Bio
Born in Hollywood, CA in 1961, Davol (pronounced duh-VOL) settled in northern Colorado as a young boy. With primarily classical piano training, he developed an interest in electronic music as a teenager, as well as jazz and classical harpsichord. Since the acquisition of a micro Moog synthesizer at the age of 13, he had an undying passion for electronic music and was addicted to the music of Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream.
His first compositions became the collection of pieces on the Mystic Waters album. In 1988, Davol produced a short demo tape as a gift for some friends who then passed it on to Silver Wave Records and the result was a recording contract. Mystic Waters made it to #15 on the Billboard New Age Chart, and remained on the charts for 25 weeks. The music from his albums has been used worldwide in TV, radio, video and multimedia productions.
Interestingly, Davol's career was originally in microbiology, not music. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1989, and worked as a medical researcher until 1996 when he started a commercial venture, producing music for multimedia. This experience allowed him to write music in very diverse styles and work with other instrumentalists.
Inspiration for his compositions comes from personal relationships, life events or activities, such as running, one of his favorite pastimes.
Davol is currently based in Denver. The French language, photography and music are among his great lifelong passions. Since 1986 he supports a compassionate lifestyle for the planet and animals by being vegetarian. He has spent time as a public health educator for a Hepatitis C nonprofit organization.
Interview
Interview for DavolMusic.com June 2008
What inspired you to create this new video and music project, “TRUTH”?
If we perform a quick survey of important historical events in the last century, what do we come up with? Well, first of all, how do we determine the veracity of historical accounts? Official sources provide us with information. We process that information and come up with a narrative of what happened. Does that make it “true”? Some events were clearly portrayed in a serious light at the time, only to seem ludicrous now, after the fact. A couple of examples would be the advertising image of a physician smoking a cigarette for good health or the Y2K problem portending doom for the planet. Whether it’s a story about Y2K or a world war, shouldn’t all information be subject to the same scrutiny by the press and the public? Scientific inquiry is held to a high standard of proof in every claim. Imagine if such a standard were employed for our news information systems.
When we look at American history, a brief story in comparison to more mature nations’ histories, we find many pat narratives which are disseminated by educators and textbooks. More careful analysis, based on historical documentation, yields a very different picture of American history. Yet these cliché historical vignettes continue to be told and retold, over and over.
Perhaps the information we receive is all perfectly credible and the stories accurate. When a hole is found in one, however, we should look for the holes in the others as well. Does that insist upon the invocation of conspiracy theories to explain irregularities? Certainly that is one of the outcomes. Such theories, however, need to be subject to rigorous analytical critique as well.
This is the information age. So much information. So much, that it is often difficult to put things in perspective. The official sources can use this to their advantage in the creation of fear and hysteria, which creates more emotional dependence on these sources for the media consumer. It seems that we have come to appreciate the abundance of information in this modern age more than the quality of the information. Proof and facts seem less interesting than “the story”.
We employ the “truths” we know to make decisions that affect how we live, vote, purchase, battle, conserve/waste, the risks we take, etc. As important as the truth is, why don’t we question the accuracy of things more often? It would serve us well.
What about the intro of the video?
I haven’t watched hardly any commercial television programming in the last 25 years. Whenever I do, I feel like an observer from another planet. It all seems rather strange, self-involved, superficial, disingenuous and manipulative. The intro of the video represents a brief potpourri of schlocky vignettes which, to me, are caricatures of the inane distractions commercial TV provides its audience. Aspects of that are fine, if it’s just meant to be distracting entertainment or advertising, but it’s a different story when we’re talking about a newscast. That’s when the message of the video becomes more pointed. Beyond that, I leave it to the viewer to interpret the video in their own way. Obviously there are many possible interpretations. I’m always fascinated to learn what people think the message of the video is, in their mind.
And the haunting conclusion?
In the end we are left to think about how history will tell our 21st century story 100 years from now. If our record for accuracy in reporting historical events of the last 100 years is any gauge, it will be filled with errors as well. Those errors matter, as they set the stage and mindset of an entire country. Such errors can steer the direction of foreign policy, for example. The consequences are not insignificant.
Which did you create first, the music or the video?
Strangely enough, they were both created at the same time. So, at times the video was inspired by the music, and vice versa. It was an unusual creative process.
Isn’t this quite a detour from your previous work?
Yes, and that’s precisely why it was such a stimulating project. But it didn’t make sense to be part of a broader album project. It best exists in and of itself. The next album, which is in progress, will be an evolved version of the style of “electronic instrumental pop” that I’ve been developing over the years.
Interview for DavolMusic.com June 2005
Could you describe some of the personal themes in this new album "A Day Like No Other"?
You know, in life, you have important people you call friends. Then, you have the good friends you can count on one hand. Well, I lost two of those friends, in the latter category, over a period of three months. This was in the middle of working on the album. The loss and helplessness was indescribable. Both of these women were full of life, love, compassion, joy and humility. They had a very strong influence in my life over the years.
There are two dedications on the album ("Human" and "A Star Shines"), for these two loving friends whom I miss greatly. Their spirit is in my heart, always.
