Interview with Del Water Gap: Talk Florence Pugh, Touring With Maggie Rogers & Favorite Live Artists

Interview with Del Water Gap: Talk Florence Pugh, Touring With Maggie Rogers & Favorite Live Artists

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don't you know me [Music]   thanks for meeting with me today I'm here  representing her campus I'm also representing the   festival M3F so really excited to get to chat with  you, hear more about you, learn more about you.   yeah so I guess we can get into it then so tell me  about yourself um I know your name is Holden but   um tell me about your origin story I really want  to know where the name Del Water Gap came from   because I love it and I also feel like the first  time I saw it on like the Spotify like charts I   was like that is a name that I will feel like I  will remember I love to hear that yeah I it's uh   it's funny I've I've been using it for so long  I have lost sight of it a bit you know yeah like   seeing your own face in the mirror like yeah  that's a face so hearing you said that it's   interesting is awesome I'm glad I was in that  I was playing I when I was a teenager I was   playing drums in a in an annoying rock band in uh  New Jersey and I had started writing songs and I   really wanted to sing the songs they wouldn't  really let me because I was the drummer so I   a bit vindictively decided to make a list of  band names for my own project it's amazing   there's a park in New Jersey and Pennsylvania  called the Delaware Water Gap and I saw that   written somewhere in Sharpie and I thought that's  a really cool name and I didn't know what it meant   at the time but it ended up on my list of my  vindictive list of band names and it ended up   just floating to the top so I ended up writing  and recording some songs when I was finishing   up high school and um putting them out under  the name dullwater Gap and and since then I've   it's it's it's been the name that I use for music  follow-up question do you ever feel like you have   an identity crisis with the name Holden because  you're so attached to like Dell Water Gap now   yeah I mean it's gotten simpler over the years  because double what I got used to be a band so   yeah I read a few people it became a solo project  about three years ago four years ago about so   um it's been easier I think I think it's it's  honestly just a bit of a problem practically   because I find that artists that use a name that  they could introduce themselves as yeah they   just have an easier time connecting themselves to  their artist project you know so I don't introduce   myself as Dell but everybody shorten it up hey  what's up I'm Dell but I I never I always you know   introduce myself as Holden and then if it comes up  I'll say you know I have this project I'll Water   Gap but it's um I don't know there's there's  good parts about that too right like getting   to separate but like I have some friends who use  their their given names as their artist names and   it's just yeah it's it's just like a different  different thing yeah okay back back I guess to   origin story and you um you actually started off  your very first headline tour at shubas in Chicago   and I live in Chicago and I live right next to  shubas so how does that feel like starting your   very first headline tour versus now being you know  a few years down the road and working with Maggie   Rogers you have such like a strong history with  um and then playing an out because sold out show   might I say at Argonne Ballroom which is one  of the most iconic Chicago venues in my mind   it's beautiful it's my favorite venue ever um how  does that feel it's just the kind of mind shift of   playing that like really small like intimate venue  and then moving to that huge venue that's sold out   um with one of your favorite people yeah I mean I  think these types of conversations and those types   of questions are a really good moment to check  in I think when life is changing really quickly   it is really easy to miss it and forget where  you started um especially on tour and tour is you know you live in this reality that is running  alongside normal reality you know you're sleeping   3 A.M to 2 p.m you know you're driving a  lot you're eating weird food you're doing   laundry at weird hours everything is feels really  removed from the world and so your sense of time   gets very warped and that is  something that has caused me   quite a bit of distress on tour in the past  especially long tours my mental health has gotten   a little bit itchy and going into this tour one  of the things my therapist suggests that is that   I have a gratitude practice like a really active  gratitude practice I love that also love therapy um and part of that gratitude practice is that  before we go on stage my bands and I we try to   focus on all the shows and all the decisions that  brought us to where we are in that moment practice   of honoring exactly what you're talking about  and saying you know last time we were in Chicago   played the 500 cap and the time before we played a  250 and now we're here at Aragon and really trying   to bring that forward and think