Dubai might just be stuck in a perpetual EDM craze. On a weekly basis, top-billed DJs are booked to play every nook and cranny of the city — but there’s one band trying to offer a change of pace. With their brand of minimalistic and evocative folk rock, David Beats Goliath hit a nerve on their debut eponymous EP with understated, weeping melodies and lyrics of love and loss.
“We wanted to go for something very raw, really. A stripped-down sound. There’s not much electronic instruments having too much influence. You can hear it: it’s piano, double bass, acoustic guitar,” lead singer George Driscoll said. “We just wanted to keep it very simple, very raw, and just basically how we wrote it in the first place.”
The band takes inspiration from the likes of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, the Avett Brothers, and Bon Iver, citing their music as “real song-writing, as opposed to just trying to get something straight up on the radio”.
Driscoll admits the band has experienced a slump over summer — both percussionist Daniel Tovey and lead/rhythm guitarist Jon Coulles are based in the UK — but he and bassist Lakshmi Ramirez have been creating new material as a duo and returned to the stage at The Fridge on Monday night. Soon, Driscoll hopes, the whole gang will be back together, completed by bassist Lauren Bennett.
He updated tabloid! on the launch of their EP, a four-song collection recorded in Tovey’s bedroom a year ago that has garnered over half a million plays on Soundcloud, and what it’s like to do it for the love of it.
Q: What’s the latest news with the EP?
A: We haven’t had an official launch party yet, but we’re aiming for early next year.
Q: Do you write all the lyrics?
A: It’s mainly me — me and Daniel; it’s about half-and-half. On the EP, I did Maisie and Neville, Sweet Manuela and The Weatherman. If Dan writes a song, he has trouble with the lyrics, so he likes me to de-cheese them, which is what I tend to do. So like, if he’s got cheesy lyrics, I’ll come in and give it a bit of a darker turn — less obvious.
Q: What was the inspiration behind the song Maisie and Neville?
A: It was quite a long time ago, actually. It was my ex-girlfriend’s little sister. I used to go and visit, and I spent a lot of time with her little sister because she was just so cute. And then after I broke up with her older sister, which is Olivia, her little sister, Maisie, I realised I wasn’t ever going to see her again, because [Olivia and I had] broken up. So essentially, it’s a goodbye song, really, to her. I sent it to her, and apparently — she’s eight years old now — she likes it, has it quite regularly on the stereo.
Q: Are you all based in Dubai?
A: Dan isn’t and neither is Jon — they live in the UK — but I’ve got other musicians that I play with. We’re like long-lasting best mates, it’s just good fortune that we’re also musicians as well. But the guys over here — it’s quite difficult to get full-time, original contributors to music, because musicians are generally very busy with getting paid doing their gigs, so it’s very difficult to find people who do it for the love of it. Lakshmi is one of those people, he’s got a crazy, crazy schedule, but he still finds time to meet me at 10am on a Saturday morning to rehearse before he goes to another gig, so he’s very passionate and I’m very grateful to have him.
