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Old 12-15-2014, 09:28 PM   #1
DesoleInBoston
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Default Rolling Stone interview

Hey guys -
It's kinda quiet in here lately!!

New Rolling Stone interview:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/fe...ed-lp-20141215

Damien Rice on How Eight Years of Soul-Searching Led to Long-Awaited LP
The Irish singer-songwriter discusses the spiritual journey that led to his "scarred" new LP


With 9, Damien Rice scored his first Number One in his home country, topping the Irish album chart in the fall of 2006. The singer-songwriter followed with a world tour and a pair of live albums but put off returning to the studio in order to spend some time in self-reflection. "When I was a teenager, I thought I'd know more when I was a man," he says. "But now that I'm a man, I'm working on unlearning most of the things I learned as a teenager."

Two years ago, Rice and producer Rick Rubin began recording the tracks that would form My Favourite Faded Fantasy, a raw return that document the musician's long period of soul-searching. Between European tour dates (he comes to North America next spring) Rice opened up about his spiritual journey and invigorating new LP.

Does writing come easily or is it more of a difficult process? What were you doing during those years in between records?

I did a lot of writing during those years. It comes when it comes, and when it comes it tends to come easily. However, just because it comes doesn't mean it's any good. So I dumped a lot of stuff during those years because I was waiting for the lyrics to feel right. I was more interested in singing about where I wanted to go, socially or emotionally, as opposed to where I'd already been.

It's hard to say when the work began because one song leads to another in a stream-like way. However, I suppose the formal start was when I went to the studio with Rick in January 2013.

What made you decide to work with him?
It was less of a decision and more of a feeling. It just felt right. I knew very little about Rick, so it wasn't really based on information. It was more the mystery of Rick that drew me to him. I came away with a deep love for him and a new fire in my belly to make records.

Besides Rick, are there any particular artists that have influenced this record?
If I catch myself doing something that reminds me of someone else, I tend to want to change course. I like finding new paths into the woods.

That said, I was in Iceland for a long time, and they don't have many woods over there. I think the landscape has scarred the songs on this album with a little of the same "fire meeting ice" flavor of some Sigur Ros songs. However, I blame Alex Somers for that: He has mixed various Sigur Ros songs and various songs on this album, and he poured his magic dust onto the songs in a way that I just couldn't say no.

I've read that you spent much of the past few years self-reflecting and learning more about who you are.
I have spent some time learning, but learning does not imply understanding. I am more a student now than I was 10 years ago. I do not want to be a robot, a cog in society who answers yes because yes is considered the appropriate answer. Neither do I want to be a protestor. I just want to seek out what lies underneath the veils of politeness and programming that I've been given as a person in this society. I want to get comfortable with my insecurities until I am no longer insecure. I want to be comfortable in my skin so that I do not need to dump any of my discomfort onto someone else in the form of judgment.

Which track on the album are you most proud of?
I've torn the word "pride" out from my dictionary because I prefer not to use it. To me, pride is the thing that is at the root of most of the wars in the world. I've seen it while growing up in Ireland. Whether it's religious, national or personal pride, people often tend to fight much more easily over things that are attached to their pride. I've done enough fighting, I'm ready for something else now, so I've dropped my pride and find no fights.

The musical outro to "It Takes a Lot to Know a Man" is probably the part of the album I love the most at the moment.

Like a lot of your tracks, "It Takes a Lot" has a few big crescendos. What draws you to that sound?

Each song is a small universe to me. Each song has a story of its own. Each has a full life to express in order to be complete, so it often happens that the building to a big crescendo feels right in the recording or writing process. I also love listening to music on really good speakers, really loudly, and songs with great dynamics often give me massive chills when they reach their climax.
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Old 12-15-2014, 10:36 PM   #2
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love the part he talk about pride
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Old 12-16-2014, 12:06 AM   #3
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i like the interview. thanks for posting!
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Old 12-16-2014, 06:24 AM   #4
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Great interview. That's the favorite part of the album for me as well. (Like I said in my intro post weeks back)

Thanks for sharing
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Old 12-16-2014, 07:30 PM   #5
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Great interview. That's the favorite part of the album for me as well. (Like I said in my intro post weeks back)

Thanks for sharing
So is mine.

Thank you so much for sharing this interview.

I love the world view reflected in all what he said in this and the others interviews that he has been given in the last months, they are all full of truths.

He is clearly becoming more and more free and I think the freedom that lives in his songs, expressed not just in the lyrics but in the music itself and many other ways is one of the things that I most love of them and of him.

I specially like this:

"I do not want to be a robot, a cog in society who answers yes because yes is considered the appropriate answer. Neither do I want to be a protestor. I just want to seek out what lies underneath the veils of politeness and programming that I've been given as a person in this society. I want to get comfortable with my insecurities until I am no longer insecure. I want to be comfortable in my skin so that I do not need to dump any of my discomfort onto someone else in the form of judgment."
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Old 12-17-2014, 07:17 AM   #6
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So is mine.



I specially like this:

"I do not want to be a robot, a cog in society who answers yes because yes is considered the appropriate answer. Neither do I want to be a protestor. I just want to seek out what lies underneath the veils of politeness and programming that I've been given as a person in this society. I want to get comfortable with my insecurities until I am no longer insecure. I want to be comfortable in my skin so that I do not need to dump any of my discomfort onto someone else in the form of judgment."

That's the "Anthony DeMello" in him speaking. After Damien mentioned about him, I downloaded one of DeMello's tapes called Awareness and have been listening to it for weeks. Really beautiful words and thoughts in them. I see myself changing already. Anyways, I'm so glad Damien is finally back and with more and more music. More power to him!
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Old 12-18-2014, 03:09 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Mahesh View Post
That's the "Anthony DeMello" in him speaking. After Damien mentioned about him, I downloaded one of DeMello's tapes called Awareness and have been listening to it for weeks. Really beautiful words and thoughts in them. I see myself changing already. Anyways, I'm so glad Damien is finally back and with more and more music. More power to him!
Mahesh, I've been doing the same thing!!! The audio to Awareness and other lectures he gave are all on YouTube. I'm absolutely hooked. DeMello is very funny and he just makes so much sense. I highly recommend his lectures. Several phrases from the track My Favourite Faded Fantasty seem like they were spliced right out of DeMello lectures and included in the lyrics. Not plagiarism exactly, more like homage.
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Old 12-19-2014, 06:48 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by DesoleInBoston View Post
Mahesh, I've been doing the same thing!!! The audio to Awareness and other lectures he gave are all on YouTube. I'm absolutely hooked. DeMello is very funny and he just makes so much sense. I highly recommend his lectures. Several phrases from the track My Favourite Faded Fantasty seem like they were spliced right out of DeMello lectures and included in the lyrics. Not plagiarism exactly, more like homage.
What you said!

His stories are humorous and filled with so much grace and wisdom. I'm not even close to being religious (though I'm spiritual to an extent) but I can still relate. Very very recommended. Thankful to Damien for introducing me to him.
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