The Untold Truth Of David Byrne

david byrne is best known as the eccentric front man of talking heads but that's not all there is to know about him as he's a man of many talents and endeavors keep watching to discover the untold truth of one of the most unique individuals in rock music history david byrne was born in scotland on may 14 1952. two years later he and his family made their way to hamilton ontario canada and then when he was eight or nine they settled in maryland as a kid he was kicked out of his school choir because of his less than extraordinary pipes his own father tom even once flat out stated to the washington post he couldn't sing but that setback didn't turn off the young david from music forever as his father recalled he had a little record player when he was three it was a cheap little thing but he played it quite well and he was always careful not to damage the records david used his dad's modified tape machine to make music starting from a very young age and he also learned a variety of instruments such as violin and guitar and he enjoyed messing with stretching frequencies and mixing tracks as for david's own thoughts about the importance of vocal technique and music he once said the better the singer's voice the harder it is to believe what they're saying so i turn my weakness into strengths why not give it a try if it fails go somewhere else by the time david byrne entered high school he knew how to play a variety of instruments like the violin accordion and guitar after he started with his record player when he was three he then began playing harmonica at age five he came by music honestly with his father working as an electronics engineer while growing up in the 1960s he formed his first band revelation which mostly performed covers as he told rolling stone in 1983 i think we did a couple of beatles songs rolling stone songs he really got me stuff like that after revelation broke up byrne headed to college where he played the coffeehouse circuit as a solo artist in addition to his love of music he also had a love of science instilled in him by his father he even considered attending vocational school before ultimately deciding on art school specifically the rhode island school of design also known as risd and then the maryland institute college of art as he recalled the rolling stone the graffiti at risd looked the best it looked like it had the most interesting people there so i thought even if i don't like the subject i don't want to hang around with a bunch of deadbeats for four years burns instincts proved correct as he met some of his future talking heads bandmates at risd while attending risd byrne was involved in a functional design program called the bauhaus theory course bauhaus is a method founded in germany that replaces the traditional pupil teacher relationship it aims to bring art architecture the performing arts and design back into everyday life and for it to be taken as seriously as fine art alas burns teachers weren't very impressed with his creative pursuits one time he had his beard shaved on stage while accompanied by an accordion as a showgirl displayed cards written in russian soon after he was kicked out of the school he's been quoted as saying i think art school is a real racket especially in this country you run into a couple of good teachers and some interesting students but for the amount of money you spend it's not worth it but it wasn't all a wash during burns time at risd he made some very important connections as he met future talking heads band members chris franz and tina weymouth who were dating at the time and married each other in 1977 after graduating they joined byrne in new york not only is david byrne a famous musician he's also a non-fiction author and a conceptual artist who's written books on everything from music to epistology his published works cover a variety of vastly different subjects 2009's bicycle diaries for example is a journal of his cycling ventures through cities around the world he's also been known to design bike racks burn has also produced a multimedia project called reasons to be cheerful which offers stories to help people be optimistic about the state of the world including gains in the solar industry and efforts to eliminate poverty considering his versatility it's safe to assume that all of his exploits also contribute to the quality of his songwriting as he told rolling stone in 2018 you can only slog away at writing a song for so long and then you've kind of gotten the water out of the well and you need to let the well fill up again i also compartmentalize a lot i focus on one thing for a few hours and then break for lunch and work on something else what if we started a project and brought some of those reasons to be cheerful into sharper focus the 1977 talking head song psycho killer was reportedly inspired by some of david byrne's own personal experience his temper and dishonest dealings caused plenty of consternation between him and his bandmates particularly toward the end of their time together he would bill himself as the sole creator of the band which caused a rift between him and drummer chris france as france wrote in his 2020 memoir remain in love the more successful talking heads became the more cold and dispeptic david became from france's vantage point the trouble with burn came down to his self-centeredness as france told the guardian in 2020 it's like he can't help himself his brain is wired in such a way that he doesn't know where he ends and other people begin since his talking head stays though burn has mellowed out and come to certain realizations as he confessed to the guardian in 2018 i think i probably did not behave all that well all the time neither did the others it was a very messy thing but to hold on to that seems like well that was quite a while ago he also made sure to note i can imagine i must at times have been a real pain in the ass to deal with in may 1977 david byrne made one of the most important