Review Fix chats with David Stükenberg about his recently released album “Novella,†as well as the inspirations behind the work and how he’d like it to be remembered years from now.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration behind this album?
David Stükenberg: My childhood I suppose. The album started as a 34-song soundtrack to a short novel that my sister and I were writing about growing up in south east Kentucky. It occurred to us one day that we had some fairly crazy stories from our upbringing. We changed the names and a few small details to avoid hurting anyone involved. Though the novel never saw the light of day, at last most of our favorite tracks from the score have!!
Review Fix: What inspires you to create music?
Stükenberg: Life, crazy people, amazing people, confusion, perpetual curiosity, fear, love, stupidity…. Really anything that hits me as substantial for even a moment.
Review Fix: “Beuland†is a super catchy track, what inspired it? What was the creative process for it like?
Stükenberg: Well, thank you. I always wanted to dabble with a dark “Can-Can”-esque configuration of a chorus. As ridiculous as that staggered groove can sound, it has a sort of drunken power to it. That combined with my love of flute as an erie addition to anything minor musically was the core of the song. The lyrics were taken from journal entries written by an 11-year-old version of myself.
Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?
Stükenberg: That changes from song to song. For most of Novella I was going for a strength in vulnerability type-of-thing. That is to say, when someone admits something dark about themselves in many cases it empowers those around them to confront many of the same issues that would otherwise stay buried.
Review Fix: What song on “Novella” do you think stands out the most?
Stükenberg: I don’t know that I have favorite songs on the record, but rather favorite parts of songs. I love the strings on “Eliza,” I love the backing vocals in “So Am i” and “Brighter from Here,” as well as the guitar sounds in “Hero.”
Review Fix: What did you learn from your first two albums and how did it affect this one?
Stükenberg: Wow so many things. First of all, that change is always healthy and that if what you are creating sounds like what you were creating a year ago, it’s insulting to your listeners. Secondly, that folk music can become super boring to me, and lastly that electric guitar is considerably more fun than playing piano!
Review Fix: How do you want “Novella” to be remembered?
Stükenberg: I hope it strikes a chord with people in a way that they can relate to. Though, my life has been a somewhat odd one, I would like to believe there is a sizable contingent of humans out there with similar issues as myself. I hope hearing this record makes them move, take a deep breath, and move on. I hope it plays an important role in a portion of their life. After that moment, they don’t have to remember it at all.
Photo by Trish Badger
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