The More
Things Change..
It’s like
they say, the more things change the more they stay the same. For sexy, soul
singer Dave Hollister that’s nothing but the truth. With two solid gold CDs
behind him and a third, “Things In The Game Done Changed,” dropping October
15th , the Motown artist is happily settling into soul veteran status and
leading the trend in the creation of soul’s sexiest tracks. He gives me the
low down on the inspiration for his latest CD, what its like to call the incubator
of soul music home, and why it's not so hard to keep his music fresh.
Things in the
game done changed, but Dave Hollister serves up his special blend of R&B/Soul
truth serum the way he always has – straight and to the point. Ask about his
inspiration for this latest album and he says bluntly, “The same as the last,
the same as all of them really.” Simply put, his inspiration is whatever he
was going through at the time.
His music is
based on what’s on his heart, so when he’s feeling the love, the artist is
gentle and the tracks are heavily laced with sensuality, but when he’s been
done wrong, watch out! Cuts like “What Should I Say” and “Love Hate Relationship”
give us insight into a man that lays his feelings bare, whether good, bad
or indifferent. “I try to do what I feel,” Hollister explains. “And people
appreciate that I do music that talks about a situation or something going
on in everybody’s life.”
Although Hollister
sings about the usual mundane ups and downs of relationships, he manages to
do so in a style that’s simultaneously hard-hitting and smooth, designating
him somewhat of a ghetto soul purist. While many claim the ghetto soul moniker,
Hollister’s music and lyrics give the impression that he’s either lived through
many of his own lyrical liaisons or has been close enough to the situation
to successfully capture the emotions in song. As if to reinforce how real
his tracks are he says only half joking, “If I have an argument with my wife,
its gonna be written in a song. She’s careful how she treats me when I’m cutting
an album.” He continues more seriously, “I can’t do something that I don’t
feel and that’s never going to change with me because I don’t know nothing
else.”
This formula
of singing it like it is continues to draw the soulful singer new fans. While
initial fans of Hollister may have stemmed from his short stint with Teddy
Riley’s now defunct, but ready to reunite, brainchild, Blackstreet, breakthrough
hit, “One Woman Man” from sophomore project, “Chicago ’85..The Movie,” opened
listener’s ears to his diversity and set the tone for two key projects; “Something
Inside,” the sorrowful, yet seductive collabo with sax man, Boney James and
“Keep Lovin You,” the first single and marquee song from Steve Harvey’s “Sign
of Things To Come.” Both tracks were released earlier this year, helping to
build anticipation for Hollister’s own work and spawning attention from a
wider base of fans.
As “Keep Lovin
You” circulated the airwaves, Hollister worked diligently helping to promote
“Signs” while putting the finishing touches on his album. A stickler about
his distinct style, the Motown artist rarely uses background singers. “I know
what I want,” he says matter-of-factly. “It will take them too long to get
a feel of what I want, so I don’t usually let anybody produce my vocals or
sing with me.” Indeed, because his voice comes at you from every angle, listening
to “Things In The Game,” is like being wrapped in a blanket of Hollister’s
sound. It also goes a long way in branding his music and distinguishing his
tracks from others.
With his voice
coming at you from the verses, hooks and melodies, all at once, one would
think a Hollister production takes an unusual amount of time to record. But
he’s quick to point out that he does not believe in over thinking his music.
“I’m really quick [when putting an album together],” he says. “The longest
it’s taken me to date, to finish up a track, is two hours and 15 minutes from
beginning to end.”
Hollister credits
his ‘get in and just do it’ attitude, as well as his seven year marriage and
past relationship experiences with helping to keep his music fresh. He says
he takes some ribbing from some who, when pointing out the personal nature
of his songs, question why he’d want to put his business out there. “But I
don’t care, because I can’t sing what I don’t know about,” he says. “I can’t
do the fantasy music.”
Whether or not
Hollister has actually lived every song on his latest, he delivers each with
a believable punch. Akin to a soul Griot (African storyteller), the soul artist
covers the entire life cycle of a relationship as he vacillates between the
very best love can offer, “Tonite;” one-sided romance, “What’s A Man To Do;”
eternal hope, “We Gonna Make It;” and love in trouble, “Tell Me Why.”
The musical storyteller
is excited about the video for the first single and what he considers one
of the album’s sexiest tracks, “Baby Do Those Things.” The song’s intimate
undertones smolder with a mix of soul and hip-hop that the artist is becoming
well known for and he backs it up with a video done in the fashion of the
1986 erotic, thriller, 9 ½ weeks. “I had to cut a lot out [to make it network
friendly],” he says with a laugh.
With the Boney
James and Steve Harvey tracks and now his own out for public consumption,
Dave Hollister can look back on
a busy year. But he hasn’t been too busy to acknowledge the one major change
in the game, his new label home. In addition to everything else going on,
the soul artist signed with Motown over the summer, bringing him up close
and personal with the legendary hit making machine’s business style. “I’m
finally with a company that knows what to do with R&B/Soul music and with
a CEO and President who knows what to do,” he says. “I’m really excited. I
can’t wait to see what happens.”
He won’t have
to wait long. Known for keeping its artists in front of the fans, Motown’s
newest soul icon hit the road with Kelly Price and Glenn Lewis on the Hennessey
Privilege Tour, which kicked off September 25th in New York. “I really can
not express how I’m feeling right now,” he says, still in awe of the Motown
legacy. “Being part of the history of Motown now – part of the legacy is just
crazy and I’m loving it.”
|
