Talon David grew up in a musical household just outside of Nashville, TN. Her parents, retired performers themselves, introduced her to a vast array of musical styles including Journey, the Eagles, the Beatles, Cindi Lauper, Barbra Streisand, and the original Broadway cast album of Wicked. Talon loved them all, and little did she know that as she listened, she was creating a unique musical vocabulary for herself.
In 2021, Talon released her first full length album, completely written, performed, recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by herself. Genre-less and personal, she likes to call it Miscellaneous.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Talon about the latest project, adapting during these crazy times, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
I am from a small town 30 minutes north of Nashville called White House, TN. I loved growing up in the country—there was plenty of room to play outside, climb trees, and sing at the top of our lungs. I grew up in a close-knit family, full of music and deep conversation. My parents were very supportive of my passions in music and performance, and my sister was and is one of my best friends.
My style of music developed from the merging of my parents’ different preferences of music. My dad was playing 70s classic rock and R&B while my mom was a musical theatre fanatic. I was listening to Stevie Wonder and the Wicked soundtrack at the same, while also developing a taste for the pop music of the 2010s e.g. Adele and Taylor Swift especially. Add in my obsession with jazz in my college years and you have this mishmosh of influences that have all come to be associated with different feelings and emotions I feel. When I want to tap into a certain emotion, I employ some techniques from that genre. But the catalogue is a tad hard to classify as a whole, so I just call it Miscellaneous pop, bit of groove, bit of soul, bathed in vocals. 😉
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
I grew up singing, like it’s about as native to me as breathing. The act of exhaling on a pitch has allowed me to work through and express the toughest emotions I’ve had to battle. When I reached high school, I suddenly had the desire to write about them—it all felt very natural and kismet. I’ve never been great at sharing personal details, even with friends, so this was a way I could set my cards on the table and allow people to get to know me better. It was freeing. In 2016, I entered a songwriting competition through the GRAMMY Foundation with my song “Deep Snow” and ended up WINNING. I got to go to the 59th GRAMMY Awards in 2017 and realized for the first time that people might actually be able to get something out of my songs. It legitimized and gave me confidence in my writing, making me want to continue and build upon this foundation. I resolved that I wanted to return to the GRAMMYs, but next time as part of the music community on the floor. That has been a giant motivator.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
As of October 2021, I have released two EPs, four singles, and my debut album in the span of a year and a half. I guess they’ve been coming very quickly LOL, and part of that is because I’ve been writing regularly for 7 years and had a ton of material I wanted to share. I hadn’t released anything yet because I thought I’d have to rely on an outside producer/engineer/etc. But every time I collaborated with someone else on the creation of a record, I wasn’t quite happy with the end product. There were things I was hearing that I wish were or weren’t there, but didn’t know how to get it where I wanted it. Then when COVID hit, I realized that if I wanted to release music before I graduated college, I needed to learn how to produce myself, and I finally had the time to do it. The first EP I released, Talon, Like the Claw, was completely produced by me, but mixed/mastered by a family friend. I was happy with it at the time, but then started wishing some of the sounds were different. Before I knew it, I had opinions about the engineering! So I learned how to do that, and released “Indigo” and “PB&J” later in 2020, completely produced and mixed by me, but mastered by some friends from school. Then, Christmas came around and I procrastinated too much to get the Christmas 2020 EP mastered by someone else before the release, so I decided I’d just do it. And I haven’t looked back. The latest release of course is the Miscellaneous album, fully written, sung, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by myself. Now looking back, I know the purpose of me learning all these skills was to make Miscellaneous as authentic and unique experience as possible. It needed to be an individual project, so that it speaks especially to individuals. I wanted to convey all the ups, downs, sidewinds, wrecks and hopes of my life to date, so others could relate and find their own hopes as well.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented times? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
The BIGGEST challenge was losing the ability to perform regularly. I was in my junior year of university when COVID hit, so just about to get all the performance opportunities I’d been waiting 2 and a half years for. Quarantine was extremely disappointing and disheartening, especially when they started to use the term “nonessential” to describe any type of performance. To me, and to many artists like me, this was existentially damaging—like what do you mean, performance is nonessential? It’s what makes me feel alive! Hence, why I felt a definitive push to release music. It kept me engaged in my craft and learning new things. I had nothing left to lose musically at that point, so I just went for it. Now I can say that if COVID hadn’t happened I wouldn’t have an album out currently; I might not have anything released at all! Through the loss of normalcy, I have gained so much and I couldn’t be more grateful for how it turned out.
What was the last song you listened to?
“Easy on Me” Adele’s latest single. Gosh, have I missed her!
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
I mean streaming is super convenient, but I will always be partial to CDs because it’s what I grew up on. We got Miscellaneous made into CDs which was pretty satisfying to say the least. Maybe Vinyls in the future???
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
I’m most active on Instagram @talon_liketheclaw and on Facebook @Talon David’s Music. My website is a great home base too, especially if you’re interested in a Miscellaneous CD!
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you for having me!! I can’t wait to see what comes next 🙂
