Gearing up to release his new album Defined early next year, Daniel Reeves is playing at Thornbury Local on Friday December 6.
“The Thornbury Local has been a place, for a long time, where people feel so comfortable to go, they feel at home and almost as if you’re in your own backyard,” says Reeves.
He goes on to describe the venue as somewhat of an institution for live music in Melbourne. He’s no stranger to Thornbury Local, either – his next show will be his fourth appearance there this year.
Reeves describes Defined as an album about being comfortable with where you are in life and going with the flow. It was written over a 12-month period, acting almost like a diary across that timeframe.
“You just let everything flow, and that’s always been something I’ve been big on. Don’t overthink or over-complicate it, just let yourself be an open channel,” he says.
Initially, Defined was set to come out this year, however Reeves wanted to give the album the chance to stand out amongst all of his touring and other events. Reeves looks forward to taking his music to regional parts of Australia and possibly New Zealand again in the first half of next year.
The upcoming show at Thornbury Local will feature new material from Defined, as well as songs from Reeves’ extensive catalogue, encompassing two albums and three EPs.
Those releases have lead Reeves to tour Australia and New Zealand, as well as landing three of his songs in the triple j Unearthed Top Ten.
Defined was recorded at Northcote’s Soundpark, a small studio which has seen the likes of Paul Kelly and Courtney Barnett through its doors. Matt Thomas mixed and engineered the album, helping Reeves create a sound that makes you feel like you’re in the same room as him. Thomas is known for his work with ‘90s psychobilly outfit, Fireballs.
In the past, Reeves has performed shows with Stonefield, Lee Kernaghan and Amanda Palmer. Reeves revealed that Kernaghan contacted him to play the show in Mildura and found himself in awe of the “connection people have to him” and how his music touches people’s lives.
Similarly, Reeves was impressed by the way Palmer “gets people involved and draws a crowd to what she’s doing. It’s very in the moment and I have a deep respect for that”.
After the album is released and his tour wraps up, Reeves “would love to do more albums” because of the huge amounts of material that he has written in the last few months. However, Reeves admits he would have to “re-evaluate how [he] would release new material”, because “the world is changing, the way you release things, it’s becoming less about albums.”
Following his Thornbury Local appearance, you can catch him supporting Owen Campbell at the Spotted Mallard on Friday February 7 before a run of shows at the American Hotel in Echuca.
Reeves’ passion for making music is palpable and unwavering, it’s a path he knew he needed to pursue from an early age.
“I was always listening to music, I grew up on a healthy collection of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. It would’ve been just before my 16th birthday when I got into Nirvana, and that’s when I realised I wanted to write songs”.
“There is great opportunity in playing shows, and the crowds are very into what you do in the country,” he says, though he acknowledges the difficulty in trying to build a support network within areas that have small populations.
Catch Daniel Reeves as Thornbury Local on Friday December 6. Defined is out next year, stay tuned for more info at danielreevesmusic.com.