The haunting textural piece, "Of the Valley" is unusual in that I included a recording of a French friend reading the poem "Le Dormeur du Val" by Arthur Rimbaud. I had originally recorded the piece using my own voice, but Joseph's voice is just perfect for it. It's a poignant piece of literature, describing a soldier resting in a bucolic setting, surrounded by nature. At the end, however, in the last stanza, it's revealed that as he "sleeps" in the sun, his hand on his chest, peaceful, he has two red holes in his right side. It's a rather shocking end, upon the first reading. Many have analyzed the poem over the years, and have offered commentary. It is especially amazing, as Rimbaud wrote the poem in 1870, when he was 16 years old. (In fact, he would stop writing altogether by the age of 20.) It was the start of the Franco-Prussian war and his favorite teacher left to fight in the war. (Hollywood, in fact, made a movie about Rimbaud's life, with Leonardo diCaprio, called "Total Eclipse".) Perhaps he simply wanted to point out the senselessness of war, the depth of loss, the ephemeral nature of life. The beauty of the poem is that the you can take from it whatever you like, whatever resonates with you. More than one hundred years after Rimbaud wrote it, this poem seems all too fitting for current times as well.
"Just Like You" is a most unusual piece, in which I incorporated the spoken word of a friend who speaks a dialect of Cantonese. For me, this was all about creative expression and trying new things. She talks about the universality of love, whether it's between a man and a woman, two women or two men.
Has technology changed the way you create music?
This is the first album project I have done using a completely virtual studio. In other words, all the instruments are software modules running on a computer. Certainly there was a learning curve to going virtual, but I think it was worth it. It's much easier to revisit a composition and make subtle changes, tweaking it over time. I used to work in a linear fashion, writing one song and finishing it before starting another. It was a practical consideration, because with many hardware instruments, they each had to be individually configured for a given song. On "A Day Like No Other" I was able to work on many different songs at the same time. So, if I was feeling blocked on one piece, I could work on another for awhile, to mix things up.
Another advantage of a virtual studio is the ability to quickly experiment with new ideas, in terms of sounds, effects, and combinations of sounds. Effects, such as reverb, delay, phasing, etc make up such an important part of a sound, that the ability to quickly try out multiple effects is very powerful.
Why has it taken so many years to create another album?
I have always been the type of person who likes to pursue different passions, intensely. Call me a dilettante! I was a research microbiologist for many years, then got involved in music and commercial music production. My last foray was in the academic study of French. I studied for a time at the university, as well as in Paris. It was a grand adventure, but I ultimately decided that it was best left a passion and not a career. So, all of that sidetracked me from the music, but it may have been a needed respite. Plus I was able to make some wonderful French friends!
Switching to a virtual studio took a considerable amount of time to master and it's an ongoing process. I discarded my old sound set and started with an entirely new palette. I really think this helped to infuse a new energy into the sound.
It is truly the emails from fans that prompted me to consider doing another album. I thank everyone for their enthusiasm about the music. Hopefully "A Day Like No Other" will prove to be an interesting listening experience for fans and newcomers alike.
Radio Interviews
Radio Milwaukee's Mary Bartlein did a live interview with Davol on her "Instrumental Saturdays" show. Click here to listen.
DJ Thornton of southern California's KSBR interviewed Davol in 2009. Click here to listen.Review
DAVOL - “A Day Like No Other”, review by Bill Binkelman
Bless Davol! I didn't think anyone was making infectious cheery EM/new age music any more, but he's not just making it, but making it fantastic! This music kicks your ass (in the best possible sense) and takes your name afterwards. a day like no other has to be one of the best "driving" CDs released this year or even in recent years. Davol's last album was 1999's excellent Open Book, but this recording proves the adage that something good is worth waiting for, 'cause boy is this album good!
Davol's music has always been about superb use of electronic keyboards, used to create a hybrid of bouncy new age instrumental pop, electronic jazz fusion, and smooth adult contemporary grooves, and a day like no other doesn't just stick to that formula but hits it like a bulls-eye. One track after another on this album is instantly appealing, immensely accessible, and polished to a sheen so bright it could hurt your eyes. However, underneath the glitz and high-tech wizardry is music that is every bit human, full of heart, passion, soul and an abundance of good cheer. This CD will almost certainly put a smile on your face, a pep in your step, and an overall feeling that the world is a pretty good place after all. Like I wrote earlier, bless Davol for still making music which exhibits happiness and good will.
"say it" starts the affair amidst sampled guitar, flowing synths, twinkling effects, and a bouncy dance beat that fires off a healthy dose of fun. The mellow piano at the beginning of "human" is merged with some chilled rhythms and swirling keyboards before peals of guitar and a heightened sense of joy take over. "lucky day" features what sounds like real guitar, shuffling electronica beats and echoed keyboards, all dressed up in a nice assortment of synthesizer accoutrements. "necessity of love" quiets things down at the outset, with delicate bell tones and swooshing synths, but a percolating chill-out beat nicely counterpoints the more romantic underpinnings. Vangelis-like synth horns carry a melancholy refrain that soon melds into quasi-Mediterranean sampled plucked guitar, still maintaining the beat underneath it all. "just like you" begins with blooping bleeping synths, and a sexy female spoken word vocal by Meiji is framed by subdued but insistent dance beats. The resulting groove-laced tune would fit in nicely on the sun-drenched beaches or neon-lit clubs of Ibiza. French lyrics spoken by Joseph Amram start things off on "of the valley" along with haunting deeply echoed bell tones, but shortly after this Davol morphs the track into the most EM-sounding cut on the album. Retro synth arpeggios combine with mellow keyboards, all of it buoyed by a beat that hits just the right tempo - not too fast, not too slow.
Okay, I'm going to let you discover the rest of the album for yourself. I'm thrilled that this album arrived in time for me to review it because I can't recommend it highly enough if you enjoy music that goes straight into your bloodstream and makes you want to move. If you have friends that don't normally enjoy electronic music but who do like, e.g. '80s synth pop or the more electronic fusion side of smooth jazz, this might be the very album to bring 'em into the flock. a day like no other is a stunning display of an artist at the literal top of his game. I simply love this CD to death!