Hot on the heels of his UK shows at the likes of the Long Road festival last year, Drake White is heading back to the UK and Ireland next week to appear at the Black Deer festival and play some headline shows of his own. “We had so much fun last year, we’re headin’ back across the pond!” White shares. “Can’t wait to hang with ya!” With current album ‘The Optimystic’ 15 months old now it’s time to celebrate what that album has done for White’s career and look ahead to new projects too. We were thrilled to grab some time with him to talk all about it.
Thanks for you time today, Drake, we can’t wait to have you back with us in the Uk next week.
I know! Right? It’s gonna be amazing. I’m very, very excited to get back over there and hang out with my friends again.
Last year it was the Long Road festival, this year it’s Black Deer. Do you think your sound and style are brilliantly suited to festivals and do you change your approach when playing a festival as opposed to your own headline shows?
Yeah, I think you have to. Man, every show is different from location to vibe to how I’m feeling on the day. That’s what I think makes our shows interesting and powerful. The Black Deer festival is absolutely something I want to be a part of, you know, it’s the Bonnaroo of Europe, right?
I write music that is intriguing to me and is about my thoughts and my life and I write music to help people have fun and to get through the struggles in life. That kind of vibe is perfectly suited to a festival setting. Black Deer is something that is exactly where I wanna be right now, taking that Bob Dylan approach to music. Whether it be Country, Folk, Rock n Roll or Soul, our band does all of that and more!
You are on on the Sunday amongst other, very organic artists like Lukas Nelson and Amanda Shires. I think that’s a great fit.
I do too. Music brings all walks of life together. I know Amanda and Jason (Isbell, Shires’ husband), he’s from Alabama and I grew up in Alabama. Lukas Nelson is an old friend of mine from when I toured with Willie Nelson back in the day. I’m really looking forward to seeing those guys again – I really respect what they do with a pen and what they do out on the road.
You’ve built up such a strong relationship with your UK fan base – what connects you to us so much do you think?
I think it’s my love of people, my spiritual beliefs and the idea of treating everybody the same, no matter who they are or where they come resonates with y’all over there. I’ve always had a nomadic spirit and always loved to travel and see the world. I love to read, I love to watch documentaries and try not to waste my time watching crap, which I think fuels my desire to see things, meet people and experience new cultures. It’s a great way to live and makes you a better songwriter, in my opinion, too.
Travel does away with all bigotry, all racism and all hatred because you get to meet different people and see the world through the lens of their eyes and experiences. It makes you realise that we are all the same, really, underneath everything and I think UK and European fans get that too. Oh, and you got great beer too! (laughing)
This will be your first big tour since beaming a father. Are you anticipating spending lots of time on FaceTime with the family whilst over here, that will be new for you.
Yeah and we are celebrating Fathers Day apart too, my first one! It’s a big perspective change and a change, for sure. That’s the sacrifice that artists like Chris Stapleton talk about – people need to understand when they are watching touring musicians, whether it’s in the O2 arena in London or a small pub or club somewhere – That guy, that girl, that band have sacrificed parts of themselves to come and play live music for you.
Our hearts are stamped at an early age when we commit to the craft. We are giving up security and being very vulnerable and opening up to the world so we can help and heal with our music. It’s a powerful thing, man.
I really love your new song, ‘Life, Love and War’ that you wrote about your son, Hawk. It’s up on Youtube now for people to see now. I love the line in it about your ceiling being his floor. Did you write that before Hawk’s birth or was it inspired by him after he got here?
I wrote it when he was about a month old. I was looking at him thinking, ‘I hope my broken back is your stairs and my ceiling is your floor.’ It’s so funny how that song is not out and might not be out for a while but it’s so cool to have an outlet to be able to put songs out there, there is no middle man when you are an independent artist. You can directly touch your fans – I wrote that song for my son and literally just put it out on social media and here we are now, talking about it in an interview. That’s what I love about music and where the industry is right now.
You put a song out there and just let it start to build momentum and it finds the souls that it is meant to find and it starts to build its story. We don’t have to send scrolls in a raven’s talons to the king anymore, you know? (laughing) It’s a very intimate relationship, the one between a writer and their fans and one I take very seriously and love to serve. I write music for myself and then love to super-serve the fans after.
Has becoming a father opened up any new wells of creativity or have you been just too busy being a dad?
Becoming a father definitely trims all the fluff of your life away pretty quickly. It gives you a kind of ‘No bullshit’ mentality where you prioritise the important things in life that might have passed you by previously. It makes your life richer, which conversely makes your writing richer and I’m here for it.
‘The Optimystic’ album has been out for 15 months. Have you been pleased with this cycle of your career and what the album has achieved for you?
Absolutely. My goals are lavish and the bar is set high, I want to continue to pursue art to a very high level. Whether that lands me in the O2 arena, Madison Square Garden or a local pub, I am never satisfied but I am satisfied and thankful for the life that god has afforded me and for the fans who have got me to this place.
I put out ‘The Optimystic’ as an independent artist. We formed a label, we spent money on this that I didn’t have. We spent my money, right, this wasn’t a label’s money or a bank’s money. I shed sweat, tears and equity for those songs on that album and I hope it proves to other guys out there that you can form a band and play music anywhere. Don’t let A.I. think for you and all that shit, get out and play the songs yourself and make your own path, that’s what the album represents to me. After my stroke in 2019 I only focus on the good and the good here is that the album found the people it needed to find.
Have your thoughts turned to the next album and the next cycle or is it too soon still?
No, the I’m currently thinking about the next three cycles! (laughing) I’ve already got my 40’s, my 50s and my 60s planned out. The trips, the albums, everything. I’ve got a bunch of songs all ready to go because I’m always writing! We are about to release an EP called ‘The Bridge’ which will have seven songs on it and will be a bridge into the next album which I already have a title for but can’t say just yet. I worked with my good buddy, Jonathan Singleton on this project. We went down to Mississippi and put some mud on it and brought a record into existence that I can’t wait for people to hear.
We’re just in the process of landing all the planes, left and right, and I’m driving my manager crazy because I’ve got ten pounds of shit here but only have a 5 pound bag!
Well, I think you’ve just given me the byline for the whole interview there Drake, thanks! (laughing)
Well, surprisingly enough, that is the title of one of the new songs!!
Buy your tickets to see Drake White on his UK tour right here.