about that and  hold that in your heart because um yeah I don't   know our the line of your expectation shifts so  quickly right as you succeed in your life changes   um so it yeah it feels absolutely surreal and you  know it's it's um not something I ever thought   I'd do when my album came out I thought I was  gonna tour for two weeks you know another album   and ended up being almost two years and then um  a handful of support tours so I've been able to   pretty much see all of America and play in most of  the major markets and secondary markets here and   um yeah it's so beyond what what I expected so  um yeah trying to hold some active gratitude   that's awesome I mean it's definitely hard  to stay grounded I'm sure because like you   grew up kind of in the New York area playing  probably like grimy basements and totally   um I want to shift into I actually discovered  your music by a little-known like Spotify   playlist called the feel good indie rock playlist  I don't know if you know much about the Spotify   indie rock playlist but like that is my that  is my actual like entire music taste is this   playlist and I think they honestly steal  my music like I think they like somehow   hacked into my Spotify and I'm like what is  this girl listening to and add it to it um [Music] all of it yeah um and you're in there but you're  always at the top like might I add like you are   literally oh two like that one is always in the  top and I'm so proud um but yeah how do you think   Indie music has shifted in the past few years and  specifically with um kind of these playlists and   Spotify in the algorithm them promoting you  guys music and music that might not have been   um you know there if we were in a different time  yeah I mean God I mean everything is changing   every year in the music industry is it's an insane  time to be doing this the technology is changing   every year what people want is changing the  rapidness with which as a Creator you need to put   out music is changing you know TikTok is obviously  completely completely changed the music industry   um I feel really fortunate that I had been  putting on music for a number of years I   really feel for new artists like really  new artists who are just putting out their   first releases right now on Spotify because I  think unless you have a real like gatekeeper   on your side like a big major label or a big  advantager I think it's really hard to crack   just to like cracks that system I know that the  people at Spotify really do Champion unknown   artists and yeah they're they are to thank for  so much of what I've been able to do from with   my career but also there's just so much music  coming out regardless of how awful they are and   good at research they are there's just you know  it's something like I don't remember the exact   number but it's something like a hundred thousand  new songs a week it's coming out that's crazy but   creatively I think there's obviously probably  a lot of trash in there but I think there's   probably a lot of really brilliant stuff too and  I think the technology and this sort of leveling   of the playing field means that like anyone who  has some money can buy uh you know a recording   setup and make a song which is insane no actually  200 let me buy this piano and I mean can I play   it not well but that's how I got into music you  know I like was bad at Sports and there was like   a an interface and a microphone in a closet  at my high school and I started recording and   um you know I think like Indie music in particular  to answer your question more directly I think that   I think that it's a really good time  for Indie music because I think that   people I have seen a lot of younger artists who  can take their careers really far without a label   um I've always been it had at least one foot in  the label system you know mostly Indie labels but   um you know a lot of the artists that  I've become friends with and toured   with like you know girl in red or Gus Dapperton um I think I think Dayglow is similarly like  yeah I've been able to take their music really   far without signing to the label you know I think  a couple of those artists maybe have just signed   to labels but yeah I was about to say I was like  I didn't realize daylo wasn't on a label that's   very important yeah but I think he he definitely  at least started you know independently and yeah   and there's so many examples and I think that  it's good for Artistry because I think that if   you can build a real fan base before signing to a  label you can get a tremendous amount of Leverage   you know and that means that you just have a more  favorable situation and actually own music and and   get more resources and um yeah so I think for that  reason it's really exciting but it's complicated   you know it's a complicated time for music I think  a lot of people have take a lot of issue with   um inhibited the algorithmic churn you know  of just what we get served and how there's   less human curation and less attention to  detail but I I'm I'm sort of undecided on   all that you know I have my records that I  love and I love finding new music um