David Allred is a prolific composer and producer based in Portland, Oregon. His new album The Beautiful World captures an enriched, realised understanding of why he composes in the first place.
Dedicated to the expression of existential themes such as death, grief, longing and loss, the album’s core theme centres around the suicide of a young girl Lauren, who was a family friend to Allred.
For as long as he could remember, Allred always created music out of a kind of dissociative state which he finds alluringly easy to lapse into. A repetition of a motif is usually where he begins composing. But unlike his previous works, The Beautiful World firmly has one foot in reality and is deeply intertwined with Allred’s relationships, past and present.
Compositions like Look and The Beautiful World provide tethers to Allred’s everyday existence. On Look he describes situations as simplistic as ordering a pizza with poignancy and bittersweetness. But lyrically, Allred “leans more abstract” than concrete. “I want to belong in the beautiful world” becomes mantra-like on the album’s title track, followed by Allred’s drifting observations set to a steady drone and percussion that sounds like the click of a Polaroid camera.
FACTS
1. Everything is going to be okay
2. You are not alone in your feelings
3. You are beautiful and interesting
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
The people in my life, my cat, my dog, therapy, the writings of Ocean Vuong, strangers, pizza, employment, unemployment, nature and the internet.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
I grew up teaching myself piano as early as I can remember and eventually took trumpet lessons with a brilliant dude named Dave who taught me so much about music and inspired me to explore many more styles and instruments since.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
In no specific order, these are all equally perfect albums in my opinion:
1. Luciano Cilio – Dialoghi Del Presente (1977)
2. Peter Broderick – Home (2008)
3. Ween – Quebec (2003)
4. Judee Sill – Judee Sill (1971)
5. Penelope Scott – Public Void (2020)
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
One time I went to Berlin while on tour with Peter Broderick and he told me about frisbee man who is a guy that has been showing up to Görlitzer park everyday with his frisbee for countless years to either play by himself or with people who are willing to spontaneously toss it back and forth with him at the time, and it was very exciting to spot him in the park. He’s such a legend.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
I live in Portland, Oregon which has a lot of amazing nature and I also love the Fun House Lounge which has a variety of unique comedy shows. Clinton Street Theatre is also an exceptional spot to see cool unique films.
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
I’d probably work a normal job and be a much more normal person.
7. What was the last record/music you bought or listen?
Wander Into by Ann Annie! EVERYONE NEEDS TO HEAR THIS ALBUM!
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
I feel an unusual imperative need to collaborate with Olivia Rodrigo. We’re so different and I feel like something really interesting would come from it.
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
Royal Albert Hall in London with Peter Broderick, opening for Penguin Cafe at the Erased Tapes Festival. Felt like a dream.
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
From a production standpoint, pretty important. From a compositional standpoint, not so important. Though it radically forms the greater part of our sense of reality which is impossibly inescapable.
11. Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your music?
I have a sister who is two years older than me and she is kind and supportive even though she seems uninterested in becoming a musician. She had some piano lessons in our childhood which struck my curiosity so much that I became the one to pursue piano even though I never had lessons myself.
