at it. After three days I picked up the guitar and 'Eskimo' literally flew into my head in ten minutes. For me I was sitting there feeling sad about not being able to write so I started to write about my feelings about not being able to write. Once that happened I have never tried to write again. I now don't write songs. I just go to wherever I go to. It is like going to the toilet. You don't decide you are going to go to the toilet today or go to the toilet three times today. You just eat and the food you put into your system will decide when it wants to come out.
Undercover interview, 2003 (it's on the interviews page)
it sounds to me like he felt like he was compromising and not being true to himself and his art was suffering because of it.. and then writing eskimo was an epiphany for him and made him realize that it's best to let things happen naturally and organically, not force anything and to live his life to please himself..
just a thought
