David Feily
Interviewed December 10, 2015 | Written and photographed by Ilya Natarius
Every artist has a drive to create, but for some that drive is amplified when combined with the determination and creativity of their peers. While able to create on their own terms, having others around to learn and grow is where they best thrive. This is how David Feily, a guitar player best known for playing with New Sound Underground and Rhythmic Circus, describes his core reason for being a musician. David asked me to meet him in the practice space that he shares with the rest of his New Sound Underground band members for this very reason. When I arrive, David meets me outside in the parking lot and we walk in together and down the hall to the space.
Located in the Profile Event Center, the practice space is a small, windowless room lined with sound-isolating foam pads on the walls and door. Music equipment is strewn about — one corner is set up for the keyboardist while other areas have amplifiers stacked on top of each other and miscellaneous parts of drum kits and conga drums tucked away for temporary storage. “This place is usually more set up when we’re actually rehearsing,” David says. “Right now most of the gear is gone because people are using it for shows.” David explains that the room is not only just a space for practicing music, but for advancing the business side of things for him and his band members as well. The room is one among many others — the entire building is an event center with space people can rent out and is especially popular with musicians.
For David, the practice space is a physical representation of collaboration among other artists and where he himself managed to become a better musician because of his work with a wide variety of different musicians. “A lot of magic happens here,” David says, describing his typical workflow when in the room. “New Sound Underground rehearses here a lot, as well as a few other musicians we know.” David has been able to hone his skills and learn to grow as an individual musician as well as learn how to work better with others. David has strived to achieve versatility in his work — something that gives him an edge over others at his level.
Through his large number of collaborations, David has been able to expand his musical range and gain a deep understanding of his own unique sound and process that, as he describes it, is an amalgamation of many different genres of music. Whatever music he’s playing, David has always been able to come back to his work with others and learn from it, both in and out of the practice room. For him, the room is a symbol of progress, both in his work and in the work of his band members. Whether he is there or not, the idea that the room represents — collaboration — will always be with him, pushing him to ever advance his musical prowess.
Throughout his musical career, both personal and professional, David has learned a large number of techniques, styles, and genres. “My style as an individual player is always changing,” David says on the subject. “It’s kind of an ebb and flow for my individual style. It depends on who I’m playing with and what style of music it is, and what I’m listening to on my own.”
As a result, the music David plays and writes has a versatility to it — something that David says he strives for in his musicianship. Versatility strengthens his skills and makes him into a better player, both as an individual musician and as a bandmate.
Despite being a skilled musician on his own, David credits much of his personal mix of versatility and focus to playing with others in a band or simply improvising with other musicians. “Even if I was on my own I’d still be trying to play with other people,” he says. “I’d be writing more. My musical taste would probably be more spread out because I’d have less focus and wouldn’t need to focus on specific bands or genres.”
Collaboration is David’s main driving force in his music, and the large number of different musicians and bands he’s played with support that idea. For David, the practice space is crucial to creating a collaborative environment in which he can work and grow. Spending much of his time in the practice space with one of his main bands, New Sound Underground, David discusses just how much collaboration is essential to him, as well as the other band members. “For New Sound it’s all original music — whatever I feel is appropriate or what I’m feeling for a certain composition is me, or is us. I try to keep it as musical as possible. Just the interaction with other people, especially in this space — a lot of things get worked out. We have our chance to work together as a team and how to make every show better, write music, get business done, all in this space,” David says.
The practice room extends to those outside of his main bands as well, turning into a place where musicians can come together for a jam session and allowing David and the other band members to grow as musicians outside of their normal practice hours. “This space has been great for playing with people outside the band too. We keep a lot of our stuff set up and we can play at any hour of the night. It’s been really nice to have that improvisatory interaction and to figure out what my place is when you get together and explore just with friends,” he says.
Working with other band members and having access to a full-time practice space has shaped David’s style, musicality, and opinions on artistry as a whole, but even more so has taught him to create musical connections with those he plays with through his art. “Sometimes we get in here and we jam and I suck, and it makes me practice a lot more. Or sometimes I’m in here with someone who’s not in New Sound that I don’t get to play often with and it’ll pull me in a direction I haven’t been in before and that has an impact on how I respond and play,” David says. “That’s why I like improvising and jazz and fusion and funk; there’s so much of a rich heritage of improvisation, that rich interpersonal connection just from listening as well as visually, being able to communicate with people about what’s going on musically — being able to communicate feelings musically.”
David’s experience with collaborating has had a large influence on his take on artistic intent as well. Depending on the project, he may tailor his music one way or another to evoke a specific outcome whether it be obvious or not. Whatever it is that he’s going for, David’s work will
speak for itself with no need for his intervention, and he makes that very clear. “I’m really interested in the visual arts or written language and music pairing. I think it can add to the whole musical experience and can really sway people and make them feel a certain way when listening to music and have a connotation or association. But sometimes it can detract, because it takes away from the pure musical experience,” David says. “You can give the musical experience just to hear it, especially if it’s instrumental, and give the listener nothing but that so they can listen on their own and create their own imagery, and let the music speak to them the way they want it to. Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes it’s a bad thing. It depends on what kind of artistic additions are there or not.”
Through collaboration and versatility, David’s musical journey has taken him to countless venues and connections with many musicians, but regardless of where his journey takes him next, there will always be collaboration, and David will always find a space in which to make it happen.
