Gestureland, third album

October 26, 2020 11:00AM ET

This Election, David Duchovny Wants to Go on Record

“Sadly, it’s a little prophetic at this point,” actor-musician says of his new anti-Trump song “Layin’ on the Tracks”

By Brenna Ehrlich


David Duchovny discusses his new anti-Trump song "Layin' on the Tracks."
Ben Ryan/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

This past January, a lifetime ago, David Duchovny was ensconced in a Catskills, New York, recording studio, working on his third album, Gestureland, the follow-up to 2018’s Every Third Thought. When Rolling Stone dropped in on him, he was recording the anti-Trump song “Layin’ on the Tracks,” which laments America’s fate at the hands of a “stupid orange man in a cheap red hat.” That track officially drops Tuesday — and it’s even more timely now.

At the beginning of the year, the actor-musician-writer was relishing a few days off upstate to work on his new music at Outlier Inn, a 12-acre property that boasts an alpaca farm, glamping facilities, and a slowly decaying deer carcass that the studio dog, Buella, feasted on between takes. She gallantly gave up her bed to Duchovny’s pup, Brick (a fluffy German Shepard–Corgi mix with more than 15,000 Instagram followers). Both dogs cuddled behind the soundboard as Duchovny tested out the lyrics to “Layin’ on the Tracks” in the booth: “This civil war we’ve been fighting in/Since before the flood/Yeah, there’s part of us that’s always been/At home in the blood.”



Nine months later, quarantining in his New York apartment, Duchovny regrets how prescient the song now is. “I probably wrote that song with [bandmate] Colin [Lee] well over a year ago,” he says. “Sadly, it’s a little prophetic at this point — I’m not happy about that. [The song wasn’t] going off of any specific activities; it wasn’t a comment directly on any specific actions. It was simply a snapshot of, for me, my state of mind, and then what I saw as the state of mind of the country. My approach to lyrics is kind of vague in that way, as much as I love [Neil Young’s] ‘Ohio.'”

Duchovny says he decided to release the song before the election intentionally. “I guess I just kind of wanted to go on record,” he says. “I mean, not that it’s any act of bravery at this point. … I can’t change anyone’s mind. I understand people that vote for Trump. I understand people that vote for Biden. … I really don’t understand [the undecided voters]. I don’t know how to speak to somebody that hasn’t made up their mind at this point. I mean, to me, that’s a fascinating state of mind to be in. Like, ‘Wow, really?'”

Back in the winter, though, the song was relevant, sure, but far less dire. This was before the Covid-19 pandemic, before the episodes of civil unrest, before, even, Joe Biden was chosen as the Democratic nominee. Seated in the studio —  Brick stretched out across his feet like a hearth rug — Duchovny seemed at ease. For an actor with decades of experience under his proverbial belt (and epic novels in his brain), Duchovny seems content to see music for what it is at its purest level: fun.

“I started playing guitar 10 years ago,” Duchovny told me that winter as sunlight filtered through the studio’s massive windows. A gaggle of photographers had dissipated, their cameras full of images of the actor perched on a stool above a sea of pedals. “Finally, we’re alone,” he breathed, then continued with his origin story. “I should be a way better player than I am. It’s like a language; if you don’t learn it young, you’re at a great disadvantage to ever get really fluent. I focus more on singing and using that as an instrument, so my guitar playing has probably gotten worse over the last four years. It’s good enough to throw chords together. I’m never going to be a great player, but I wanted to be good enough to have access to a bunch of chords and play them in a way that then I can write songs over.

“Music is for anybody,” he added. “Making music, at this late stage in the game, I get asked, ‘What makes you think you can do this?’ It’s music. It belongs to everybody. Anyone can do it. If people don’t like it, it doesn’t matter.”

Duchovny started learning guitar as a way to kill time in the trailer between takes and was delighted when all those chords he was practicing gave way to original songs. His first was the simple rocker, “The Things,” off 2015’s Hell or Highwater. “I didn’t want to write anything personal, because I didn’t want anyone in my business — or anyone asking me what the song was about,” he said. “So I just wrote a song called ‘The Things’ because it couldn’t be more neutral. It’s just about things.”

It’s not a surprising stance considering that Duchovny has had his share of tabloid coverage over the years. As such, the actor-musician seems almost allergic to personal details when it comes to his music. He’s even a self-professed fan of clichés, he says, like, “The waiting is the hardest part.”

“You say that in real like and people go, ‘You dumbass.’” Duchovny aped a sneer as Brick snuffled off to find Buella. “But you sing it, and it takes on a new meaning. That was interesting magic to try to capture.”

