Irish electronic producer Gavin MacDermott, better known as Dashoda, returns with his new single, ‘Looking For You’. The track was written and produced by Dashoda with London-based Ross Fortune (A.K.A. Benny Smiles), who has worked with Jonas Blue, Clean Bandit, Hotline Miami Soundtrack, on additional production. I caught up with MacDermott to chat about his upcoming stripped-back video, his exciting plans for new releases and how this infectious retro-hued bop was created.
“Originally the track started as something a little bit more Lo-Fi than the final version which I worked on with a mate called Ross Fortune he makes music actually as Benny Smiles and a lot of his music is quite synth wave. I was a fan of his years ago when I started making music. So it was really nice to get to work with him years later on this. So I’d say in terms of inspiration, I bought this keyboard a while ago off a friend called a Korg SV- 1, and it has like a Lo Fi sound, its quite analog. I was just playing some chords and they went over to a guy called Richey McCourt’s house, who is a writer. He invited me over. We just started working on and I think I was listening to a bit of Caribou at the time, kind of the older stuff and I was coming out with a little bit of that in mind. But then when I was working with Ross, on the co production, he said I’m going to try a shot in the dark here. I’m gonna try something a bit different, feel free to tell me no, don’t talk to me again if you don’t like it. But what he came back with was what you heard like the much more upbeat almost French indie thing. I just really liked it because it brought it in another direction and taught me to be more open-minded about other avenues and yeah, that’s where it came from. Yeah I gotta give a lot of credit to Ross as well for guiding the sound there.”
MacDermott is releasing a live video for ‘Looking For You’ in the coming weeks. It’s a slower and stripped-back version of the song that allows the melody and lyrics to shine throughout.
“Actually, funny you mentioned that.The keyboard part that’s played in the video by Alma Kelliher who’s a great player. That is the original part from my original demo, and I’d asked her, I thought it would be nice to show that because the song kind of worked on its own just as a keys part. There’s very little of that sound actually in the recorded track version. So yeah, it would have sounded like that and a much more obvious drum machine and the bass part I think was the same. Then there’s a bit more chorusy kind of 80s electric guitar. I actually think I might at some point bring out that version maybe further down the road if I ever get to the point where I can do you know rarities and B-sides that will be nice to show and certainly when I get to do the song live I’d like to do that version. So yeah, the one on the live video, at least the structure and the timbre of the sound is similar to the original demo”
This song comes after a 3-year hiatus and MacDermott explained how the break gave him a new perspective on how he writes and crafts his songs.
“Yeah, I definitely think differently about music and art in general now [it] has taken on a very different meaning for me, I see it as all sort of connected. I’m a musician and this is what I do and what I know but I watch a lot of film and I love film and I would love to get into it a bit more and the guy who shot that video actually is Ror Conaty, the live video and it was really great working with him because it awakened me to how everything is connected in the art world. When you talk about the stripped-back version of the song it actually required me to meditate a bit on what am I doing and why am I doing this and what’s the meaning of it and often you don’t really know the meaning or significance of things until you put a distance between you and them, you know, in terms of time. So, yeah, I’ve leaned more into the cathartic aspect of creating art. You’re trying to understand something about yourself and the world that you’re in and art is sort of a psychoanalytic Freudian thing. When you put something out in the world, you don’t know what’s going to happen with it and you have no control over that in many ways. So if you just focus on what is within your control, then it’s the pursuit of the art. I think it’s made me a lot happier about making music and art as well because I realized I could go on and do this forever, you know, until I’m dead”.
I wondered if this more artistic view on releasing music eased the nerves that come with releasing music.
“No, I’m still really nervous. I was trying a lot of self-talk and trying to frame it that way and it’s just fine, but whatever way you frame it, it’s still a huge investment of time and there are a small number of people who are close to me and care about what I do, even if I’m not necessarily feeling it so there are actually people that want to hear this because they’ve been invested in the journey I’ve been on as well. That helps me relax a bit about it and try not to be too worried. But yeah, absolutely. You worry have you done enough to give it the platform it deserves. Have you presented it in the best way possible. [I] definitely think about things like that and probably preoccupy about them. But I think most people I know that are into this sort of thing they worry as well. Actually my friend Ror who shot the video, he had an exhibition in Cork in August and up to the last minute he was thinking have I done all this correctly and right and of course it was very well received and I was very proud of him. So hopefully I get the same, who knows.”
‘Looking For You’ is a chic number that struts on a slinky bassline and swanky guitars presenting the tight and refined sound of Dashoda in all it’s glory. With a sweet melody teamed with smooth vocals and chiming keys, the track is sure to have you dancing and singing along in no time. This lush sound isn’t set to stop any time soon, MacDermott told me that he has some exciting plans for next year to delight fans with.
“I have a couple of releases in the pipeline and I worked a bit with Ror on some video accompaniment so even though I was quiet for three years I was chipping away at a lot of different stuff and eventually a pattern of songs started to emerge. So yeah, there’s gonna be a few more releases in the new year and into spring and I’m really excited about that because I’ve been sitting on this for a while and it can take so long for things to actually come together and then the actual release process is another thing. So yeah, I’m hoping that because we approached it thematically, myself and Ror and Mark O’Brien was involved in that. He performs as Royal Yellow, and some other people close to me. They helped me put together the visual stuff with the music, and come up with a central idea which I’d never done before. You know, try to think that deeply about what I’m doing. So hopefully thematically people will see something like that emerge. So there will be a few more of these. I suppose that’s the best way I could put it.”
Stream ‘Looking For You’ below
Author: Danu
