Anthony David Will Not Box a Kangaroo

Readers who can remember all the way back to the end of 2008 will recall Anthony David’s soulful debut album, Acey Ducey, having a prominent place in my year end top albums list. On March 22nd David will finally be back with As Above, So Below. Last month he released a mixtape to build some excitement for it, but I was already hyped, because good R&B can be hard to find. This week I caught up with David to find out more about the record, but the conversation certainly wasn’t limited to music as we discussed everything from kangaroo boxing, to yoga, to the original Karate Kid.

Adam Bernard: We haven’t heard a lot from you since 2008’s Acey Ducey, which we loved over here at Adam’s World. Other than working on music, what have you been up to for the past three years?
Anthony David: That’s pretty much it. I was touring a lot and working on the album. Really I was handling the business of, I was on Universal at the time, I got off of it and got into this whole thing with E1, and my new imprint, and that kind of thing.

Adam Bernard: So it’s literally been all work and no play?
Anthony David: Pretty much. My work is my play so I really don’t have a distinction. I got the chance to see Australia.

Adam Bernard: That’s pretty cool. What kind of stuff did you get to see in Australia other than the toilets going the wrong way?
Anthony David: Ha! I got a chance to really see it. I was there for three weeks. I went to Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay, I hung out on the beach for a week. I played with some great musicians, I just had a good time. I’m looking forward to getting back there.

Adam Bernard: I’ve heard in Australia they have boxing matches between people and kangaroos. Did you happen to run into one of those events?
Anthony David: Unfortunately no, but I’m hoping that I get a chance to view something like that, besides just YouTube. I’ve seen it on YouTube.

Adam Bernard; I notice you said view, not get involved in.
Anthony David: No, not at all. No Tom and Jerry over here. {laughs}

Adam Bernard: Talk to me about the new album, As Above, So Below. Is it a shift in any way for you? If someone liked Acey Ducey are they going to like it?
Anhony David: Yeah, I think they’ll definitely like it. It’s an evolution, it’s a progression. I don’t try to make broad shifts. I think I started out with an interesting foundation. I consider myself a lyrical person, so I think it’s more of that. You have the characters and the storytelling in it mixed in with I guess what you would call traditional R&B. We try to expand on what that is.

Adam Bernard: You have a distinctive, mature, style. With that in mind, what are your feelings on the sexualized and party-centric turn R&B has taken?
Anthony David: It’s limited, and there can be consequences to that. It really is hard for people to consider it a place where you can get more, which you used to. That’s what I hope to do with mine. There are other artists that I look to along those lines, so my music has some of the elements that people might look to other styles for, like a country, or a bluegrass, or a hip-hop. This way you can get the whole experience, the whole story.

Adam Bernard: Who is one artist you’d really love to collaborate with?
Anthony David: There are a lot of artists I like, but the actual working with depends on a personal interaction with them. Me and Eric Roberson are good friends, so that would be cool. I’ve always been a fan of LaLa Hathaway, I love Brandy, I like Bruno Mars, I like B.o.B. There are so many that I like and I’d just unite with them, but Sting... he’s my favorite. I started doing yoga because of him. He’s my idol.

Adam Bernard: How long ago did you start bending and twisting?
Anthony David: Two months ago. They teach Vinyasa at the gym I go to, but I did Bikram this morning, and when I go to different cities I go find a place. It’s a part of my adventure. It’s like a destination. It used to be, back in the day, going to find an internet cafe, but they don’t have those anymore, so now it’s the yoga spot, and on the way you can see stuff.

Adam Bernard: Moving to a different kind of collaboration, if you could have dinner with one person, who would it be and why?
Anthony David: You know what, that’s a good question. Right now I’m reading this guy Sam Harris, I’m reading his book, The Moral Landscape, and I watch his YouTube videos all the time. He’s super cool and he’s onto something I'm interested in, so him. He is, I guess you could say a free thinker, a humanist, and he looks at if it’s possible that science and things like that can actually start to address moral ideas. It’s really interesting. I’m not much of a religious person, so I spent a lot of time talking about what I wasn’t, and now, along the lines of what he’s addressing, I can tell you about, and I need to find more about, what I am.

Adam Bernard: Going along these same lines, What has been the best piece of advice anyone has given to you?
Anthony David: You know what, man, this has driven my whole life; when I was in grade school this kid, my age, he was like eight, I forgot what I did, or what I said, and he was like “you know, you’re pretty funny, and you say stuff, but no one understands you. You really gotta work on that.” {laughs} He was basically like you gotta put your stuff together better so that people can understand what the hell you’re talking about. He was like, you’re on to somethin. He literally said this to me and it stuck with me forever, so that’s what I write for. I don’t remember his name, and he probably doesn’t even remember saying it.

Adam Bernard: Wisdom from eight year olds can sometimes be the best kind of wisdom. Finally, moving from the serious to the ridiculous, when was the last time you sang in the shower and what were you singing?
Anthony David: I get it in in the shower. I go hard. This morning it was “you’re the best around, nothing’s ever gonna keep you down.” That song is just in my head. I think it’s Joe Esposito. The Karate Kid joint.

Related Links

Website: rollingmojo.com
Twitter: twitter.com/antneedee
The Sound of Love Mixtape: KevinNottingham.com