connections of his life when he met brian eno at london's rock garden while eno was with his friend and fellow musician john kale of the velvet underground the talking heads were opening for the ramones that day and eno invited byrne back to his apartment to listen to music after the concert what followed was a fruitful and lasting partnership azina went on to produce three of the talking heads albums and three of byrne's solo projects eno's first collaboration with the heads resulted in their first top 40 hit a cover of al green's take me to the river but burn and eno ran into some heat when they tried to claim sole writing credits on what is widely considered the talking heads masterpiece album 1980s remain in light decades later eno and vern reunited for their last collaboration the 2008 album everything that happens will happen today as burn recalled to the independent eno gave me confidence in the studio to go in with nothing prepared considering his prolific and varied artistic pursuits it should come as no surprise that byrne has also tried his hand in filmmaking in 1986 he directed the satirical feature true stories it starred the likes of john goodman and swoozie kurtz and it's just as weird as burn is it's said in virgil texas and it focuses on a handful of characters who have all been the subject of tabloid news headlines in a 2018 interview with rolling stone he reflected back on how the film was misinterpreted upon its release as he noted the reaction and appreciation in europe was closer to what i intended the film to be you could point out things that are strange and wacky but you can still love them in the u.s it was taken to be ironic and critical a new yorker looking down his nose at the simple wacky people in the heartland which is not what i intended true stories eventually became part of the prestigious criterion collection of films in 2018 it would be bern's last time behind the camera for a feature but it hasn't been his only contribution to the medium he's also collaborated with acclaimed directors like jonathan demi who directed the talking head's concert documentary stopped making sense and spike lee who directed american utopia which is a film version of byrne's broadway show of the same name outside of talking heads burn is a prolific solo musician who has released records with younger artists who have upheld a tradition of artsy alternative rock he was a backup singer for the arcade fire track speaking in tongues as part of the deluxe version of their 2010 album the suburbs and in 2012 he and annie clark aka saint vincent released the collaborative album love this giant burn has also demonstrated his appreciation for the younger generation through his cover work in his broadway show american utopia he performed the janelle monae song hell you tombout which is a protest anthem speaking out about police brutality against the black community monen never officially released the song but byrne discovered it by watching a video of her performing it in 2015. as burn has said of the track here was a protest song that doesn't hector or preach at us it simply asks us to remember and acknowledge these lives that have been lost asked what she would think of a white man of a certain age singing this particular song monet was flattered when burn approached her for permission to perform the song and she told the associated press i was moved that he reached out and asked if he could include the song in his show i thought that was so kind of him and of course i said yes the song's message and names mentioned need to be heard by every audience if you've ever seen a picture of david byrne performing or have been lucky enough to catch a talking heads concert then chances are you've seen him in his signature oversized suits but if you're looking for an explanation for why he used to deck himself out in such a fashion don't expect to find one anytime soon he did address the topic briefly in a bizarre interview with various versions of himself as bern told byrne i like symmetry and geometric shapes i wanted my head to appear smaller and the easiest way to do that was to make my body bigger because music is very physical and often the body understands it before the head sometimes the answer is just as strange as the mystery the suit's designer gail blacker described it in 1984. it's more of an architectural project than a clothing project ultimately it probably makes sense to know that the nonsensical suit was most famously worn in the concert film stop making sense one of the most recent wacky and political broadway musicals is the brainchild of david byrne known as american utopia it originally opened for a limited run in october 2019 and it was met with positive reviews the cabaret style show is based on burns 2018 studio album of the same name and it consists of a cast of 12 musicians performing about a dozen songs on a minimally decorated set as nme described it in the review it's a show that blurs the lines between gig and theater poetry and dance a full spectrum of culture under one roof how do you think it'll resonate with americans now after the pandemic uh it's gonna seem like it was made for this time i think american utopia was eventually adapted into a feature film concert documentary directed by spike lee that features classic talking heads hits like once in a lifetime and burning down the house other highlights from the set list include everybody's coming to my house and a cover of the electronic song toe jam which was co-written by fat boy slim and dizzy rascal the musical is set to make a comeback to the broadway stage in september 2021 check out one of our newest videos right here plus even more grunge videos about your favorite musicians are coming soon subscribe to our youtube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one

Channel: Grunge

Views: 289,497

Keywords: grunge, david byrne, talking hands, bands, musicians

Id: eQ0oKlICHQc

Length: 12min 8sec (728 seconds)

Published: Thu May 20 2021