Dave Wrendom, Musician

Less than a year ago, Dave Wrendon, a NYC businessman lost his job. Like thousands of other Americans, his life suddenly turned upside down during the worst part of the recession. Without hesitating, he picked up his guitar and began to play to audiences big and small. Turning his hobby into a job has since become his passion. And although he plays plenty of covers, he has since written enough originals to make his first album...one you need to get your hands on right now. His music is timely and catchy. His song, Stars and Stripes (a dedication to those who perished 9/11) has became my favorite song and I can already sing every word. I spoke with him about his new life, what music means to him and where it's suddenly taken him. Check him out...

When did you start?
I’ve been playing the guitar since I was ten and I’ve been playing professionally for about four…about five years, semi professionally.
And what did you do before this?
I was a banker…
Really? How was that? What was that like?
It was exciting… I got a lot of experience with global culture, finance…and how to deal with greedy people (laughing) so it was interesting.
I see…and before banking?
I used to design Yachts before that…I was a naval architect…before that I was a male gigolo…
Whoa! You’re kidding, right?
Yep.
What was your first gig like?
Um…I don’t know if I can recall my first gig but I can recall my most memorable gig which was when I performed in front of about a million people at an outdoor festival in Detroit, Michigan about three years ago.
Wow! How did you get that gig?
Through a connection with General Motors…they sponsored us to come out and play at their festival….for the Chevrolet company.
I absolutely loved your performance during your recent gig! Talk about it a bit with me!
It was an acoustic gig with thee wonderful singer, Jennifer Groves on the Lower East
Side of Manhattan in a place called Recoup.
It was amazing…I love how you too are both original. On a typical night, how do you go about connecting with your audience?
I make eye contact, I smile and I make the audience feel like they’re hanging out in my living room at my house.
Who are your musical inspirations?
I have guitar inspirations and singer inspirations and I think lately it’s people who sing and play like Billy Joel, John Mayer, and Eric Clapton. For guitar inspirations that would be Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Jimmy Hendrix…
What about the females? Don’t leave us out!
I like Blondie, I respect her a lot…and Pat Benatard, Stevie Nicks…
Love her!
…also Gwen Stephanie….
Good choices! What do you think of Lady Gaga? She’s everywhere now…she is one rich musician!
Nah, she can basically piss off. I mean she does put a lot of effort into her shows though…I think performance is important, so she’s a performer but I don’t think she’s so unique.
No?
She’s doing what Madonna’s done for years and making it eccentric but with music dance is always a good thing…
Who’s your favorite performer on stage?
It might be Bruce Springsteen but I don’t know. I’d really have to rack my brain. My favorite performers to watch? Red Hot Chili Peppers….they’re all theatrical and animated…could be the drugs, who knows?
Ever have any negative situations arise while performing?
The worst that has happened is breaking a string but I just continued playing and switched guitars at the end of the song.
How many albums you got out there?
I got one, my first, Stars and Stripes Fly….that’s one of the original songs, available on ITunes and Amazon.
What is your goal venue?
Well, my ultimate goal…my goal venue would be um…Webster Hall, New York City...or like Hammerstein Ball Room or something like that…I think Madison Square Garden is too generic…I mean who wouldn’t want to play at Madison Square Garden? My ultimate goal is to have my music in a Karaoke Book.
Really? Why is that?
You only make it into a Karaoke book when your song has been somewhat of a hit. It also means it’s recognizable universally.
What the significance of the title of your hit song Stars and Stripes?
I wrote this song a few years after 9/11, um, as a response to a lot of the political debate going on in the country as Obama was coming into popularity and how the county was so divided as opposed to the commonality of how closely the country united during 9/11. I wrote homage to our county…so it’s mostly just a homage to the freedoms we have in the United States that make our country stronger than other countries and I have a website that further discusses this on Wrendom.com. I also have a song called All Fired Up, which is a bluesy-rock kind of tune…it’s about my own life and um…keeping calm actually…throughout my day, staying sort of in control of my emotions. But the music makes you all fired up…it’s kind of a…almost an opposite meaning or energetic exciting kind of a meaning…
Speaking of websites, you also have an invention in the works?
Yeah, it’s called Barracuda Grip; it’s a foldable and portable handle for disposable beverage cups, hot and/or cold and anything that you don’t want to touch…
Nice! What made you come up with this?
It came to me in a dream and I’ve been spending the last two years in research and development…Barracutaconcepts.com.
Any others?
I have another one that involves…music...I don’t have a patent for that one yet….
How has the recession affected musicians? Or, has it?
It hasn’t because musicians haven’t really ever made money doing what they do and people are downloading songs as much as they ever were.
I read recently about people getting caught downloading music. These fines can be astronomical!
I think it’s up to the digital distribution companies and they’re obligation to distribute the way they’re contracted to….if someone wants to distribute for personal gain…I think that’s wrong…but someone who’s selling/ profiting off of discounted downloads should be fined and punished. Someone downloading for their own enjoyment got lucky but the person who’s getting ads on their websites and all that should definitely be fined.
Compare how the drug scene with music has changed throughout the years. I don’t have a lot of experience with drugs in my community but there’s definitely a lot of alcoho
l consumption…I really don’t know, I’m not there yet…on tours and all that but right now that’s just not my scene.
Do you have a current Favorite venue?
It would probably be Crash Mansion that’s on Bowery Street, Why? It has a really nice stage and great light and sound system and a comfortable space for fans.
When is your next gig?
Go to wwwmyspacewrendom.com
What are your ambitions?
To play in Boston, LA, Atlanta, Detroit…
What about internationally?
I have some connections in Ireland and I might possibly be going to Asia with this new group I’ve hooked up with.
Have you ever to Ireland?
I was there for my friend’s wedding in September. His now wives’ brother is well connected in different bars in Dublin…I just have to get myself over there.