yeah okay I will I'll keep that in mind okay another  question on I guess shifting how do you think   live music has shifted in recent years um because  I saw Maggie put on her Tick Tock about just the   huge crowds and like a lot of people have been  passing out but not even in the unsafe regard   um just how do you think kind of fans and live  music have really shifted since covid specifically   yeah well I was personally really afraid that I  would never get to tour because I was just about   to start touring when Covid started and then  obviously you know there was even two years   where there was it was completely illegal to  play a show and I think the greatest fear was   that you know people would never want to go to  shows again you know that it would be replaced   by all the other experiential um opportunities  we have now you know but um I think coming out   of covert and going right into touring I mean I  played one of the first shows back at Red Rocks   and then when yeah with Mount Joy when my tour  started like our tour was one of the first like   International tours that was hitting a lot of  places and that was only just because of the   timing of it we like got in really early and um  contrary to my fears I mean I I really feel like   I came out into a world that was especially hungry  for connection especially hungry for live music   um I mean it was wild I think I think I  think there was you know even a bit of a   bubble you know I mean touring came back  so strong right after and of course were   blowing out all over the world and it pretty  much completely sold out in like two weeks   um congrats that's awesome and thank you and  um so I I think this is all to say like the the   proof isn't the pudding a bit that like I think  we really need that connection that in-person   connection and I think that people really want  to be in a room with other people and feel that   energy and connect with an artist they love and  hear music like moving the air so I think that's   been you know incredibly reaffirming I think  the the other side of it is that yeah I mean   people are like more conscious of being in crowds  awesome touching each other and and that's all   that's all good and I I think the responsibility  just Falls more on you know the artists and the   promoters and their venues to try to like educate  people and give people the resources and make sure   people stay safe no definitely well spoken there  um I agree I'm I'm a concert junkie like if I I   could not know any of your songs and I will go  like I just love live music so in my own like   as a fan I've definitely seen the shifting crowd  and just the hunger like um like especially buying   tickets that's been the real struggle for fans  is like tickets will sell out within like an hour   now so you really have to be on top of your game  of like artists you love and want to see because   um the resale Market's horrible too so it's just  really tough I think for for fans and the in the   the boom after covid um but it's great to be able  to like I mean as you you're a musician be able to   like sell out shows and it's it's just huge yeah I  mean it is and and to your point about the demand   and you know we're obviously in like a bit of a  moment with Ticketmaster and trying to figure out   how we all feel about that because because I  mean the other side of touring which I mean   you know people may or may not know about is  just how hard it is right now as an artist   to to make money and survive touring you know  even if you're touring at basically the highest   level and you know selling out five to seven  thousand capacity rooms like just the nature of   inflation and covet and fuel prices and all  this stuff has most people that I know that   are operating that level are either breaking even  or losing money and it's um that's horrible the   economy as well as just you know the way that the  trickle-down works with um yeah when ticket sales   it's it's hard to actually get that money out of  people's hands and into your pockets which is a   misconception you know I think a lot of fans  like think that when they're buying a ticket um the [ __ ] you know a large share of  that is is ending up with the musician which   it often isn't but yeah um I know I think we're  like smart as an industry and I think that we're   going to figure out a way to make sure everyone  feels taken care of I agree I think I think to   Ticketmaster will have its karma um so that's  that's my hope okay well moving you know on along   what is your rehearsal process I know you guys  talked about gratitude and really enforcing that   kind of what is your going on stage prep like what  songs do you really want to rehearse and perfect   before you go on stage what what is that kind of  mindset before you get on there yeah so we we do   we do a few weeks of rehearsal before we go out   um in La which is fun because a lot of it is  the moments when I feel like I'm in a band you   know we get to work on the songs together and be  creative and it's a lot of just like long days   of sitting in a rehearsal studio and working out  the details which is a musician