Interview with Howie Day

by Alison Wood


At the ripe old age of twenty-one, Howie Day has already earned himself a reputation as a road-warrior. Dreams Awake caught up with him by phone from Canada, where he was headed toward his next show with Tori Amos, with whom he is currently touring.

Dreams Awake: I figured to start off with, so I can be sure I don't ask it, what's the one question you're most afraid I'm going to ask you. (You don't have to answer it.) Howie Day: I don't really have one that I'm afraid you're gonna ask. DA: Or one question that's been asked so many times you hope you never have to answer it again in an interview? HD: Well, one that I know I'll have to answer again, but I've been asked a lot, is, “Why, since you're from Maine, why did you name your album Australia?”

DA: Well, then, is there one question that you hope you get asked, that you've been just dying to talk about?

HD: Not really. I'm just here for you. [laughs]

DA: Fair Enough. Right now you're in Canada, I guess, because you're touring with Tori Amos; how exactly did that come about? Was it mostly Epic's idea?

HD: Yeah, it definitely came up through Epic, because she's an Epic artist. So, we kind of found out that she was going out on tour, and it seemed like a... I think everyone kind of agreed that it would be a good match, something to pursue. So we ended up just kinda pulling some strings, and getting the CD into Tori's hands, and it ended up happening, and it's been going great.

DA: Great! What are some other artists that it's been particularly exciting, or fun—or particularly unexpected—for you to share a stage with?

HD: Let's see. Early on, kind of out of the blue, I got to tour with Pat McGee Band, which was kind of like my first big tour. So that was pretty exciting. That was like his record release tour. So that was the first time touring over the country playing clubs; up till that point I had just been doing colleges, mostly. So, I learned a lot from
those guys, and it was kinda like my first tour. And of course going over and doing Europe with Heather Nova was really exciting too. That was the first Europe experience. That was something that just kinda came up really quick and I ended up going and doing it.

DA: Is there anyone you would love to double-bill with, that you haven't yet?

HD: You know actually, I feel like I'm in a really good spot right now, with Tori Amos. I can't think of any other tours at my level right now that would be much more beneficial than that.

DA: Do you have like a pie-in-the-sky, “someday I'll tour with” someone?

HD: I don't know. I mean, if we're gonna talk like, idols here, I guess going out with U2 would be cool. But right now, as a solo artist opening up for them in a stadium, I don't know if that would be... good. That might be a little overwhelming. And I've seen openers at stadium shows, they're usually just kind of... they look kinda sad up
there. [laughs] People are kinda filing in, and that whole thing. I'm kinda on top of the world with the whole Tori Amos thing right now.

DA: You've got fans who have been known to travel long distances to see your shows, even when you're only playing a couple songs at an in-store. How do you feel about that? Is it exciting? Is it weird?

HD: Definitely exciting. You know, it's flattering, I guess, that people do that. If everybody did that, then I would be like the Beatles or something. I'd be the biggest thing since sliced bread. It's great, you know. That much devotion is flattering.

DA: Do you often recognize faces in the crowd that you've seen at a lot of shows?

HD: Absolutely. Especially afterwards, when I try to talk to people. I see familiar faces all the time.

DA: When you play a show, what would you say is your favorite moment of the evening, from when you first show up for sound check until you leave the venue at the end of the night?

HD: I think at a point in the show where you kinda connect with the audience the most hardcore. Where it's like, that really intense moment with the audience. Whenever that is in the show, whatever song that happens to be that night, seems to vary. That's kinda the best part, feeling that connection with the audience.

DA: Now, if you woke up tomorrow and could no longer do what you do, you couldn't be a singer-songwriter, what do you think you would do instead?

HD: [laughs] I don't know. I think about that a lot, but I haven't come up with anything yet. Who knows? Probably something music-related, anyway.

DA: Now, you often, at your shows, you say “thanks for coming out to the rock show.” How would you differentiate between an artist, a musician, and a rock star? And which one do you consider yourself?

HD: Wow. [laughs] Well, I was watching Spinal Tap last night, and they're kinda like rock stars. I don't really see myself as a rock... I get kinda depressed when I watch Spinal Tap. [laughs] I don't know if you've ever seen it...

DA: No, unfortunately.

HD: It's kind of a mockery of being a band on the road, and it's kinda depressing, 'cause a lot of the stuff's kinda true. But I don't really see myself that way. I just kinda see myself as any other guy, you know? My parents' son, on the road, playing music for people. So, I guess I'm a musician when I'm on the road, and I'm an artist when I'm at
home trying to write songs. Yeah.

DA: So then you would call popular music—like, the broader genre popular music—an art form?

HD: What genre? Mine?

DA: Yeah.

HD: Yeah, sure. Everyone's music is. It's kind of an individual thing. Genre has always kinda bothered me because I think every artist is different, so categorizing them is sometimes difficult for me.

DA: During some periods in history (particularly the sixties and seventies), a lot of popular music was written in response to the political climate of the time. Do you often find yourself writing in response to those kinds of external stimuli, or do you write more from just your own experiences and emotions?

HD: I think it's more from my own experiences and emotions, but it doesn't necessarily mean that things that happen externally, in the world, don't affect it, because I think they do. I mean, obviously something like September 11th or something, it affects you very personally, but it's not something that I've written directly about. I
think it's almost like if you think about the movie Titanic, or something like that: the movie was about a major, major disaster and this really huge thing that was happening, but the focus was kind of on two people. So I think it's kinda like that. For me anyway. I don't like to get too political—or too opinionated—with songwriting, 'cause that's just kind of like journalism or something.

DA: Do you think it's possible for a musician to become commercially successful without compromising any of the things that compelled him, originally, to make music? HD: Yeah. DA: How does one go about doing that? HD: I don't know. Staying true to yourself, that's what I'm trying to do. I think it can be done. I think it's not done as often, but there are certainly those artists, you just kinda know who they are, that have just completely blazed their own trail, and kind of been their own the whole time. So I think it kinda pays off in the end, because I think it's obvious. But it definitely is more difficult.

DA: With everything going on right now in the country, there are a lot of people, I'm sure, who would say that music is an unnecessary luxury. I assume you would disagree with that. I disagree with it. But practitioners of art often have to justify their careers to the people that support those careers. So how would you justify getting up on stage every night and playing a guitar?

HD: Wow. That's a deep question. [laughs] Um... you know, I don't know. It's just what I do. I don't feel like I really do have to justify it. I just kind of ... it's there for the offering, in a way.

DA: My last question: where would you like to see yourself in twenty-five years?

HD: Let's see. I'll be Forty-six. Ummm... what does Howie want to be doing when he's forty-six. I don't know. How about, um.... I dunno. That's a long ways off. I tend to kinda make my goals more like a year or two ahead, and then the long-term ones are like five years ahead. Forty-six, God, I have no idea. I think I'm gonna change so much between now and then, and I really have no idea what I'm gonna want then. [laughs] I probably couldn't predict that accurately right now.