The Farmer Dave Scher Interview
Tell me about growing up in California. When did you first begin to fall in love with music, nature, more specifically the guitar? Was music something that was relevant around your household? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years? Do you have any siblings?
Growing up in California was an absolute dream. Southern California, Newport Beach, in the beginning, I remember the 70s, the groovy vans, the surfers with long hair, the music. Then I remember the early 80s bleach step haircuts, surfers' with Flock of Seagulls cassettes. As a small child, I might have been slightly nervous about all the beards and abundance of hair. There’s a picture of me on my dad’s shoulders at the Renaissance Fair in the late 70s looking somewhat ill at ease. The 80s’s seemed to settle in for me. From there, life was great, my family were several generations ago, and I really felt California in my bones. My brothers were 10 years older, so very steeped in cool things. They lived through the full Laguna Beach So Cal 60s and 70s world to the hilt! My stepbrother in the 80s was into LA punk and weirdo and counterculture. He made me mix tapes, was into great cool music, and even performed at The Rocky Horror Picture Show onstage at the Nuart Theater in Santa Monica. TV was a dream of Elvira and Kung Fu showcase theater. Unreal times! KROQ couldn’t be stopped, with new songs coming out by the Cure, The Smiths, Dramarama and Echo and the Bunnymen. The top 40 wasn’t half bad either. We Are the World, Indeed! Moving to Long Beach for junior/high school exposed me to Sublime and Snoop Dogg, who were my age when they were active and around.
KXLU and college from there and the rest is history. Fave years: 1975-1978, 1983-1993, 1996-2005, then the rest. My grandparents on my dad’s side were naturalists. Docents at the Botanical Gardens in Claremont, CA. Knew so much about the natural world. They wrote poems. Grandpa Dan Scher painted and carved wood. And they built a home in the late 60s on some land in Mendocino in Northern California where I spent a lot of happier time. That and Disneyland were my tops. The redwoods see me much more often these days. I haven’t been back to Disney since I worked there after high school. The guitar was an instrument that came early and caught on in the teens. It had currency and took me far! My dad got me my first slide lap steel guitar around 1996 at Lark in the Morning, a music shop in Mendocino town. Beautiful! I’d heard “Breathe” by Pink Floyd before I knew about cannabis, yet hearing that sliding sound, I felt strangely floaty. Also, my grandmother had given me “The Great Poster Art Trip”, a book collecting 60s San Francisco psychedelic posters. I was way into those a long time before I ever learned about psychedelics. That side of the family had come to California in the 1840s after the Donner Party, the story goes. Steeped in beautiful California. I love whales, surfing, the seaside cliffs, forests, hot springs, beautiful ladies, poetry, the fusion of mystical traditions here, and the vibe of groovy and peaceful people who came before, such as the Chumash. It all makes my heart sing. It makes me “Me”!
When and where did you see your first show and what ultimately inspired you to pursue a life and career in music? Prior to your solo career you’ve participated in groups such as Beachwood Sparks, All Night Radio and The Tyde. Tell me about the history of how these groups came to be and some of the wonderful albums recorded like “Once We Were Trees”, “Spirit Frequency Radio”, “Once” and Beachwood Spark’s debut self-titled.
My mother took me to see Randy Newman while I was still in the womb. Someone bought her the tickets, saying that her baby should experience some culture. I love that! Also, my stepbrother and I were taken to see Elton John at the Pacific Amphitheater in 1985, about ten years later. I always had music as a love. My family, friends and I used to do lip-sync Beach Boys concert performances for my parents. I started playing in bands later in high school, predominantly with Miguel Mendez and Nils Soe as Toendëf. I then played with Dr. Sauce in college, who were quite popular around the area. KXLU led to a sea change of influences and style. After college, Beachwood Sparks was the first band that led to music being a living. There was a lot that went on back then. At the time of this writing, a new Beachwood Sparks album, “Across a River of Stars”, came out that very day. Dreams never end! My college KXLU radio friends Jimmy Tamborello and Chris Gunst had teamed up with Rademaker Brothers to join Further, who were the coolest of bands in our minds. Further, Summer Hits, Rex Thompson and Josh Schwartz. These were very influential people for me and for Chris Gunst. We’d come from other worlds, but our love of California and ability to embody something of that dream was and is legit. We found our way to Sub Pop and toured the world. Some friends came and went. We recorded in J. Mascis’ home for “Once We Were Trees”, which was an absolute face-melting dream come true! We went to England and met many of my favorite musicians, who actually dug us! It was an amazing way to spend those years. All Night Radio came after and that’s a whole world in and of itself. Jimi Hey and I gave everything we had to make that music, and it wasn’t always easy, but we saw it through, through thick and thin. Big props to Jimi for all that he is and all he did for that music. LA Weekly “Best Pop / Rock Band 2004! It would take a very long time to tell the true tale of these bands, but the dreams we shared and the adventures we had let the music live on!
