David Dunn is a singer/songwriter, who’s goal, as he puts it, is “To tell the truth and do it in a beautiful way.” Dunn’s career officially launched after he appeared on NBC’s The Voice in 2015. In March 2020, his newest album “Perspectives” was released. The album is composed of honest songs, each one a reflection of a season of life. One song on the album, for example, titled “The Human Condition” contains the truthful lyrics “We all need a little kindness/ There’s hurt inside us all / We’re not that different“.
What first got you into music? Do you come from a musical background or was creating music something you got into later in life?
David: My grandfather was a fiddle champion in California and raised his boys on a steady diet of music. So my dad and his three brothers literally sit around and play music 24/7 anytime they’re together to this day. That’s the environment I grew up in and it stuck.
Who or what inspires your music style? Any favorite musicians that have influenced your style?
Inspiration is an ever changing color wheel… but instead of listing off a bunch of names I’ll say this – I am inspired by artists who are pushing the bounds of “the normal”. Those artists that pave their own way as songwriters, visionaries, storytellers…
Would you say that the events of 2020 and being stuck at home have led to you writing more music? What else have you been doing during quarantine?
No actually… I have written one song over quarantine and it was trash… I released a record right before the shutdown that I worked on for a year and I’m currently just now coming off of being “burnt”… I always have to take a few month break from creating before I start again.
What I’ve mostly been doing in this shutdown is day trading and mitigating my existence. We got hit pretty hard by a tornado, my father in law passed unexpectedly, and we had a new baby… 2020 has been pretty wild.
You recently released a song called “Anxiety”. You’ve stated that this song is about anxiety being a “joy killer”. What advice would you give to someone who struggles with anxiety? How do you personally find joy again, despite the joy that was stolen from you?
Anxiety is the ultimate joy killer – and there is no simple answer for how to get rid of it because it takes a bunch of different forms…that’s why I don’t offer any solutions in the song. I wrote it to acknowledge the problem, which is the first step in dealing with any issue. The main thing I do is continually remind myself that my fear isn’t real. It’s my body/emotions lying to me about reality…So begging The Father to help me convince my body of what I know is TRUE.
Do you have a favorite quote or Bible verse that inspires you? What is it and why?
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you, that I have set before you the choice of life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that you may live
In my opinion, it sums up the entire bible. The entire book that God gave us is a roadmap to how to live. Human existence is a constant choice of “who knows better, me or Him.” Choose Him instead of me. Choose His way over my own. Believe that His way to live is better for me than my way, even when it doesn’t feel like it in the moment. Choose life, so that I can live.
This month, you released a live video for your song “Yes & No”. This is an interesting song name, what is this song about and what events inspired it?
It’s actually related to the verse I quoted above – I read an article years ago (that I have been unable to find by the way), that stated that you are substantially more likely to commit suicide if you win the lotto…. which is WILD. Was winning the lotto the best or worst thing to happen to you? So when I pray and ask Him for something, I am assuming that I know what’s best… and assuming that God agrees with me. But the truth is, I’m not God. I don’t have the perfect perspective to see what’s actually best for me. I may in fact be asking for something that could bring about my own destruction – so whether He says yes or no, He is doing it for my best, because my Father actually loves his children.
Finally, what is hope to you? Where, in whom, or in what do you find hope?
It’s the belief of things not yet come to be. It’s the trust that God is who He says He is. It’s faith that He knows better than me. Its the certainty that His promises are fact, even when it doesn’t feel like it in the moment.
This is a very good interview, Charlotte. Very inspiring and uplifting! Good Job!