Band of the Week

Drew Danburry

There has been a reoccuring word surrounding my interactions with musicians lately, and that word is faith. It all starts with faith in your own abilities, and that then has to translate into faith that others will take interest in and enjoy your sound. Now you have confidence and a fanbase, but the final act of faith lies in turning over your songs to a record label and a promotion team. Each step of the processing of making an album requires the musician to trust that he or she has made the right decisions in writing, recordings and especially in who they have aligned themselves with.

On his latest release Drew Danburry has finally given control to a record label. For the last five years Drew has released all of his albums independantly, but he recently signed to Emergency Umbrella Records. There is justicifaction for being both signed and unsigned, and the transition between the two can be challenging. Luckily for Drew he has found a great label, and the resulting album This Could Mean Trouble, You Don't Speak for the Club sounds great. He has finally found a quality label that has faith in him, and his career and life has never looked brighter.

Recently, Drew was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Your latest release, This Could Mean Trouble, You Don't Speak for the Club was released in November on Umbrella Records, what can you tell us about this album?
Drew Danburry (DD): It is a good album. I'd be surprised if people don't it enjoy on many levels. I'm really happy with the result and really proud of it in terms or art, craft and diligent labor.

OA: Having self-released your albums leading up to this release, how has your experience with This Could Mean Trouble been different?
DD: It's been really hard relinquishing control of everything. It's been hard not to do everything myself and have it be hands on, it has been hard to just put my faith in others. That's just been a "me" issue though. The label is wonderful and everyone I'm working with is working as hard as I am to make it be a successful release. The fact that strangers have so much faith in what I'm doing really reflects a lot on the value of the release and my art to me. I'm a lucky guy. I've been very blessed in my life.

OA: You have spent a lot of time on the road. What can people expect to see at your shows? Do you book your own tours? If so, is touring becoming more difficult and less financially feasible?
DD: Yes I have. I never know what a show is going to be like. To be honest, I'm not too emotionally stable, so depending on the atmosphere and how I'm feeling, that's what they get. I've had meltdowns less than I've had amazing awesome performances with the audience feeding into a fiery energy that gets the whole crowd moving and stomping and shouting and yelling for the pure joy of life. But for someone to expect that always would be frustrating to my humanity.

At this point I book my own tours but I've been searching for an agent and/or to tour with people who I love/like and/or have an agent that will book the tour and slot me in as support. In short, I'm pretty jaded on DIY touring right now. I can't make ends meet doing it and I've had so much bad luck accompanied with dishonest people that I just don't want to deal with it at all. I've had PLENTY of wonderful people who've been kind and supportive and absolutely wonderful to me. But the bad luck has just outweighed everyone's kindness so heavily I can't keep up. And I'm a pretty positive guy....anyone who knows me, knows this is true, so for me to say this is not just a wimpy confession. I've been through a lot of shit trying to pay my dues which make for great memories but nowadays with a wife in stow and more debt than ever I just can't carry it all anymore.

OA: Speaking of touring, you have a series of shows coming up with one of my favorite performers, Emperor X. Have you ever played with Chad before? What do you think about his stage show?
DD: I've never met him nor seen him. But I'm excited to. We have a mutual friend in Ryland Bouchard (The Robot Ate Me) and I'm rather fond of Ryland as an individual. He's been a great friend throughout the years.

OA: The products that your wife makes are really interesting. How long has she been selling these items, and have your fans been supportive?
DD: She's been making these things for years and years....but she's only been my wife for five months so we're trying to get the word out on what she's doing as best as we can. It was near embarrassing on tour because she sold everything she had in two weeks and I just sat next to her and wished I was selling half as much...ha ha...I guess there isn't much to say, she wins. She makes a product people want more, especially my fans. We're definitely working to make what she's doing take as much if not more precedence to what I'm doing.

OA: What's next for Drew Danburry?
DD: I'm doing whatever I possibly can to record the next album amidst juggling two jobs and organizing whatever touring I can afford and muster come 2009 without neglecting my bills, my wife and everything else. It's actually quite a feat surviving the way things are going right now. We're barely avoiding going negative in our bank account with every check to check that comes in. It makes life interesting and fun.




Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
DD: Joseph Smith! Get it? Ha!

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
DD: The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. I just finished it this last weekend. It was wonderful, I am officially converting into fanship of his writing and excited to look for more books he's written.

Listen to: I'm Pretty Sure (mp3)

For more information on Drew Danburry please visit his website.