is really fun I   mean that's like the best part is sort of getting  to nerd out on gear and music and decisions and   um you know and the hope is that by the time you  get to the tour like you don't have to think I   mean that's like the goal I mean it's the same  as you know being a professional athlete or a   performer or anything like the goal is to be so  is to have the muscle memory so tight that you   can just be open and free and turn your brain off  and you know perform and the rest will be taken   care of and so a lot of the process of rehearsing  and getting ready for the show is doing things to   just reinforce that flow State being able to  get to that flow state so a lot of that is   yeah just running the songs you know tens of  times and then um you know really connecting   as a group we do a lot of breathing together  we do a lot of meditation together the um we we   spent time sort of actively connecting you know  like prolonged eye contact and um really yeah   you know being able to share uh you know a goal  for the set or a goal for the yeah the tour or   um you know and I think as like the leader of  the group it's sort of it's it's become my uh   my my duty to just make sure that we are connected  in that way and and make sure everyone's on the   same page because you know uh if you're not a  unit I think it really comes out into music yeah   okay well speaking of kind of just being tight  and really having all good things together what   do you think is your kind of band you look up  to that is just like absolutely kills it live   um [Music] um it's a great question I mean  I had the fortune going to so many festivals   this year because you know I'd play and  then I would just stay the whole weekend   so you do end up staying the weekend I'm always  curious I'm like I would love it a lot of people   don't buy it I live in Marias, I think they're so  cool they're like a real unit and they're like I   think I think there aren't many real bands  left you know because yeah my band's a solo   project that you know I hire people to play  with me and I think they're a good example of   a band that is really a unit and they make the  records together and it feels really cohesive   and yeah their visual world and they're their  clothing is always really on point and um love   clothing yeah that's awesome so I've loved  seeing them play um I saw Idols a few times oh   it's um I mean they're they're just like a you  know a very different example of memory is but   they're just like they feel so like old school  it's just like they're just like [ __ ] raw yep   here's what you get and um a little bit older and  I think Turnstile assembly yes they're refreshing   they're just like they're doing their thing and  uh and have sort of quietly become this like   huge part of culture and I really respect  that those are all amazing bands I concur   um I've seen you played a couple of covers  while you have been on tour um maybe one of   complicated which is like one of my all-time  favorite so what is one song that you wish you   wrote so you could play it on tour all the time  wow that's a good question um so I wish I wrote   I mean one of my favorite songs of all time  is Killer by Phoebe Bridgers I just think the   writing is it is a song that I wish I wrote  yeah sort of sad dark comedy of it is really   brilliant and some that that feeling is something  I've really tried to attain in my writing and I   don't think I've been able to touch it in the  way that she has in that song in particular   um this sort of character writing and the yeah  no I think you accomplished it some some dark   comedy I just love I I I I really am a sucker  for that that dark comedy and music and I think   there's a really fine line of being able to do  that in a way that feels very convincing and   I think she's really good at that and I think  there's a few other artists that come to mind   like Henry Nilsson and Father John Misty,  John Lennon's really good um Classics yeah   amazing those are all great answers um okay I  have to bring this up because I'm obsessed with   her but Florence Pugh obviously recently in the  interview said that they couldn't clear your songs   um it was a Vogue interview did Vogue actually  reach out and is why was why couldn't they clear   your songs for the Vogue interview I've been  told since we couldn't clear Del Water Gap that   we're going to listen to some stock music so she  actually reached out to me a few months beforehand   and gave me a little context and I completely  forgot about it no basically what happened like   if Florence has been such a a supporter of my  music and um I mean I've said this before but   I think the greatest compliment as an artist  is having an artist that you respect affirming   your work she's been like a really positive  force my life and you've become friendly and   she reached out to me and said you know I  did this Vogue interview and I asked them   if we could get your music for it and they said  that they're not gonna clear any music at all   that they were just going to make stuff yeah so it  wasn't really an issue with my music in particular   it was