When we talk about musicians, we usually talk about skilled creative folk who play an instrument, sing, or what have you. Most of the time.

David James Allen likes to stretch that.

He is a musician who at one point said, "I’m going to do it all, or at least, most of it!" Since he started to really create, he came to a point where he wanted to be in creative and technical control of the whole process. But doing that isn’t easy, and I can speak from personal experience.

So, to say that I have respect for him and his dedication to his craft would be an understatement. And I love the results. The breadth of his work spans genres and sonics, but what is coolest is that he has grown a little world into itself.

Congratulations DJA. Welcoming you to The Cove Inn on Thursday, November 20, 2025 from 5-8 pm. Details and reservations here. 

Q: It’s like you’re creating your own little world over in Prince Edward County now that you moved out of the big smoke. It’s like a full on musical creation/consulting/production factory! What would you say is the biggest change in terms of your artistic production as a result of making the move?

David James Allen: I love having the studio space at Base 31, it’s been a huge milestone for me. It’s great being able to work consistently on my own productions and inviting friends and other artists to collaborate and help to bring their visions to fruition. I think having a space outside of my apartment has been the biggest change in terms of artistic production. Up until 5 years ago I was primarily working out of my apartment (kitchen & bedroom), and then booking time at Catherine North in Hamilton for band components and foundational tracks, then handling overdubs, demos, and some production work at home.

Having a dedicated space outside of home, has fostered some real focus. I've got 2 young daughters at home now, so life is busy and I know when I’m up at the space, away from home, I have a limited chunk of time to get work done, so I make the most of it. It’s also nice to have everything set up and ready to go, all I really have to do is arm tracks and start getting into the creative flow.

Q: I’m sure that you agree that there is so much incredible recorded and live music out there, but a lot of it is not getting heard. By your estimation, why is that? I personally know that so many people can record in their own studio, venues are a little harder to come by and radio isn’t playing as much DIY indie music. 

David: Man, I wish I had the answer to this question. There is certainly great music out there not getting picked up on mainstream channels of media! My approach has just been to keep my head down and keep working and keep trying to make a better record than the last. I love to experiment and explore new ideas and themes and learn as much as I can about the business of music in the process.

The business side of making art and promoting art is important. It doesnt get talked about enough. It's something that Ive been tuning into more over time. The art and the album is one side, but then bringing that record to market as a product is a whole other side of building a career in music. I feel like I'm learning how to be my own ambassador. A lot of artists struggle with this, including myself.

But ultimately, if you dont show up for yourself on the business side of the art, then the likelihood of people hearing your art is going to be lower. Building a social media campaign for a release, EPKs and one-sheets, strategizing on how you can bring your song to specific markets, demographics, geographic locations, and acquiring or putting aside even a small amount of money for marketing is something I’ve been trying to do. And it’s tough, especially when you don't have a bank roll and you’ve got bills to pay.

Consider artists who have viral breakthroughs. If they're not savvy in business, they can lose that momentum. Those that maintain the momentum, I suspect have started treating and focusing on the business aspects of keeping that momentum afloat, with marketing spends and all that. We're living in a world of data. Independent artists have access to this data. When I put my business hat on, I try to make sense of the data, so I can try to give my song and art, a longer and larger life out there. That’s something maybe a label or manager would traditionally help artists with, but in this day and age finding a label or a manager is tough!

There is a wealth of talented and passionate people with the means of recording and releasing albums and singles to DSPs like Spotify or Apple Music has never been easier. It’s a big pool.

Ultimately, what keeps me going is thinking about my kids and my family and providing for them, and putting aside any reservations I may have had in my twenties about self-promotion (that corny, icky, self-conscious or insecure feeling) because nobody has been knocking on my door offering a golden ticket. On the whole, I don’t think nobody is gonna champion you if you aren’t championing yourself.

I’m not sure why there are incredible albums recorded and not getting heard. But instead of thinking about the music not getting heard, I'm trying to think about the folks who are listening to and playing my music and give them my energy, thanks and gratefulness in hopes that it brings about another avenue for my music career. I’m trying to sift through the world of social media, content and releasing music and trying to find some sort of creative challenge in it that doesn’t make me miserable, while keeping positive and focused on what I do have some control over! At low times on the road, that can be a hard thing to do, but you do it anyway.

Q: This whole element of real music and at its essence, soul music crossing over many genres is really making a surge. Even major leading artists are embracing the non-perfect sounds of soul. Is imperfection important to you in music? What are some artists that are really influencing you in this way?

David: I’m totally cool with leaning into or living with imperfection when it serves the song or serves the production. I think what guides me most is trying to capture something honest, and something that moves and breathes and feels right. I think a little dirt and saturation, or a flubbed guitar or weird note here and there can really make a difference to the energy and mood of a recording. I’m not really interested in making sonically perfect music. It just doesn’t draw me in. I like to capture decent sound on the engineering front and let the performance take the lead. I've been loving El Michels Affair from Brooklyn and a lot of the productions that Leon Michels is doing over at Big Crown Records. It just feels so good.

Q: I love the stories you tell in your psych folk tunes. There seems to be an honest place from which you come with all of your music, pushing through, persevering, searching for love, finding the devil in humanity! You know, the stuff. Seriously though what’s the source of your constant inspiration in songwriting?

David: Thanks, dude. It’s a therapy for me. It’s something I’ve always been drawn to since I was a kid. I just try to be open. Everything can inspire. It’s a beautiful life and even with struggles and hardships, there are silver linings. My brain takes stock and chews on ideas. There are stories I hear in passing, a feeling I’ve experienced, an experience I’ve witnessed, old memories, old homes, nature walks.

Sometimes I’ll chew on an idea for a long time and eventually it comes out in song when I’m in the creative flow at the studio or with guitar in hand at the kitchen table. I think the process is inspiring and usually when I get hit with an idea that feels good, I try to make a point of giving it my attention and recording it down or voice memoing it until it feels all used up in that moment. Then I'll revisit the voice memo on the road and when something jumps out at me, it’s time for me to start working on it and realizing it into a proper recording and song. That’s the fun part for me. The process is the most inspiring I think.

Q: Your output is becoming pretty prolific! I hope you’re having fun because it sounds great! Do you see the future and the next record? Following a similar path or meandering a bit? Keep it up, wherever you go! 

David: Thank you! Appreciate you asking these questions and for hosting me at The Cove Inn this week. I am working on my next record as we speak. It’s called Jubilation Potpourri. I put out the first single from it in August, called Platform No. 12 (Old Friends).

I’m having fun and trying to figure out how to keep the momentum up, keep the gigs coming, the bills paid and always having fun in the studio. It’s a good collection of songs. I’d say thematically, it’s talking about the economic squeeze and impact on relationships and mental health. It’s more fun though. There are always some heavy themes but this is paired with more groovy arrangements that I'm doing all at my studio in Prince Edward County. I can't wait to have it finished and out there in the world, sometime in 2026!