DAVID TARO Tells All About His New Album 'This Is Not The End'

Your album 'This Is Not The End' has just been released. How does it feel to have it out into the world and how has it been received so far?

It’s a set of songs that I’m super proud of, so it feels quietly satisfying to get them out there. So far, I’ve had very warm feedback from musician friends whose judgement and talent I really respect. Also from my wife, whose musical talents are more debatable.


What is your general song writing process - how do your songs generally come about?

For the last three or four years, I’ve participated in online song writing challenges. The main one’s called February Album Writing Month (FAWM), the idea being to write and record 14 songs in 28 days. When I first started doing it, it sounded nuts and totally unattainable. Now most of my best material is written during February (about half of the current album are FAWM songs). In terms of the process itself, I’m very much melody-led, for me that’s kind of the core of the song. I have a rule that I don’t write anything down, and if I can’t hum the tune a few days after writing it, it probably wasn't a very good song to begin with.


Has anything in particular inspired your writing? A lot of the tracks are very personal and moving.

Yes, so much of this album is personal! But I hope the themes – family, love, memory – are pretty relatable too. Several of the tracks are about my kids (I have two boys, 11 and 9), or more specifically what it means to be a parent. I’m fascinated by how those dynamics change as time goes by.

For new listeners to your music, what can they expect?

There’s a fairly broad spectrum of genres, so hopefully something for everyone. In a nutshell, indie pop, rock and blues with heartfelt, occasionally wry lyrics.

Do you have a favourite song from 'This Is Not The End'?

That would have to be ‘Sister’, a song about… well, my sister. She’s had a tough time with her health in the past few years – thankfully a lot better now. I wanted to write something to tell how incredible she is. The song also features some stunning backing vocals from an amazing songwriter and artist, Sonya Heller, that really sends it to another level.

What's next for David Taro?

More songs. Always more songs!