Emmerald: You've definitely got a bluesy feel to your music.
Anthony David: Yes, there's a lot of that in what I've written. I was riding around a lot in North Carolina and listening to a lot of blues music then.
Emmerald: Who did the remix for "Georgia Peach"? It's got that "dirty south" thing going on in it.
Anthony David: That's Mark, Marcus Jefferson. He's working for Lil' Jon right now, producing. When he did this remix, he was in Miami, so he was in that "dirty south" frame of mind. Honestly, that version, the remix version was the one I first envisioned for the song. I was in another country and I thought about Georgia and I wanted to make something that had that southern sound. I like all kinds of music and I like that sound too, you know. So I wanted to bring that sound into my record.
Emmerald: What country were you in?
Anthony David: I don't know, maybe Paris or something, I was touring with India at the time. It could have been anywhere. It could have been Brazil; in fact, I think it might have been there. When I go some place I try to walk around and check out the local scene, just to see local people doing stuff. I was listening to the rhythms there and I thought, what would I share with them from where I come from. I was thinking about women and Georgia women and I thought, that's one of the things that I'd wanna share.
Emmerald: How do you think that soul music has evolved in the past decade and a half or so? There's this upsurge of what's called "nu soul", and now it seems like a lot of people are kind of getting a little more earthy, a little more raw.
Anthony David: A little more raw you think? Like who?
Emmerald: Well like you, for example, and India as well. Anthony Hamilton.
Anthony David: Oh right. You know what that is though. I think regional, like Stax and Motown. We live n Atlanta and we hear it that way. We heard Bobby Blue Bland, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and all those kinds of dudes. The Philly sound is what it is, and it's a great sound, but we can't do that, you know. That's not our sound.
Emmerald: Sure, that makes sense. Tell me a little-known fact about Anthony David that you don't mind sharing with the whole world. Anthony David: (laughs) A little-known fact, let me think about this. I've told you some stuff already, that I hadn't thought about recently, like my cousin, like Shawn and Boys II Men. I've actually got another cousin who was in that group Xscape.
Emmerald: Really, so you've got a lot of musical talent in your family. So what's next on your plate? Do you have a tour planned?
Anthony David: Yes, we have a lot of spot dates, I guess you could call that a tour. We've got the CD release party here in Atlanta. Then we've got Soul Fest, then a date in Jacksonville, then we're off to New York in October. There's some European stuff popping up know too, so that's going to be fun. I like to get out of the country as much as I can.
Emmerald: Yes, Europe will be a blast. You've got a website; how do you think the internet will affect the promotion and sales of your album? It makes music more accessible, but that can be both a blessing and a curse.
Anthony David: Yeah, I think it'll help with the album. I'm not one of them people that hates the internet and thinks all that downloading is bad. As a matter of fact I know from my experience, I've bought more music because of it, because I've been exposed to more music and I've been able to test it and see if I like it, and when I really like something I'll buy it. And if I don't, I download one of the songs. And so, you know, if you download some of my songs and somebody else uses it, its exposure, it's all good. So I think it'll help.
Emmerald: I talk to a lot of underground musicians and some of them say they just make music for the love and they don't really care if they make it "big" or not. What's your take on that? Are you kind of looking for any kind of commercial success?
Anthony David: Oh yes. I think that the music is accessible and anybody can into it. I want to be liked and I want to sell records. But at the same time I won't do just anything. If I don't sell records I'll figure out a way to make a good living anyway, you know. I'm always going to make music, but yeah, I'd like to sell some records too. (laughs)