just you know they just I guess just  didn't have a budget or whatever so yeah he never   actually reached out but she she told me she said  hey I did this interview and the way that I worded   it people might think that you turned turned Vogue  down and just so you know I'm like I'm glad to   clear the air then they weren't going to clear  anything but um I gave you a shout out and um   and that's that so yeah she told me I sort of  laughed it off and forgot about it and then   you know I woke up and my Instagram  was like completely up and broken so   and then the part was my uh my lawyer  he's on Instagram he commented on the   video like what was the clearance  issue I think we're a little late   it's so funny um that's amazing I love that  she's been a huge supporter of you I love   I love her as just a human being hilarious  um I have to ask though what is your favorite   Florence Pugh movie then I just saw this  film um God I'm not gonna remember the name   but what was it called she plays a she plays  a nurse who is trying to oh yeah the Wonder   yes the Wonder I really liked it I sort of I like  too saw it passively and accidentally but I just   love the mood of it I thought it was so cute you  know it was so dark and dour and I think the time   when I saw it I was spending a lot of time indoors  working on my album and sometimes when I'm working   on music I like to just put on a movie in the  background and um I really liked that movie and   um she's so brilliant um in Little Women I really  think she's like the standout in that film and   she made me realize that I was in Amy I was like  I really always thought I was a Joe but no okay   sadly and Amy but she killed it yeah she's  a [ __ ] I still haven't seen Midsummer but   I I need to at some point oh my god well you  have to mentally prepare yourself honestly I   think you would love it from what you're saying  about dark comedy just in general it's dark I   don't know if the comedy's there but it's  good okay it was when she reached out but   um you know she's obviously become like a really  important part of our world and our culture oh   and I also saw she follows you on Instagram which  is just huge I wish she followed me on Instagram oh yeah let me know yeah talk to her  talk to your people talk to my people   um last couple of questions here um I know you  said you've traveled a ton now with touring   but is this going to be your first time I'm  assuming not in Arizona for the m3f festival   in Arizona no I played I played a  festival called Innings Festival in town   um which I believe was my first time in Arizona   that was a great Festival it was one of the last  times Taylor Hawkins played with Foo Fighters   before he died which was monumentally sad but  it was so really cool to have been able to   um see them play that night I mean that that  that's sort of the standout memory of that night   um we played in Phoenix a couple times it was  really hot and she had a great show in Phoenix   I wish I remembered the name of the venue but  it was it was like 110 degrees outside and my   vibe and it started melting and we had to bring  it inside no oh my God I'm definitely glad the   festival's in March seems like a good time of  year for Phoenix um well that's awesome I love   I love that you stay for festivals I was about to  ask is there any other artists on the lineup for   this Festival that you're like really excited  to to watch their set you see I gotta refresh um I couldn't even talk okay there's a good  amount of like EDM like purple disco machine   um and then there's like some  smaller ones like ash coin yeah   that's all on Friday Fridays got lots of  amazing like I I wanted to see everyone   but I cannot just look at this yeah  okay Channel Tres I love Channel Tres.   Channel and I became friends um in Morocco we did  some work with Saint Laurent together and I'm such   a fan of his music and he's the sweetest guy so  I'm really excited to see him oh that's awesome   Chiiild you know Chiiild yes sure I mean his son  pirouette was one of my top songs of the year last   year oh my God amazing he's great see who else  is on here Jamie XX um so excited see who else   yes it's a cool Festival there's a lot of friends  friends of Quinn XCII and Chelsea Cutler a coin   I really like those guys yeah it's like a really  cool Festival obviously Maggie's playing exactly   um it's also all going to charity so is there any  Charities you want to shout out yeah I mean I have   um been fortunate enough to work with the Oxfam  America a bunch um they're just like an awesome   like a little bit under the radar  charity um I met Bob Ferguson who um he works there um I don't know exactly his  position but I met him when I was 12 or 13.   