“Ultimately the album is about overcoming fears and being there for one another.”
And overcoming fear is exactly what Rhodes did. Two years after bursting on to the scene with his debut EP Raise Your Love, having since supported the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Laura Marling and Nick Mulvey, Rhodes is back, and touring his debut album Wishes. “I played the guitar but was always far too scared to sing.” Entirely self taught, it’s hard to believe his humble beginnings as the bassist in a friend’s band, recording his first studio album is something Rhodes never saw coming. “I wrote the album over about two years… it’s been a massive learning curve, but definitely the thing I’m most proud of”.
Born David Rhodes, but known professionally only by his surname, Rhodes remarks that he was “bored of being David Rhodes”, and “liked the ambiguity” of being known solely as Rhodes – “some people still even think I’m a band.” We talk about his influences: “Growing up I remember buying Damien Rice’s album O in 2003, and playing it on repeat on my walkman… I just love the grandeur of that album.” Rhodes expressed his experiences listening to XFM, Radio 1, Jo Whiley and Fearne Cotton. Despite having found fame through social media, he seemed to attribute much of his own success to not having had a computer as a child. “Everyone else did, I don’t know why my parents didn’t. I guess it meant I spent a lot of time playing outside, and getting in to music.” He recounted how in early 2006 he was forming my own taste in music: “people like The Maccabees, Foals and The Arctic Monkeys were getting a lot of airplay… so playing Radio 1 myself felt iconic.” As far as his biggest influences are concerned, Rhodes cites Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, The Doors and Volcano Choir amongst others. “Oh, and my parents!”
Not only an influence as far as his songwriting is concerned, Rhodes told us that he was entirely self taught, and had picked up the guitar as a result of his family and friend’s musical talents. “I watched my dad play guitar, and then I was in a band with my friend Tom, listening to Pink Floyd when we were 10.” However, for him it seemed that being self taught is both a blessing and a curse: “I didn’t actually know any of my band before… I needed people who could have fun and play what I wrote… when they say things like F# dim I have no idea what they’re talking about, but I can play it!”
“I’ve written and recorded a lot in my bedroom. I wrote a lot of Wishes by the sea… in a room by myself with open windows”
Talking about his upcoming Australian tour, Rhodes told us that it would just be him and his guitar. “I was sent every track off the album with just the guitar and vocal parts, I wanted to know what they sounded like so that when I played them live they would be just as good, or better. There are some songs like ‘Turning Back Around’, that has a French horn in it, which you would probably only notice if it wasn’t there.” Although he can add performing unaccompanied to his long list of talents, Rhodes told me that he likes to create soundscapes: “I think being unique and doing something you believe in is important”.
We moved onto songwriting, given his recent collaborations with artists such as Birdy and Clean Bandit. He maintains, though, that his song writing process is “pretty solitary, I’ve written and recorded a lot in my bedroom. I wrote a lot of Wishes by the sea… in a room by myself with open windows”. It is clear that for Rhodes, writing songs is a natural yet emotional process. Upon asking him about his favourite tracks from the album, his answer was “probably ‘You and I’, or ‘Breathe’ – I wrote that for a friend”. Writing the album wasn’t a short term project: “‘Turning Back Around’ I wrote about two years ago actually, Charlie Fink produced it. It was originally called ‘Drowning’, but I kept reinventing and evolving it. There are a few tracks on the album like that… now they seem old to me!”
His own favourite tracks aside, when we discussed what he was excited about musically, George Cosby was immediately mentioned, along with Rich or Blush. “And my friend Frances, I think she’s gonna be huge… Oh and make sure you check out JP Cooper, he’s supporting me on this tour, he’s really incredible.” And with that it, was back to the soundcheck for Rhodes, to play more of the delightful songs that are putting him right where he deserves to be.