Name: Dave Palmer
Occupation: Pianist, composer
Nationality: American
Current release: Dave Palmer teams up with Reggie Hamilton (bass), and Joey Waronker (drums) for their self-titled debut trio record, out via Cinema Music.
Recommendations for Philadelphia, USA: Philadelphia has so much to offer. But I would say go to a dive bar, of which there are many, and just have conversations with regular people. It's usually a gas.
Topic I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: New technology to protect IP rights. We've had so much taken from us as musicians and artists and creators in general over the past two decades. If this doesn't get combatted with new tech that supports financial aggregation for works owned the Arts will not be fiscally viable very soon.

If you enjoyed this Dave Palmer interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

For me a creative project is often born out of a specific idea.

I write so many different kinds of music for many different professional and personal reasons that I find a focused conceptualization is needed to get a project going and to bring it to fruition.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

No. I just need to understand what it is I'm setting out to accomplish.

Once that concept is firmly in place I usually have a straight forward path creatively.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

Nothing that is consistent.

For your latest release, what did you start with? If there were conceptual considerations, what were they?

For the DPT record it all came from knowing who I wanted in the group.

Once I had Reggie Hamilton on bass and Joey Waronker on drums I had a very clear idea of how I wanted the music to sound.

Tell me a bit about the way the new material developed and gradually took its final form, please.

I wrote for about three months prior to us getting together for the first time. I would send out sketches as I wrote them so the guys could hear where my focus was musically.

The recording session was set up for about a week after our initial rehearsal so things were still very fresh and open to interpretation in the moment. I knew I wanted to focus on melody and compositional structure and to keep the songs short so soloing was quite limited.

We had a great team and great environment which helped everything come to fruition.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

I don't keep strict control but I generally have a concrete idea of what I want and put the people in place that I think will best accomplish the creative goal.

This usually makes it simple to get into a result that is in line with the vision while still allowing for inspirational variations.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

I'm not sure. I know that the mental state one gets into to make music with improvisational elements is something that has spiritual tinges to it.

I try not to define it or question it. I feel it is best to let this happen naturally and instinctively. I do not consider it to be consciously spiritual.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

I don't like to belabor creative decisions.

I find that if you write well ahead of time and put the right people together you usually get the desired result.

How do you think the meaning, or effect of an individual piece is enhanced, clarified or possibly contrasted by the EPs, or albums it is part of? Does each piece, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole?

If you are writing a set of pieces for an entire project like an EP or LP then yes it is very important that the work be consistent conceptually as a whole.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?

Production is very important. It is different for every project.

For a jazz trio the room, set up, instruments and engineer are all major factors. These things must be thought out ahead of time and creatively accurate decisions made accordingly.

Music and the accompanying artwork are often closely related. Can you talk about this a little bit for your current project and the relationship that images and sounds have for you in general?

The record design was made by having several older jazz LP covers looked at for look and concept.

The young designer did a great job of taking what was sent and creating a new and stylish look for the artwork.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

I never feel that way. I am either already thinking of a new concept to create or happy that I don't have to be creative at all.

Down time creatively is very important.

I would love to know a little about the feedback you've received from listeners or critics about what they thought some of your songs are about or the impact it had on them – have there been “misunderstandings” or did you perhaps even gain new “insights?”

Overall I've been very happy with the personal and critical responses to the record.

The impressions people have had from it are very in line with the intention behind it. And that is very satisfying.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

All I've done for most of my life is make music so it's hard for me to separate it from everything in my life. It's how the world makes sense to me.