It follows that his lyrics are often plain — in contrast to his novels, like his upcoming Mormon epic Truly Like Lightning, which was obviously penned by a man with a master’s in English from Yale. (At first, he wanted to be an English professor, but after studying under literary critic Harold Bloom, he decided there was nothing he could add to the profession.)

“I think we’re in a weird place with beefs between artists and reading into somebody’s breakup,” he mused as an assistant spirited water bottles into our hands. “To me, that’s so uninteresting. I know I’m in the minority. I don’t want to be learning about someone through the song.”

Sure, Duchovny is private — up to a point. When it comes to love, he’s pretty open with his role as father to two teens. He even admitted to writing a slightly more emotional track for his upcoming album, “Call Me When You Land.” Inspired somewhat by his favorite love song of all time, the Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” the new song is about the love of a father.

“There are so many different kinds of love,” he said, stroking Brick, who reappeared like a fluffy ghost toward the end of the interview and lay on Duchovny’s boots. “I have a different stance toward love songs as I got older and became a father. If you played ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ for me when I was 16, I’d be like, ‘Ugh.’ Now, I bawl every time I hear it.” Then, as if reflecting on the evolving meaning of “Layin’ on the Tracks,” he added, “It’s funny how songs … they’re patient. They wait for you.”


Rolling Stone

David Duchovny Set to Release Third Album ‘Gestureland’

by Tina Benitez-Eves a day ago

David Duchovny is set to release his third album Gestureland (GMG/King Baby), out Aug. 20. Continuing some of the themes on his previous release Every Third Thought in 2018, Gestureland ventures into different territories, examining politics, the detriments of living in a virtual world, and other personal revelations.

“Layin On The Tracks,” a song Duchovny originally released during the 2020 election, serves as his own personal and political statement in The crowds will gather in the poison rain / To hear what they want / Scream and cheer for what was once insane / That passes for fun.

“I just wanted to go on record in a way that was both personal and political,” says Duchovny of the first single.

Recorded at Outlier Studio in New York, the initial sessions began in February of 2020 and were paused around COVID, before resuming again at The Birdhouse with Duchovny, guitarists Pat McCusker and Keenan O’Meara, bassist Mitchell Stewart, and drummer Davis Rowan.



“After a month or so of being in full lockdown mode, we started recording overdubs and vocals at our studio in Long Island City,” shares McCusker. “To have our own space to be able to finish ‘Gestureland’ safely throughout 2020 was a blessing. The more we’ve all worked together, the more we’re all taking risks and tapping into new influences.” 

Duchovny, known for his roles on The X-Files and Californication, has written four novels, including his most recent, “Truly Like Lightning,” which is being adapted into a Showtime series, also wrapped up filming the Judd Apatow-helmed action-comedy The Bubble, a pandemic-inspired movie about eight actors trapped in a bubble on a movie set.

Rooted in some introspection, the 12 tracks of Gestureland offer something more universal and sonically aligned.

“The album represents three years of songwriting over which time I think we developed into a band so there’s a stronger element of deep collaboration here,” says Duchovny. “The songs are obviously inspired by present-day life and problems but we hope to make them universal. We also stretch our sound a little, getting both heavier and lighter at different times.”

He adds, “You want to know which songs are about me,” he says. “None of them. They’re about you.”  

Gestureland Tracklist:

1. Nights Are Harder These Days
2. Holding Patterns
3. Chapter and Verse
4. Everything Is Noise
5. Stay Until
6. Tessera
7. Layin’ On The Tracks
8. Playing At The Same Dream
9. Call Me When You Land
10. Mind Of Winter
11. Pacific Coast Highway
12. Sea Of Tranquility




American Songwriter

Muchas gracias por la información. Esto es genial.

David Duchovny Releases New Single ‘Nights Are Harder These Days’

RJ Frometa 4 days ago

David Duchovny unveils ‘Nights Are Harder These Days’ available on all streaming services today. The song is the second single from the forthcoming album Gestureland. This is the third full length from Duchovny and will be released August 20th (GMG/Western Kyd). Talking about ‘Nights Are Harder These Days’Duchovny says: “Turn this one up in the car. If you don’t have a car, just turn it up.” 

Listen to ‘Nights Are Harder These Days’ on YouTube

Gestureland is the follow-up to Every Third Thought(2018.) “The album represents three years of song writing over which time I think we developed into a band so there’s a stronger element of deep collaboration here. The songs are obviously inspired by present day life and problems but we hope to make them universal. We also stretch our sound a little ——getting both heavier and lighter at different times.

