Interview: David Dallas on his latest single 'Probably'.
Last year, David Dallas released his critically acclaimed fourth solo album, 'Hood Country Club', which the NZ Herald praised saying, "No word is spared, no line is wasted, any everything lands on or near its intended target." And they weren't wrong.
The record's opening track, 'Probably', is Dallas' favourite song from his latest album, and he told us via e-mail this week about why it was important to him to make a video for it: "Because it's probably (no pun intended) my favourite song off the album - the first verse in particular is my favourite thing on the whole record. Being that I'd only done one video for this project it just felt like I had unfinished business to take care of before I could move on."
Dallas also kindly e-mailed us some thoughtful answers to some other questions which you can read below...
COUP DE MAIN: 'Probably' is such an important song for South Aucklanders, challenging stereotypical representations of South Auckland. What do you think can be done to help foster a more positive representation of South Auckland?
DAVID DALLAS: A more informed and representative media landscape would be a good start. But TBH at the moment it feels like across the board we're getting increasingly sensationalised and surface level news. Everyone's veering away from doing long-form news in favour of bite size stuff and clickbait headlines. Unfortunately the world isn't that simple, and trying to reduce everything down to something, like FB algorithm likes, doesn't do anyone any favours.
CDM: The line, "You takin' up a spot you didn't work for, figure I deserve yours," is such a powerful thought in 'Probably'. Why do you think our generation has such a sense of entitlement?
DAVID: I guess it's because everything is more accessible for us - there's so much instant gratification and immediacy in everything we do. Grab the aux cord at a party, chuck a couple good songs on a playlist - "I'm a DJ." Pick up a phone, take a couple half decent pics - "I'm a photographer." Post a couple photos in some cool clothes on Instagram, throw in a couple hashtags - "I'm an influencer." That's just where we're at. All of this innovation and comfort we enjoy has a price, most of the time we don't realise it.
CDM: In your latest album's title-track, 'Hood Country Club', you say, "Things we learn on rap vids / We applying it," which is true of music videos for any genre of music and especially those that feature product placement. Is this culture of consumerism for international brands and a 'music video lifestyle' deteriorating the identity of New Zealanders? Does it matter?
DAVID: More so than ever I feel like the world is edging closer to uniformity - the connected world at least. Right now you could watch a video of an artist from Sweden and swear it's someone from Atlanta. A hip kid in Auckland probably dresses the same as a kid from any fashion capital in the world. So yeah, I guess there's a deterioration of the NZ identity, but that goes for every other country on earth too, and I feel like at least this "global" identity we're seeing at the moment takes more influence from everywhere as opposed to the solely U.S centric buzz I felt when I was younger. But yes, I do think our local identity is important, and at any chance we get we should be trying to impart something of our own.
CDM: Obligatory: Have you been working on any new music?
DAVID: Always.
David Dallas' latest album 'Hood Country Club' is out now - click here to listen via Spotify.
Watch the 'Probably' music video below...
