Name: David Allred
Occupation: Composer, producer, songwriter
Nationality: American
Recent release: David Allred's The Beautiful World is out via Erased Tapes.
Recommendations: I'm currently reading Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, recommended to me by my friend Jenna and it's so remarkably sad and beautiful. It involves a great deal of family trauma and I love how the author's curiosity breaks through the past and brings love and compassion to the present.
I'm also obsessed with Psychology Today as it has a lot of amazing articles and resources for mental health and healing.

If you enjoyed these thoughts by David Allred and would like to know more about his music and work, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.  

For a deeper dive, we recommend our earlier David Allred interview.



What are some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound?

Lately I've been most invested in exchanging song ideas with my friends which are often demos that may never see the light of day. I'm fortunate to have a great deal of friends who are sharing their music with me before it's released and/or before it potentially gets lost forever in time.

One album in particular that I want to highlight is Paper Garden's self-titled album from 1969 which was a very strange album made by some artists in New York at the time which sounds a bit like The Beatles but more experimental/absurd.



The album fell into total obscurity but I think it's a masterpiece.

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Yes, I'm actually hypersensitive to sound and need to bring headphones with me wherever I go to help cope with loud sounds and loud shows. This is largely a product of my autism as I am pretty easily overstimulated in my senses. But nonetheless, I love all kinds of sounds.

In particular I really like the sounds that cars and trains make in general. I like when they pass by, when the doors open and close, the beeping sounds, the engine, you name it. It's just fun and interesting how many sounds they can make.

I also like the sounds of buzzing light bulbs.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we would gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

Honestly, basic/boring/normie music drives me crazy. I prefer a song that is poorly written, even intentionally bad, rather than a song that is trying to be good but is mediocre.

And I know that is totally subjective but I can't help but find the sound and feeling of very basic music hard for me.  

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

Yes, I love the sound of rain, both from the outside and from the inside.

I live in Portland, Oregon so it's very rainy here and I once made an album called Night Light when the rain was pouring so loud on the roof over the recording studio one day which I was worried about initially because of how loud it was but I ended up absolutely loving the sound of it. It wasn't so loud in the mix overall but you can definitely hear rain throughout in the quiet parts of the album, and most clearly at the end of the songs.

So now I see a heavily raining day as a great opportunity to record music rather than a barrier, because I think it somehow happens to work well with the type of music I make.
 


Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

Yes, my friend Malcolm and I once went to explore ape caves in Washington near Mt. St. Helens and it was so beautiful and had an amazing natural reverb.

Also, Peter Broderick and I performed in a big cave in Turkey which was one of the most remarkable shows I've ever played, as the venue had the longest natural reverb I've ever heard, it felt supernatural.

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

I'm into recording in my bedroom and garage as I'm most comfortable with those spaces.

I like to change it up, too, because spending too much time in one room can be limiting. I find that occasionally changing the room I'm in when writing a song can help bring new life to the music. Same with listening back to it,

I also like to step outside to listen again with headphones and it can help me hear things with a more clear mind.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

I'm not sure if music necessarily feels material to me but it is very tangible to my imagination. I do feel like I'm sculpting a world in my mind with music.

I actually recently made a music video with my girlfriend Fay for my song "The Beautiful World" which was a very enjoyable experience to reach for a visual to what I saw in my mind when making the song.

The song is about reaching for a connection in a vastly and causally disconnected world.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

While sound is very important to our health, I think silence is equally as important, as we live in a supremely chaotic world where we're all over-entertained all the time. I have to turn off devices and reach for calm in my brain at times due to how noisy life has become.

I usually find the strongest sense of peace when simply engaging in conversation with others. Music and sound overall is so valuable to me but I see the most value in silence and mindful/meaningful conversations when we need it.  

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds?

One of the most powerful non-human sounds I've ever heard is my cat's purr. He's very affectionate and loves to snug and purr which is very psychologically healing.

I also read recently that cat's purrs can help heal brain injuries and decrease inflammation.

Ash:


Ash - Photo by David Allred

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?

I like to think that all life forms have the ability to communicate and listen in their own ways.

It seems like a lot of animals are better at it than humans are to each other. We have a lot to learn from animals and our interactions with them.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

Actually, I took a hearing test relatively recently and scored 100% on it. So I essentially have very super exceptional hearing which is great for what I do as I am a sound engineer.

But is also largely why I'm sensitive to loud sounds. I didn't really realize how well I took care of my hearing in my life and maybe it's genetic but I feel very fortunate for this because hearing damage is honestly one of my greatest fears.  

We can surround ourselves with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Glenn Gould is certainly a highly respected person and I see where he is coming from. Maybe the fact that there's almost always perceivable sound, we can learn to appreciate it more as we often take it for granted. It's also a way to feel more connected to the world/universe, so I can dig it.

Much like how light needs dark, sound needs silence. There has to be a balance, otherwise it can be overstimulating.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

I think the world would be a completely different place if this was the case, because the heart of all communication is listening. And aside from communication, making space to notice the vast beauty of it all changes us too.

Perhaps we would have more compassion for each other and there would be a greater sense of community.

Also, hot take: if we listened and engaged with each other more intently and more mutually, I think we would all naturally drop off of all social media.