Vocal Points: Devine Music With Significance

posted in: Features • Pop

Kevin Devine, singer-songwriter from Brooklyn, has a pretty extensive musical background.  From his early days playing with New York bands like Delusion and Miracle of ’86 , to his current solo work and collaboration with The Goddamn Band, Devine has proved himself to a wide variety of music fans.  The remarkable thing about Devine is that he is so multi-dimensional. Since beginning his solo project, he’s been proving that he has not only the drive and talent to create a lasting music career, but also has a socially significant voice in a sea of meaningless songs.

We recently caught up with Kevin to learn more about his musical experience and hear about his newest album, Between the Concrete & Clouds, which was released September 13th.

OS: When did you begin singing, and when did you know that music was something you were going to devote your life to?

KD: I always remember singing around the house, singing along with my mother’s records, with the radio, with Michael Jackson and Joni Mitchell’s “Michael From Mountains”, things like that. I was in chorus at school all through grade school, junior high. I don’t know if there was a moment of conscious choosing, I just don’t ever remember seriously wanting to do anything else. I was a good student all the way through graduating college, have worked many jobs, but this was always at the center.

OS: Now that you’ve been performing for some time, what would you say you have learned about your voice, and how have you used this knowledge to grow as a performer?

KD: I think I’ve embraced my limitations as a singer and tried to re-frame them as strengths. I have an expressive voice and a basic grasp of dynamics, and I have become a stronger and better singer over the course of my career, but am still not anyone’s picture of technical excellence. I’ve learned to sing more and shout less, and to sing straighter, less wobbly. I used to shake around my voice more to mask my insecurity about hitting the notes. I feel more confident now.

OS: Your voice seems to be pretty versatile, from the way you use it in your softer, acoustic songs, to your more intense, raw sound. Are there any songs which are more vocally challenging for you than others?

If so, which ones?

KD: Songs like “Brother’s Blood” can be a workout, especially night after night on tour, and that style can wear on you with an intense schedule, particularly because I don’t really warm up tons. I probably should incorporate that into my routine.

OS: Your album, Between the Concrete & Clouds, was just released. How does this album reflect the way you’ve matured since your earlier albums?

KD: I think it’s the best sounding record we’ve made, and I think the songs have an economy I really like. I think it’s a listenable pop record that is also heavy and presented on its own terms. I definitely think it is my best sung album… I love the harmonies and layering.

OS: While many of your songs focus on your own life experiences, you’ve also used your voice to speak out about social and  political issues. What made you decide to use your music in this way?

KD: I just found at a certain point in the last decade that writing honestly about being a person would have to include writing about what was happening in the world in a larger sense. It just started to feel like a natural extension of chronicling your experience, seeing yourself in context, developing your empathy, connecting social injustice to your own sense of unease and confusion. It just seems normal to me.

OS: If you could have any one singer’s voice, whose would it be and why?

KD: Sam Cooke‘s, because it is perfect.

OS: What was your favorite part of recording Between the Concrete & Clouds? Do you have a song you’re especially excited for your fans to hear?

KD: I’m glad people are getting a chance to hear it in general. I am proud and satisfied and feel very comfortable getting up to bat with this record. We got to make the record over four weekends at the producer Chris Bracco’s house in Connecticut. We’ve been friends and collaborators for years, same for his wife Amy. They have a baby boy, so the whole experience was just really nice. Making this exciting music and then heading upstairs to play with Ben, make coffee, lots of laughter and light. I guess my favorite thing about making it was making it.

Buy Between the Concrete & Clouds today!