Tell me about writing and recording your ‘09 debut entitled “Flash Forward to the Good Times” on Kemado Records. What did you want to achieve and express with this album as well as how you approached it compared to playing with a full band on past projects?
All Night Radio had made a consummate effort on my and Jimi's part. It wasn’t ultimately sustainable for many reasons. To shake off that experience and get fresh energy, I hit the road playing in other groups for people such as Johnathan Rice, Jenny Lewis, and Interpol. After a few years, I moved to Venice and got back into beach life. I wanted to make a solo album and have it be something easier to replicate with a band, possibly a simpler template. I love the record and how it turned out. “Surf Out Sunset”, in particular, has some magic in it, and I’m hearing from people to this day about that tune, in particular. There were some great versions of live bands for that project. The record release at the Silent Movie Theater was amazing, the projections were unreal. For a while, I had a great band in San Francisco put together for me by Bart Davenport. Great people, great feel. Driving hundreds of miles to play a show made the project about as practical as All Night Radio. We had fun, and I got to go through Big Sur often and spend time in beautiful SF. I’ve lived my dreams many times.
You’ve released such a large body of work over the last 20 plus years. What are some of your most fondest memories, or general highlights of working on some of the projects you have over the years? I’d like to jump ahead to your most recent project entitled “Second Summer” with The Wizards of the West. What was the overall approach with this album?
The pandemic gifted me an incredible band made up of my friends. The first album version of FDWOW is great, and they are my friends also, but, to quote Point Break, this “Second Summer” band was the “group within the group” from the Venice days, Chad Marshall of Mollusk // Bros. Marshall is now my brother. I knew he could play drums from the music he loved and the thousands of hours we spent high on music when he ran Mollusk. Also, by how he drove down the line as a champion surfer at Malibu. I love him and his family so much. Ben Knight and I have been making music together since the KXLU days and Lauren Barth is a dear friend through Neal Casal, our Beachwood, Johnathan Rice, Skiffle Players Brother and beyond. Please check out every Skiffle Players release. They're worth it. For the new Wizards 2.0, we added Katie Skene, who is a sensational southern guitarist from Florida, a protégé of Derek Trucks and a true music head. Michael Fujikawa was our poet laureate. He gave us a beautiful essence, voice, and electronic/acoustic percussion and drums. I’d produced him and his brother’s band, Chief, years before and we have a soul connection.
The pandemic gave everyone time to be together, and to learn a lot of songs. In truth, “Second Summer” is twice as long as we still have never been released. Great tunes, and I hope they make it out soon. Chad ran the Boardriders surf shop right at Topanga Beach, so we could surf, play music, and get utterly “in the zone”. With help from Curation Records, run by Beachwood's Brent Rademaker, we took the songs to Cotati to record with Dave Schools (Widespread Panic). We called him “Purple Yoda”. He was a doula for the album and served the tunes well, along with engineer Jason Reed and assistant Hannah Radley (whose enthusiasm was a very big part of our chemistry. She also sings on parts of the record, and her dancing was pivotal to the album’s success.) Some of my favorite songs I’ve ever made. The album lives forever, and I’m honored that people gathered around me and the music. Chad and Lauren are married now. Maybe the best outcome of all that magic and madness. We laughed a lot and had a lot of fun. I hope you do the same and are blessed with good people around you. It makes life what it can best be. And yes, there will be some drama.
Having played with so many incredible musicians like Kurt Vile, Cass McCombs, Paul Banks and the legendary Elvis Costello, what has been your greatest take away so far on this journey? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?'
"Keep your dreams”, as Bobbie Gillespie says in the Primal Scream song of that title. Check out that tune if you don’t know it! Sometimes I wonder if I was crazy to choose this life. I haven’t had a life quite like many I know, and, in some ways, I wonder at times, if I missed out. This interview reminds me just how many adventures I’ve had, and the best is yet to come. So happy to be on Kurt Vile records, he is my brother. Check out “Today’s Supernatural” by Animal Collective from “Centipede Hz”. I came in halfway through a fave performance! “No One Word”, from Vetiver. I went in a trance till the song was done and came out to find I had played that lap steel. “Never My Love” by Pete Yorn, another rare one for me on pedal steel which I love. Also, my work with Michael Vest, Californians and “Espacio Especial”, the album I made with Carlos Niño. He’s a great poet and cares deeply for humankind. At this time in 2024, I have a few dozen more songs which I feel are my best. I hope to find the best way to bring those to you in perfect divine timing. Wishing you the best, dear readers. Thanks for being on the wave, thanks for caring.
Be well and in the cosmic tube of LOVE. Best, Love, Light, and Aloha.
