10 Questions With David Von Beahm

In this week’s 10 Questions we get to know David Von Beahm, an indie artist from Baltimore, USA.

Their song ‘Weather the Storm‘ is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists.

You can follow David Von Beahm on Twitter/X, Facebook and Threads.

1. Tell us a little about where you are from.

I am from Baltimore Maryland. Currently I am working on finishing up album number 7. This time I am releasing a lead single with a b-side, which is something I’ve not done until now. I’m finishing up the mastering for the album and lyrics for the b-side. As well as the artwork. Time permitting, I might try my hand at music video for this single (but don’t hold me to that).

2. What inspired David Von Beahm to start playing and making music?

Music was always a big part of my life. My father and uncle would bring guitars to family gatherings and play a lot of old Country and Western songs for everyone. It was my favorite part of those parties. My mother was also a dance teacher, so she would always be listening to a lot of piano and classical music. There was always a constant stream of music around me. Growing up in the 80s and 90s MTV also had a big influence on me especially 120 Minutes that was on late Sunday nights. There was also a lot of live concert VHS tapes that I would watch over and over. When I bought my first guitar at 12, with my summer lawn mowing money, I would watch what these guitarists were doing and do my best to mimic them. I felt music so deeply, especially when experiencing it live, that I knew from a very young age, that I wanted to create my own wonderful collection of sound paintings.

When I bought my first guitar at 12, with my summer lawn mowing money, I would watch what these guitarists were doing and do my best to mimic them.

3. Who are David Von Beahm’s biggest musical influences?

Being a product of the 80’s and 90’s, much of that music still holds a special place for me. I was definitely into the punk, post-punk, goth, shoegaze, dreampop sounds. Bands like Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Public Image Limited, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths (specifically Johnny Marr’s writing and playing), and Joy Division are some of my obvious influences. I also love David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Sabbath/Ozzy, Radiohead, Nirvana, The Beatles; though some of those might not be as obvious. If something resonates with me, I take it into myself in some way. It sounds a bit cliche’ but there really is too many to name.

4. What are your goals in the music industry or as an artist?

I think like any other artist, I’d like to grow my audience especially with non-musicians. I’d like to see that for many indie artists actually. Being an indie, I do have to support myself and my daughter with a stable income which takes away a lot of time that I would otherwise use to create. To be able to lock myself away for a couple of months to record every so often without having to worry about how the bills would get paid is a bit of a dream.

Due to having to live a “normal life” (whatever that is, really) I haven’t played live in a very long time and I do miss it. I think my music would sound excellent live, massive, big. Ultimately, my goal is to just keep creating in some capacity until I physically can’t any more regardless of how the industry of music changes.

5. Tell us about your creative process.

The impetus of most ideas come from just noodling around on a guitar, bass, or piano and I build the arrangement from there. It starts small, mostly with a chord progression for a verse or chorus then I add to it to varying degrees of complexity. Some of that arrangement editing process is done when mixing as well. If I find that a verse is too long, it doesn’t make sense with the words, or I might think I need to do this section a couple more times for another melodic instrument, I will change/edit in the DAW. Typically though, the arrangement of the song is done before I record. I often don’t realize how good it will be until later when it is fleshed out further with other instrumentation. Sometimes an idea just doesn’t work at all and it is abandoned or saved until later when I can figure something out for it.

I’ve yet to write music to lyrics. The music has always come first as the mood dictates the words. I suppose as a challenge in the future, I could try that. I do have random lyrical lines that pop in my head that I will write in a notebook or a post-it and save it for later. Sometimes they’ve made it in to a song.

In the studio, I love to experiment with mic placements, different effects, even looking around the house for something interesting that could be used for percussive parts. For example, using a wine glass and a pencil or a zipper from a backpack. I don’t have a treated room, its in an open area of my home which I guess would be considered a dining room and I think even that has become part of my sound. I’m almost certain house noises (washing machine beep, work laptop pings, or my cat meowing) have been picked up.

I also listen to my album a whole lot while it’s being worked on. Mixes in car, earbuds, speakers. Then after it’s released, I seldom listen to it after the initial promo blasts. I’m usually on to the next grouping of songs at that point.

6. What is your all-time favorite song by another artist and why?

Untitled by The Cure. It’s on Disintegration, one of the most gorgeously heartbreaking records ever made. Between the song’s atmosphere and lyrics; it puts me in such a beautifully melancholic state of mind. Anything that can elicit that kind of emotion I am drawn to.

7. What is the best advice you have either given or received in terms of music?

Keep learning, keep growing, keep living, and keep going.

Learn as much as you can about music, business, gear, tools, marketing.
Grow your contacts and network, grow your fan base, grow as a human being.
Live life, you need experiences to write about, to fuel your creativity.
Keep going, even when it’s tough, and it will be. Don’t give up on yourself because something spectacular just might be right. around the corner.

Live life, you need experiences to write about, to fuel your creativity.

8. What is your proudest accomplishment?

It’s all part of a journey really and it’s all ongoing, but I’d say the coolest thing is when my daughter noticed someone at her school playing something I wrote on his guitar, specifically “Wintergrey” from the Existence album, and seeing how thrilled she was about that. It was probably to get her attention in some teenage wooing ritual by playing one of her dad’s songs. Since I haven’t met this boy, I don’t think it worked out for him. Nonetheless, knowing that your kid is proud of something you’ve done and doesn’t always think you’re just a lame parent, that’s pretty good.

9. What’s been your most embarrassing moment so far?

Not to cop out, but I don’t embarrass easily. I’m often the one who acts like an idiot and embarrassing those I am with. I get a lot of personal amusement from the eye rolls of my loved ones.

There is one moment that does come up a lot though. I was on a weekend getaway with my daughter and Amanda (my significant other life partner who lives 500 miles away – a whole other story right there) and her kids. I couldn’t walk down one singular step off the porch without rolling my foot, falling, then subsequently crushing all the sandwiches Amanda spent all morning making for all of us. I still remember the look on her son’s face as I was falling down; this wide eyed look of absolute confusion almost to say “Is this happening right now? Are you really falling from one step?” Though hurt, I felt so bad about the sandwiches. Needless to say, I’m not allowed to carry food up and down steps without supervision now.

10. Tell us about your lowest and highest points in music so far.

Can there be a low point if you’re doing what you love? I suppose that would be the low point, was not doing it at all for a number of years for whatever the excuse was I was telling myself. It’s the realization that I wish I had done more when I was younger; when I had the energy and time to do it.

I’d say the highest point is what is happening currently. Knowing that many other musicians across the world have found my music and seem to love it. When other musicians, your peers, appreciate what you do and recognize your talent, it is such an honor. There is so much great, unknown by the masses, talent out there. I am finally making the music that I want to make without compromise. I’m learning and growing with each new release.