Say It Out Loud! Speaking with Singer/Songwriter, (thee) Jennifer Groves of UWS, NYC!

Jennifer Groves has recently finished her solo CD with Moogy Klingman- former member/keyboardist of the band Utopia with the help of the infamous Jim Satten- an excellent guitar player, ex- band leader for Bo Diddley, and a great guy for lending his talents to this album. She says "It took a long time and it was quite a difficult process to get through, but the songs are still strong, and I still love them even after a few years have gone by..... You can listen for yourself I'm writing more songs- the most recent words fueled by a break up. But that's ok whatever works, as far as the material goes!!! " This writer/song writer divides her time between singing in two bands, managing Recoup, oh, and working a "job." She is an amazing singer who challenges herself at her gigs by always singing her own stuff and staying true to herself as an artist.

How long you been in the biz Jenny?

Ten years. Oh, I don’t wanna say my age! I hooked up with one of my customers from a bar I worked at and I started writing and playing my songs with him.

All your songs on your new album are original…were you the only writer?

Pretty much…well, ninety percent. Moogy was ten percent writer, and the musical arranger and the producer…

Musical arranger?

Producer. Just put ‘producer.’

What are your songs mostly about?

My life…my new album deals mostly with my parents death and it’s funny cuz they don’t really have anything to do with…not all of the songs are about my family but there is a direct relation….they both died within two weeks of each other…

I’m sorry about that. Tell me about a specific song where you pay homage to your parents?

Wow, um…”Strong Girl.” It was about me…ah, you know everyone called me a “strong person’ because of all the legal, financial, and emotional ramifications. It was like a ‘blanket statement.’ People didn’t know what to say to me so they just said, “You’re such a strong girl.”

Is singing and writing for you then usually an emotional release and form of a cathartic…or, I mean, therapy?

All of the above. I don’t know what I would do without….I don’t know how I would get through my life…I don’t know how people get things out if they can't express it in some way.

What would you suggest then to a non artist?

Anyway to get the feelings out…but I think it depends how conscious you wanna be. Some people drink, some people exercise, some spend tons of money,….but I think it’s important to look at it on paper. I would suggest they start a journal…

Who are some of your singer/song-writer influences? And/or have you ever been compared to another solo artist?

I think I’ve been compared to Janis Joplin. My influences…would be like…Aretha Franklin. Etta James. Patsy Cline. Sheryl Crow. And I like Pat Benatar and I’m not afraid to say it.

How many bands do you currently play with?

My own band, “J 4 Jennifer” and “Jenn and Dave.” Now I’m also booking acoustic bands…trying to incorporate all music genres so that my club doesn’t have only one type of music ie. Seattle coffee house acts…

You got a problem with Seattle?

Never been but the music makes me suicidal.

You’re driving to your favorite destination and you got control of the music…a mix…what are the five songs?

Oh my god…ah, Led Zeplin “Whole Lotta Love,” “Take it or Leave it” by Jennifer Groves (laughing) cuz I LOVE that song! Gaetano and his last name is spelled V-E-L-O-S-O.

