This is David in the words of his partner Louise… He’s shy, self-effacing and exceptionally talented; I mean you wouldn’t expect a guitarist to be quite so humble. He’s not always humble, in fact, when he finds something he has secretly yearned for at a car boot the humility melts away. His main interest appears to be the collection of instruments, usually with strings but not always.
Under our bed is a drum machine, an un-used four track, an old Bouzouki and perhaps a disused mandolin? At the end of the bed are a couple of Zithers and right now I’m sleeping next to a gong. On top of the wardrobe are a few Balalaikas, a pottery Mandola my brother made and two Marimbas. Most of the time I can’t open the back door because it’s blocked by one of the 20,000 Guitars, Bouzoukis & Mandolins that we share our home with. When he packs the car for a gig my handbag has to go on the roof rack. I live in the world of 'perpetually stubbed on instruments toes.'
Mostly he writes tunes – jigs and reels and stuff that he plays with his other band Kangaroo Moon.
He joined Seize The Day early 2000. I was managing the band at that time and suggested that, as he was the best stringed instrument player this side of the River Brue then he was their man. It took Shannon six years to drag a song out of him and she should get a gold medal because the song 'Rise Up' was born of her tenacity, and it’s totally awesome. Aitch, one of 'our sometimes band members' does a great rap and gave it the whipped cream and strawberries.
David is solid on rhythm guitar and his harmony singing is delicious. His spaghetti sauces taste great, his shoes always need cleaning and his biggest source of sadness is a gig clash. He’s played with heaps of people I’ve never met and performed on umpteen albums which I can’t remember the name of. His first powerful musical influence was playing in the Australian band Dreamtime with Michael Cumming. They toured across Australia on something called “The Peace Train” with a lovely man called Darshi who made us all pancakes when we were recording a KM Album called Bagpipes on the Beach.
A key David Dilemma is the flying thing; he’s 5th generation Australian, his mum, sisters and two of his children live there. In the words of the sultry, sumptuous, utterly delicious Shannon Smy – What would you do?
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