You want to know which songs are about me. None of them. They’re about you.”  – David Duchovny

Recording for the album started in February of last year at Outlier Studio in update New York and was finalized after a long pause due to Covid earlier this year at The Birdhouse in New York City. Joining Duchovny once again on the album is Colin Lee (Keys), Pat McCusker (Guitars, Synths), Mitchell Stewart (Bass), Keenan O’Meara (Guitars) and Davis Rowan (Drums.) McCusker talks about finishing the album “Shortly after our time at Outlier, the pandemic hit. After a month or so of being in full lockdown mode, we started recording overdubs and vocals at our studio in Long Island City. To have our own space to be able to finish Gestureland safely throughout 2020 was a blessing. The more we’ve all worked together, the more we’re all taking risks and tapping into new influences.”




VENTS Magazine

David Duchovny Premieres New Song “Tessera”: Exclusive

The actor previews his upcoming album, Gestureland


David Duchovny, photo by Ekaterina Gerbey

Eddie Fu
July 21, 2021 | 11:00am ET

In anticipation of his third studio album, Gestureland, X-Files and Californication actor turned musician David Duchovny has released his latest single, “Tessera.” The contemplative track ponders the realities of growing apart from loved ones as time passes by.

Combining warm strings and a moving piano melody with a strumming acoustic guitar, “Tessera” finds Duchovny capturing the essence of seeing people age around you. “When a familiar face loses meaning and place,” he sings. “And through every lens you can hardly make sense/ Of the world you are in.”

As Duchovny tells Consequence, the song was inspired by the Latin meaning for its title. “I think I was thinking about loved ones who were getting older and forgetting, losing sight of the big picture,” he explains. “remembered the Latin word tessera for a piece of a mosaic, a single tile, and was playing with this feeling of puzzle pieces, a disjointed mosaic, of not being able to finish the puzzle anymore.”

While writing the track, Duchovny realized not being able to complete the puzzle is a universal feeling. “That’s how it kind of feels all the time, if you’re being honest,” he points out. “Even when you’re young, you can be a bit confused with the puzzle — que sera.”

“Tessera” originated from some lyrics Duchovny had sent to his bandmates, including producer and writer Colin Lee. “I just send the guys lyrics sometimes, lyrical riffs and they’ll riff on the riffs,” he said. “Colin showed up one day with this melody and piano that he’d made from some words of mine that he found laying around.”

“I’d totally forgotten about rhyming ‘tessera que sera,'” Duchovny added. “I was happy about using Spanish, which I don’t speak, and Latin, which is not spoken, in one song. I thought Colin’s initial melody was beautiful, I enjoyed singing it, and I knew right away we had a song.”

Stream “Tessera” below. It follows last month’s “Nights Are Harder These Days” and Duchovny’s anti-Trump single, “Layin’ on the Tracks.” Gestureland is out on August 20th via GMG/King Baby.



“Tessera” Artwork:




Consequence

David Duchovny explains how new LP ‘Gestureland’ was created

July 28, 2021



We know David Duchovny best as Fox Mulder, the E.T.-obsessed FBI agent on nine seasons of “The X-Files,” and as the classic tortured writer Hank Moody on seven seasons of “Californication.” The actor, producer and director has also authored four books, including the novel “Truly Like Lightning,” released earlier this year.

In 2015, Duchovny entered the world of music by releasing the self-composed alt-rock/folk album “High or High Water.” He followed it in 2018 with “Every Third Thought” and is about to issue his third with “Gestureland,” due on August 20. The album’s second single, a ballad titled “Tessera,” was released last week.

During the following interview, which aired on BIG 104 FM, Duchovny reveals what the title of his new record means to him. He sheds light on how he decided to give music a go after teaching himself how to play guitar about 10 years ago. He discusses a few of his formative musical influences and explains why he likes to make his live shows feel like a party.

The Maine Edge: What can you tell me about the title “Gestureland?” What does that refer to?

Duchovny: We’ve all been pretty isolated for the last year and a half. Most of our experiences have happened virtually since we haven’t been able to interact personally with one another. I was in an apartment in New York for most of it, getting my news and most personal experiences through the internet and television. I was struck by the fact that everything was becoming very gestural, that people had to make an impression with a T-shirt, a hat or a phrase. Everything was quickly consumed, signals were being sent, and I just felt we’d entered almost a virtual world, so that’s what “Gestureland” means to me.

The Maine Edge: Did you collaborate with the same musicians that accompanied you on your previous albums?

Duchovny: Yes, I’ve worked with the same musicians since the first album, Colin Lee, Mitchell Stewart and Pat McCusker. I feel that this album is really more of a band album and less me coming in with songs and them trying to figure out the best way to service them. Even though it’s my name on the record, this was really a collaboration, it feels like a real band album.

The Maine Edge: Did that collaboration extend to the songwriting?

