Chicago native David Paige is rocking out big venues these days, having recently played the Metro and possibly 150 dates by the end of 2014.
Last year he released This Is Love a five song EP. He released a video from a live recording at Rax Trax Studio and began recording a new batch of songs at I.V. Labs.
We met up a recent concert to discuss his lively career.
Windy City Times: Hi, David. You are from Chicago?
David Paige: I am. I grew up in the suburbs, originally in Glenview then moved up to Vernon Hills throughout junior high and high school. I used to come into the city to see shows all the time, and now I live here in the Ukrainian Village.
WCT: Did you study music?
David Paige: I did study it in college. When I was younger my dad had a great ear for music. That was something that really impressed me. He wasn't a professional but he was passionate about it. That really sparked something in me as a child. Watching him hear songs and be able to play them on the piano I thought was incredible. I tried that one day and I fell flat on my face trying to play the song I had heard. I did a terrible job at that but I did stumble onto a chord progression that I liked. I then wrote my first song with those songs. I fell in love with the songwriting process. From then on I have been pursuing music. That was when I was 13 years old.
WCT: Then you went to school.
David Paige: Yes, I went to Columbia. I have been in a couple of projects since school. I wanted to be the primary songwriter and voice of my own band. I had come across a couple of scenarios where I felt I was being held back by other bandmates so I started my own project where I knew I could always be moving forward and get the people I needed but I didn't have to rely on them. Like now if our keyboard player couldn't play a gig I still play the keyboard, we could find a replacement, or we play it without him also. If Joe my bass player can't play with us on tour then I find a replacement. I have a lot of backup plans!
WCT: Where do you see yourself going in the music biz?
David Paige: I am a career musician. I will be doing this for the rest of my life. We are getting to this point where this week we were on the news, playing the Metro now and it is a really big week for us. Having all of this momentum is instilling more faith that I am doing the right thing. I'm going to keep doing this.
WCT: You have a rock sound. Where do you see yourself as an artist?
David Paige: I see myself in a really strange place between rock and pop because our songs are really catchy. They are melody-driven. The lyrics are important. Having that involved in the rock puts in a strange placer right there in the middle.
WCT: What inspired the writing of "Inside Out?"
David Paige: "Inside Out" is the title track of our new EP. It is not necessarily about wanting people to see my imperfections or my flaws. I do my best to hide them or live in a way that people don't notice them. If I am going to have the most intimate relationship possible then I have to air that dirty laundry.
WCT: Your song "Let It Go" is obviously not from Frozen.
David Paige: No, it is not. Adele Dazeem did not write that song! [both laugh] It is a song I wrote from my last record. There is a really cool correlation. My dad used to tell me stories all the time. One time he was in an argument with my mom and he stood up saying, "If you want to be more intimate then be more intimate!" He described the words as bouncing off the wall and hitting him in the face because it applied to him. I am now engaged and found myself in the same argument with my fiance a couple of years ago. I wrote that song and it's all about letting go of resentment or frustration to whatever is going on in the moment because being close to her is more important than me winning that argument.
WCT: So you are not gay but a gay supporter.
David Paige: I am an ally, absolutely. I went to an art school and had a lot of gay friends. My cousin is gay. Me and my sister were the first two people he felt comfortable telling about it. He first said he was bi and we said, "No, you are not. You are gay."
WCT: Is your cousin from Chicago?
David Paige: Yes, grew up in Chicago and now lives in New York. He does musicals and produces shows for cruise ships.
WCT: I heard there is new lighting in your show.
David Paige: Yes, we are in the process of creating some marquee lighting. We were hoping to get it finished for this show but we didn't get a chance to so look for it in the future.
WCT: Where else are you playing?
David Paige: We have a couple of events coming up but nothing that isn't on our website. We just released our video for "Inside Out" which we are really excited about. It is starting to get some traction. We had our premiere on groundsounds.com . We have another video for "Are You Ready?" that will be coming out soon. We are super pumped about that one.
WCT: I heard some of it upstairs.
David Paige: Yes, we just played it. For the music video it will be a parody on a famous '80s movie.
WCT: Was Molly Ringwald in the movie?
David Paige: I will not say! [Editor's note: It turns out that the video for his single "Are You Ready?" is a spoof of the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.]
WCT: What are you doing this summer?
David Paige: We have extensive touring July through October. We will be heading to every coast in the United States.
WCT: If you could open for one huge band, who would it be?
David Paige: The Foo Fighters. They are my favorite band. One of the reasons I wanted to be a musician in the first place was because my sister gave me a cassette of Nirvana's Nevermind when I was really young and the first time I owned any music. I had never heard anything like that up until that point and it really inspired me to be a musician.