Emmerald: So when you're writing a song, do you write the music as well as the lyrics?
Anthony David: No, I write everything. I can write pretty well on the guitar, and I can make my songs. I can hear a lot of things, but I'm lost on some things too.
Emmerald: Tell me about some of the other musicians you worked with on the album.
Anthony David: Marcus Jefferson plays bass on most of the songs. He also produced eight or nine of the songs. He's like a right hand man to me. He's worked with a lot of different people on the Atlanta scene and he's worked on a lot of India's stuff. He worked on a lot of Sleepy Brown's early stuff. And he's a great singer and songwriter himself. I also worked with Julie Dexter; we did a song together, "Fifty-Fifty Love."
Emmerald: Julie's a fantastic singer.
Anthony David: Yes, yes, she's been doing quite well on the scene for a while. And I just worked with a lot of people in the city that I'd gigged with before, you know.
Emmerald: Who played the flute on "Water?" I love that one.
Anthony David: There's a guy called Alex Lowe who worked on some of the production for the album. He plays flute and asked me if he could play on that song. I was like yeah, cool. And he just got up there and did it, you know.
Emmerald: He did a beautiful job; that's a great song. So do you have a favorite song from the album?
Anthony David: Right now it's "Fifty-Fifty Love." I kind of like "Heart Strings" too; that's a new one. I've had some of the other ones for several years actually. I've played them on stage quite a bit.
Emmerald: On an average day, how much time to you spend in the studio?
Anthony David: It depends on the period. I pretty much write whenever I want to be creative. I've tried to change my habits some. So now, if I'm just sitting around reading or something, I'll think, "Oh, I need to write something." But if I don't have anything to say, then I won't go in. It just depends.
Emmerald: You've been performing live for quite some time now. But you were a little uncomfortable performing live when you first started.
Anthony David: Uncomfortable singing, period.
Emmerald: Why was that and how did you overcome that?
Anthony David: Well I found my voice when I started writing. I used to try to sing other stuff, you know, different styles. My cousin Shawn was in Boyz II Men. And I tried to sing like them a little bit, but I didn't really have it down at that time. But I thought that you had to sing like them in order to sing. When I started writing my own songs I found that it meant more to me and that I could get more emotion out of it. When I first started singing, a few people I knew said I sounded like Bill Withers. I didn't know who he was by name, but when they played "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lovely Day" for me, I was like, oh, I know those songs. And I felt like we had a similar thing in the way that we write and the way his voice sounds. It was definitely a boost to my confidence to hear him and know that someone with that kind of sound could be so successful.
Emmerald: Are there other singers that you heard that kind of inspired and encouraged you?
Anthony David: Oh yes, Anita Baker. I listened to her all the time in high school. I know all her songs. In the last couple of years I've really been into reggae music. I love old 70s reggae like Dennis Brown, Jacob Miller, Bob Marley. I like them because they're men, but they're very humble. I like that style. And they're very spiritual without being religious. I'm not a Rastafarian, but I appreciate the way that they approach their concept of God and women. And I love blues singers.