he was like an early music mentor of mine and he  from the beginning you know he really talked to me   my my little band at the time about how musicians  uh we have a real duty to use our platforms to uh   to help Elevate you know that's awesome  that's definitely great advice so I met   bobbin again when I was a kid you know I was  playing to like 10 people that were all my   parents friends getting that in my early on was  really powerful and it's been it's been cool   you know decades later to be working with him you  know Alex Adam's been able to come to a couple of   my shows and set up and we've been able to work  together a bit on um online so I love them they   do really great work you know they help they  mainly do like food Outreach and get people fat   um so they've been working a lot in Syria and you  know trying to get food to the people over there   that's awesome oh well thank you for shouting them  out I'll definitely look um I know we are about   time but I do have a couple rapid fire if you have  a few minutes yeah let's do it okay um first off   most fun city you've toured so far Amsterdam yeah  Amazing Grace we did a bunch of drugs we just had   the best show there and it was so beautiful and I  met the best people what stadium or where were you   guys playing at in Amsterdam they didn't milkwag  in Amsterdam yes the best day we had the best   food and yeah I'll never forget it yeah oh that's  awesome um okay what is the first thing that you   do in a new city like you you know hop off the  tour bus and like what is the first thing you   do find a coffee shop a lot of supporting people  are coffee snobs they'll tell you because I think   one of the constances in America is that you can  find like a good coffee shop pretty much anywhere   and it it can really ground you yeah what's  uh what's your go-to order I really just what   I call the beer shot combo is amazing a drip  coffee and an espresso because I think like   I'm sort of a basic guy in the sense that I love  a drip coffee but I think an espresso is the best   Testament of how good the coffee shop is so if  the coffee shop has a great espresso they know   what they're doing that's funny my I would call my  like other personalities latte Lexi because I used   to work at Starbucks back in college so I love  that they call that a red eye actually yeah yeah like yeah yeah make your own concrete um okay  what would be your like dream Festival headliner   um for m3f or really any Festival that you  would be playing out uh like an artist yeah um my dream Festival headline I mean I guess this  is supposed to be rapid fire so I'm just gonna   say Bjork yeah she's been like such a constant my  life and I've seen her played a few festivals and   she's crazy I literally love her I mean it's  our gov ball and she brought like a 30 piece   Orchestra so I I think we are for sure yeah yeah  that's amazing um I guess that was really and I   didn't really have that many um last thing though  is what would be what is your first thing that   you used to teach the old ladies on Photoshop I  heard you used to have a little bit of an odd job   background but I I dabble in Photoshop so what was  like your first skill you would teach them uh copy   and paste I mean commonly overlooked skill that  is useful across pretty much all of technology is   it for emails texting so teaching the old ladies  how to copy and paste was big very big that is   very helpful uh the more you know um cool well  that's actually really all the questions I had   I did have like a little follow-up one was just  like how your grandma affected your relationship   with music but I know we're kind of out of time  no I mean I can answer that yeah my my grandma   I come from a family of mainly very honored  to stick academics you know my my brother's a   lawyer and my cousins are astrophysicists and  um they're all brilliant but not particularly   creative and my grandma was the other artist  in the family always she's a filmmaker so yeah   she has been you know one of the one of the real  allies for me she uh she's a harsh critic I've   showed her my albums and she's I showed her  my first album you know weeks before it came   out and she told me I had to start over which is  she did not did you start over no of course not   I said no I just can't understand the lyrics and  and understand the lyrics that no one's gonna   listen to it and then she came to she came to  my Webster Hall Show in New York you know it was   sold out and all these people were singing along  and she took it back she said okay I was wrong   good I'm glad because she's like 97.98 right  like 98 yeah just kicking it do you guys still  

do um your movies your weekly yeah I do  some Club every week yeah we just watched   um what was it what did we just watch We  just watched I have a little list here all quiet in the western front closet do you  like it what were your thoughts do letterboxes   I don't have letterboxd I just have this sort  of extensive note here this has been amazing   um thank you so much for taking the time I  appreciate it I know obviously with your crazy   schedule touring it and stuff um but I will be at  m3f so if you want to shout me out I'm just gonna   see you there yeah see me there let's hang out um  we can get a drink we'll take a shot I don't know   uh but yeah thank you again this has been  awesome thanks for the chat I appreciate it   well have a good day and I have a I don't know  if you're playing tonight but thank you bye

2023-03-06 13:55

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