Duchovny: Yes. In the past, I would more or less come to them with a song that was mostly complete, or at least with verses, a chorus and a bridge, and they would make it better. This time, Colin might come in with a melody that I would write lyrics for, or Pat would come up with a riff and I would try to come up with words and a melody. It was really kind of back and forth like that with this record.

The Maine Edge: So many writers have different methods of songwriting. How did you come to write your first song?

Duchovny: I’d been teaching myself guitar by looking up chord progressions of songs that I like on the internet. I was paying attention to the chord progressions in rock and roll. They say three chords and the truth or whatever, so I had some chord progressions that I liked and I started to hear a melody and put some lyrics to it. I remember it was springtime and I was walking around New York kind of humming this little melody and it became “The Thing” that’s on the first album.

The Maine Edge: Who were your favorite artists and songwriters when you were growing up?

Duchovny: When I was a kid, I didn’t have limitless funds to buy anything, let alone music. When I got my $3.99 together to go to Free Being Records on 8th Street and Second Avenue, it was a big deal. I mean I had to make the right choice. I had to want that album so badly, I would think long and hard about it. I would always buy greatest hits albums so I could get all of the singles. The Beatles were first … well, Motown was important to me first, then The Beatles. Elton John was an early favorite of mine, then I got into YES when I was in high school. That was an interesting diversion (laughs) and certainly not the kind of music I’m capable of playing but I loved it.

The Maine Edge: I understand you plan to announce some live shows later this summer. Two of my co-workers were in the crowd during your concert in Boston a few years ago. They said it gets a little wild during your shows and they still talk about what a great show you gave them.

Duchovny: Yeah, I try to make it fun. I’m attached to the lyrics but when you’re performing live, it’s a party, right? You just want to be the MC, be the host, and lead the way. Until I do like an unplugged thing, we’ll keep it rockin’ that way.


Maine Edge

Review: File As Worthwhile—David Duchovny Makes a Decent Gesture

by Lee Zimmerman 5 days ago

David Duchovny/Gestureland/ GMG/Westbound Kyd
Three out of Five Stars

Actors are generally viewed with some skepticism when they choose to make music and ask to be taken seriously in that regard. That’s not necessarily so when it comes to musicians who opt to make movies. Nevertheless, it’s become more and more common for those in the movie biz to release records and find due acceptance in the process. It’s an indication that the old stereotypes are slowly decreasing and that a transition is taking their place.

Not all are successful of course. Joe Pesci, Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Willis, and Eddie Murphy made albums that are forgettable at best, relegated to the ranks of novelties that quickly made their way to the proverbial bargain bin. On the other hand, Jeff Bridges, Steve Martin, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd (as the Blues Brothers), Jack Black, Zooey Deschanel, and Kevin Bacon have proven that it is possible to work at both professions and emerge with credibility intact.



With three albums to his name, David Duchovny is clearly intent on doing the same. And while some may scoff at the notion of an actor intimately identified with such blockbuster TV series as the X-Files and Californication attempting to bring his musical abilities to the fore, his new release, Gestureland, shows that he’s worthy of consideration. After all, the man has no shortage of ambition, having also been responsible for some best-selling books. Chances are, if Duchovny’s name wasn’t on the cover, any skepticism would be allayed.

That said, like the emotions that seem to preoccupy the characters he portrays, there’s an undercurrent of worry and concern shared in several of the songs. Duchovny himself cites today’s despair and divide as central themes.  So too, there’s an unmistakable sense of gravitas pervading such selections as “Nights Are Harder These Days,” “Mind of Winter”  and “Holding Patterns,” all of which provide a pointed perspective.

Happily then, Duchovny possesses a serviceable singing voice as well as a capable backing band, consisting of Colin Lee (keys) Pat McCusker (guitars, synths) Mitchell Stewart (bass), Keenan O’Meara (guitars), and Davis Rowan (drums). With Duchovny contributing vocals and lyrics, his musicians effectively mine the melodies and offer the emphasis they deserve. That strategy works well on the pulsating “Everything Is Noise,” the soothing sound of “Tessera,” the deliberately paced “Stay Until,” and the driving rhythms that power “Laying on the Tracks,” all of which are among the best tracks the album has to offer.

Ultimately, Gestureland is a quality effort, one well worth a listen and several revisits after that. With a sound that comes across as weathered but resolute, it’s dutifully distinctive.




American Songwriter

Layin' on the Tracks (Live In-Studio)

David Duchovny

'Gestureland' Available On Vinyl Now:
www.davidduchovnymerch.com

Tessera (Live In-Studio)

David Duchovny

'Gestureland' Available On Vinyl Now:
www.davidduchovnymerch.com