Okay,,,who’s he? Never heard of him.

He’s a Brazilian…very famous Bossa Nova singer. He’s like a rock star in Brazil, he is a rock star.

Okay, who else?

(Pause). Black Sabbath “Heaven and Hell”

And last one?

Let’s see. Trying not to make this a big deal. Maybe…What’s her name? “Steppin Stone” by what’s her name? Duffy? I think the woman’s name is Duffy. I think it’s Duffy.

Tell me more about your booking gigs?

More about what? Oh, okay, so…I’m a hustler. I hustle people to play at my club. My club is Recoup Lounge on the Lower east side 210 Rivington Street at Pitt Street-by the F train feels like the end of the world over there...I book Friday nights :)

What are your favorite bands to book?

I like to book bands with brass instruments…meaning sax, trumpet. What am I saying? I don’t even know what I’m saying. I like R and B. I recently books Miles, you saw him! He was basically rapping a track. Andy, oh god, what’s his band’s name? Andy Miller and Box Car Abandon, that band had a guitarist, flutist, and a washboard player!

What rap artists do you listen to?

Mase…it’s actually MA$E (laughing), Big E Smalls, and Tribe Called Quest. Put, ‘all the classics…’

You are a go getter type of person…what are your literary books of success that may have led you to be such a person?

Oh boy. I’ve read almost every ‘Self-help book’ on the planet. But for right now I would say Eckerd Tolle, “A New Earth” and The Secret…who ever wrote THAT book.

Think it was Burns, I can’t remember her first name. Anyway some very cool things happened to me right after I read “The Secret.” Can you recall what happened to you?

No. (laughing). Absolutely….I don’t think ANYTHING happened to me, truthfully. I can’t think of anything specific, Phil, but I don’t know how to say it…what you project, WILL manifest itself in the physical world.

Oh, I absolutely agree with that girl. I mean if I’m in a bad mood, things are gonna fall apart. Crumble.

(Laughing) 'Wheels are gonna fall off,' that’s one of my favorite statements.

People say the ‘music world’ is a difficult place to be these days financially…do you think that’s a harsh statement?

No, I think that’s the truth. I don’t think you could do it for the money…I don’t do it for the money. If I make money…great, but if I don’t then that’s great too. So, I make money other ways.

Being in the music world on a constant basis, you are surrounded by New York’s best underground artists/ and musicians. What solo artist, band or group do you see ‘making it’?

Dave Wrendon, Bobby Fingeroth…I’d like to put a band down. Put ‘Daliblu’ for starters, yeah.

Tell me a story about one of your love songs?

Just write that I’m a better ‘Anti-love’ song writer. They make for better love songs….

So, you don’t have ‘happily-ever…’

Not yet. Don’t you think break up songs make much better material? I equate love songs for pop songs and I’m not a ‘pop artist.’ Well, there’s two songs. There one, “Double Dealing Man” from the “J 4 Jennifer” album…the story is that um….it was about a guy who I met on the subway and he moved in with me (laughing) for two months. He was from Israel. He stayed at a Youth Hostel just up the street from here. So, we met on the subway…he moved in with me. I thought he was gonna stay and he had no intention of staying and he left for Israel and we were gonna meet in Israel for the New Year. Oh, this is just way too long…when I called him, there was a girl in the background and he told me he couldn’t come to meet me.

Were you already there?

Where? In Portugal. No! (laughing)

Okay…good.

I called him before and then I heard the girl….

I think every woman and man has been down ‘that road.’ You’re also an artist?

Yeah. Um. I’m a painter. And right now I do paper collages. Predominantly from scenes from the bible.

Why? Are you very religious?

No but I love religious iconography and medieval illuminated manuscripts.

That’s way over my head. Next question. Um, my brain is burning. I haven’t done this in a LONG time. Um…..well, what do you think I should ask next?

(Pause) You could ask me if I consider myself more of a musician or a visual artist.

Ok, let’s pretend…I just asked you that question.

I would have to say…NO! Ah, being an artist can encompass um…all kinds of things, visual, musical, dance, like you know…play. I think an artist can manifest. You know anyone who can manifest an idea and bring it to life! And I think most artists can create using more than one medium and I personally like to say that if I can’t write, if I have ‘writers’ block’ than I can just paint or if I can’t sing, I’ll write a song….