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David Ross MacDonald.
David Ross MacDonald is a very unassuming fellow. Perhaps that
comes with spending the better part of ten years behind a drum
kit The Waifs. Fortunately, he has recently rediscovered his
first love, playing the guitar. When I met up with him for a
chat over a coffee about his new album, well, that was the last
thing he wanted to talk about. Mr MacDonald felt much more at
ease chatting about other things: politics, travel, life, relationships...
"I was playing washboard in a band at the Port Fairy Folk Festival and The Waifs were there touring an album," he begins. "We all got very drunk one night on Guiness and they asked if I wanted to join as a drummer because they didn't have one. After a few gigs with them I took six months off of all my musical projects to work out where I wanted to go and decided that guitar was going to be my thing, but this drumming opportunity had just opened up."
Taking chances is what put MacDonald on this path. After studying at Adelaide University he worked as a geologist in Roxby Downs. Then after spending some time at Perth's CSIRO conducting research he realised that wasn't what he wanted, so turned to studying jazz "It's a risky thing to chase your goals and your dreams but it comes back to making decisions. As soon as you make a decision to do something doors open up and people really connect with your verve," he enthuses.
After independently releasing an instrumental album a couple of years ago, MacDonald decided to try his hand at singing "Oh, I can't sing!" he lies, laughing. "Singing is the scariest, absurdest thing I've tried to do. I've worked in studios being very critical of recording artists and having studied jazz I was always surrounded by geniuses and had to try and play catch up. When I realised my solo career as an instrumental artist wasn't going to take off I thought, 'I'm going to have to start singing and exploring songwriting.' I didn't have anything to sing about in regard to having my heart broken so I decided to start investigating books and people and history and use those as touchstones for writing material."
Lyrically, this is a very poetic album and each listening will peel away another layer to reveal yet another meaning. "I have very little interest in confessional songwriting. I'm not a young, angst-ridden teenager so what appeals to me is a bit different. People are smart: they get tired of factory music and maybe even more so now with technology the way it is. People are introducing a slightly different narrative. It's not all about power plays or writing songs that are sappy or droopy. People are more interested in the contradictions or complexities of life. That's what a lot of artists are writing about. We're trying to tap in to the ambiguity because you can't explain what's going on in our heads or our hearts. It's totally in conflict with our aspirations and feelings."
Kelly Parish
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David Ross MacDonald plays at the Grace Emily on Thurs 10 March. 'Far From Here' is out now through MGM.
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