Interview with Kim Leachman and Steve Wright from daysahead


Q: Please tell me how you've met and how you've founded daysahead.

Steve Wright: Kim (Baton Rouge, LA) and I (Richmond, VA) were working as backup for Aezra Records recording artist, Crea. I was playing electric guitar and Kim was singing background vocals. Her voice caught my attention and stood out above the other vocalists. I approached her to demo a few songs I'd written. Well, our first session proved that she could write in addition to sing and we instantly knew that we had to start our own band. Kim and I immediately started writing for our debut album. I called on some musician friends and we started recording. We are fortunate to have worked with some great musicians on Turning Point including drummers James Barrett and Joe Lee, and bassists Myron Carroll, Jeff Smith, and Aaron Clay. The current band is Kim and myself with James Barrett (drummer from Baton Rouge, LA who played on 6 tunes on Turning Point) who is versatile with rock solid tempo, and Brandon Gilliard (bassist from Anderson, SC) who is extremely talented and a strong improviser with nice groovability. This rhythm section will make any band sound good!

Q: Is daysahead a duo with two regular additional musicians or do you consider yourself more as a band with four members?

Kim Leachman: Although Steve and I are the band leaders, we consider our musical talents equal to James and Brandon's. We have a team mentality. daysahead performs as a duo with Steve and myself, a four piece with James and Brandon, and on occasion we'll add background vocalists and a percussionist.

Q: How do you describe your sound to someone who hasn't heard of daysahead before and where do you see your musical niche.

Kim Leachman: Our name, daysahead, symbolizes the kind of music we write. I'll have to credit Steve for coming up with this genious name! daysahead represents music that cannot be neatly categorized, and crosses genders, ages, and ethnicities. Timeless music. We describe ourselves as "Pat Metheny meets Chaka Khan". Obviously, we have tremendous respect for both artists and believe our music to be a cross between their two styles, as versatile as they are. We're assoicated as jazz/soul/rock, contemporary jazz, pop/jazz/soul, eclectic jazz, world soul, etc. As artists desiring to creatively express ourselves without boundaries, we really enjoy it when people label our music as just good music. Music that will be around in days ahead.

Q: Your music hardly features any keys. What was the motivation to exclude the keys on most songs?

Steve Wright: I've made it a personal goal to be able to perform as a well-rounded jazz guitarist. Guitar has many roles depending on the instruments around it. It can be treated similarly to a saxophone (for example ad lib, solo, colors, melodies, etc.). This is usually the case when there's a keyboardist and guitarist playing together. Since both are chordal instruments, nine out of ten times the guitarist is asked to change roles from the harmonic provider to a color specialist. I've made it a point to be able to perform the same job a keyboardist does. The only keys used on Turning Point was on "Good Ole' Days". On this tune light keys were used to double the guitar, along with synth bass and programmed drums. We really experimented here to show the versatility of daysahead's sound. As for the rest of the album, there are no keys which also gives us a raw sound. We like it!

Q: Your debut album is titled Turning Point. What has been the turning point(s) in your lifes?

Kim Leachman: Turning Point is about our place in time, the next phase in our lives. We've experienced having to make conscious decisions about giving up personal comforts and defy what would to some be considered the "norm" thing to do. Like for instance work 9-5 Monday through Friday, party hard on the weekend, and start all over again the next week. All this to work towards building a nest egg, small or large, for retirement. Although this may work for some, it doesn't for us. Turning the corner and walking the road less traveled to pursue the passion of our lives is what this album is about. For Steve and I, the turning point was meeting someone of like mind, with similar dreams. Not just dreams, but similar goals and aspirations. Similar styles and tastes in music, love, and the love of music. A spiritual connection. Our meeting was literally the turning point of our lives. We finally matched desire with certainty. The dream, the passion has become more believable and attainable.

Q: Your lyrics are often very personal. Who or what inspires your lyrics?

Kim Leachman: I think about my dad alot. He died of a heart disease when I was nine years old. So, from a very early age, I became interested in discovering and understanding the meaning of life. My purpose. Everything I write about is an extension of this idea. My personal struggles and triumphs inspire my lyrics. Issues on love seem to move me the most. Knowing and walking in your faith and destiny are issues that intrigue me. Seeing looks of familiarity on people's faces when I sing our songs, and knowing that at least one person "gets it", inspire me to continue doing what we do. Helping others inspires my life.

Q: How do you compose your songs? Is it a simultaneous process maybe jamming on the guitar and humming a tune which turns into a song or do you come up with the music first or the lyrics?

Steve Wright: We really don't have a formula. Our writing happens in the middle of individual practice or when we're together. Kim will come up with a melody line and then I'll play chords to comp. Or I'll have an idea and she'll hum a melody. Sometimes either of us will have both the melody and chords. Kim has a pretty good foundation of the keyboard, which helps us speak the same language. We wrote Turning Point much in this way.

Kim Leachman: A few times both of us pulled out tunes we'd previously worked on, and collaborated on these tunes. "You Move Me" was the first tune we wrote together. In this case Steve had already written the music and melody, and I came in and wrote the lyrics. On "For The Love" I had already written the melody and lyrics, and Steve came in and wrote the music. Most of our tunes are written on the fly. It's so much fun this way, but can prove to be very challenging. The great thing is that Steve and I have similar writing styles. We are spiritually led. We don't force anything.

Q: You've released your album independently. Was it a conscious decision so you have total control about the creative process, the marketing and the selling? Would it be an option for you to sign with a major label?

Kim Leachman: We definately wanted to create a project that reflects who we are as people and musicians. We know who we are as artists because we've been performing and writing for years. As a result, we feel we've developed our own sound. Since the release of Turning Point, we understand that our music has a wide appeal. This was very important for us to know before entertaining the idea of signing a label deal.

Steve Wright: Exactly, we wanted to turn out the best musical product we could. And we're extremely happy with Turning Point. We realize how much goes into marketing and selling a project, we're living it everyday. So, we are obtaining more resources to spread the word and generate revenue. Currently we are shopping our album to major labels and large independent labels for distribution.

Q: You're from Atlanta, which is also known for its music scene. What do you like about Atlanta and how much you are a part of the music scene there?

Steve Wright: Atlanta is a good place. There are alot of great musicians here and there is enough work to make a living.

Kim Leachman: Atlanta is the birthplace of daysahead. "Good Ole' Days" sums it up. We've learned so much about life, people, and choices since living here. We're very fortunate to be developing a nice fan base here. You know college/npr radio is so supportive in Atlanta. WCLK 91.9fm, WRFG 89.3fm, and WBCX 89.1fm are amazing and we are very appreciative of them for spinning our music and spreading the word about our band.

Q: What can we expect from daysahead in the future? In what way do you like your music to develop?

Steve Wright: Expect many albums! We'd like to explore different themes for future albums. Like an all acoustic/vocal album. Albums with different instrumentations including horns. We're open to many possibilities.

Kim Leachman: Yes, we're very excited about future projects. Turning Point was such a wonderful start for us. We hope to continue to grow, and we're looking forward to many musical possibilities.

For more infos visit daysaheadmusic.com, cdbaby.com and read my review of Turning Point.