Notaker has made his place at the table with his multifaceted progressive sound paving the way for the young artist to create his own universe to explore different narratives in his discography. For many, he hit the map with his 2016 single release, “Infinite”, before showing off his dexterity with EP’s like Genesis and Erebus I. Seeing David Nothaker take the progressive genre into this new realm was both eye opening and refreshing. This year, his PATH.FINDER EP and his latest single, “From Dust & Ashes” recaptured the spotlight, reminding us the beauty and complexity that progressive can be.
We had the opportunity to catch up with Nothaker after his set at Freaky Deaky to talk about his latest single, dig into the Vessel timeline, look at the progressive genre and more.
RR: Welcome to Texas! Is this your first time or have you swung through before?
Notaker: Thank you! I have been here a couple times. I have played at Stereo Live three times in Houston and once in Dallas. My friend Declan lives here too, he lives in Dallas. He came down for a couple of Stereo Live shows and showed me things like Buccees and all the weird Texas stuff.
RR: Yes! It’s a whole other thing, it’s kind of like Wa Wa in Florida.
Notaker: I had never seen anything like that before. I was like, is this Walmart or a gas station?
RR: Haha I know right? How do you feel about your set?
Notaker: I liked it, it was good. There were a couple moments where I burned my hand on the mixer because it got so hot up there. It was hard seeing too. I’m used to being in a dark club where everything is illuminated.
RR: Yeah we were curious to see you open. Is your hand okay at least?
Notaker: Oh yeah, it’s fine, haha.
RR: Knowing that you tend to create a concept or story with your music, how do you decide what parts of that to include in a set?
Notaker: It all depends. I think you have to do what makes sense. Since I haven’t been doing much headlining myself, I’ve been curating my sets based on who I am going to be playing for, what kind of crowd those people are and what kind of crowd the headliners will be bring in. I’ll play what makes sense to me for them and that’s how I will try to curate and come up with the tracks I want to play. I just try to play what I’m really into. If it works, it works. If not, there isn’t much you can do about it in the moment.
RR: That’s true. So your roots are in progressive and it’s something that doesn’t take a spotlight in the charts usually. What about progressive do you love and is there a direction you want it to go in?
Notaker: I think that progressive music is really a classic sound. It’s got that very nostalgic feeling, at least for me. When I first got into music, that was the kind of music that I liked a lot. I aim to recreate those nostalgic feelings that I had in my music. Where do I think it could go? I think it can go in many different directions. I think it will keep evolving and become more complex. The interesting thing about this kind of music is that it’s got that classic sound but it’s been modernized with new tools and techniques that people do to make mixes sound cleaner, bigger. The loudness battles really changed the game for most genres and what not.
RR: Yeah definitely. You just released “From Dust & Ashes”, is this a continuation of the Vessel storyline?
Notaker: So it’s just a single we put out but it’s got the same kind of vibe that my other songs have that you would hear on the Vessel. It’s not part of a bigger story or anything but it’s its own single, kind of one-off deal.
RR: Gotchya. Will there be any future releases that will tie back into that storyline?
Notaker: There will be. I don’t want to divulge too much. I don’t know what exactly what it will be but it’s coming.
RR: How did you come up with the Vessel concept?
Notaker: I’ve always been fascinated with science and space in general. I felt like the sound of my music reflects that in a way. So when we were thinking what I wanted to do with my music and what I wanted to be associated with visually and what not, I came up with this theoretical space craft that is taking you places here and there. You aren’t necessarily boarding on it but it’s a good device to tell stories through. That’s basically what my take on it is.
RR: Yeah, and we feel that especially with Erebus I reflected that so well, especially with the track, “Fatal System Error”. You can feel it creeping on.
Notaker: Yeah, definitely.
RR: We definitely see a cinematic approach to your production. If you could put your own spin on a movie’s soundtrack, what movie would you pick?
Notaker: That’s a good one. It would have to be something Hans Zimmer did. I would go ahead and say Inception.
RR: Oh yeah, that is a good one!
Notaker: Yeah! Only because I’ve listened to that soundtrack so many times that I feel like I could do many things with that. That being said, I’ve actually been approached by some people to remix movie soundtracks, which was really weird. You’re taking something that is just purely cinematic and try to turn it into a club type track. It was really difficult.
RR: Well that’s a good challenge. It kind of broadens your ability to inject your own sound into a different kind of universe almost.
Notaker: Yeah, trying out new stuff. It was kind of weird because first off, you’re not really sure what the people you’re talking to are really looking for and what not. You know what you want to do to it but you wonder if that will be okay, is that even going to sound cool?
RR: Yeah we know what you mean. Since you are based in St. Louis, are you involved with the electronic scene out there? Are there things you try to be apart of to help it grow?
Notaker: I talk to some producers and DJ’s in St. Louis. I don’t play too many shows in St. Louis. When I was becoming who I am today I would play a bunch of shows in St. Louis. I think I have evolved past the local opener kind of guy. I’ve tried to distance myself away from that thing. But I still know a lot of promoters, producers and DJ’s there. We’ll talk from time to time. Unless I’m out, I don’t see them too often.
RR: Makes sense. Comes with the territory, kind of knowing everybody.
Notaker: Right, and the scene in St. Louis is kind of small too. I’d say on average, the headliner that you get on a Tuesday in L.A. would be our once a month headliner we would get for a while.
RR: What is better, Missouri/Kansas City BBQ or Texas BBQ if you have had it?
Notaker: I don’t know, I don’t think I’ve actually had Texas BBQ so I couldn’t compare. I have had Kansas City and Missouri BBQ and it’s good.
RR: Pretty good right? Well, you’ll just have to add Texas BBQ to your bucket list!
Notaker: Well I’ll have to go find some while I’m here.
RR: What is your favorite Halloween movie?
Notaker: I really like, really scary movies. I would have to say Sinister. I find it fascinating to play with all these weird concepts of this demon that can move between pictures and what not. And I really like Ethan Hawke, he’s a good actor.
RR: Favorite Halloween costume you have ever worn?
Notaker: I would say it was the Rick and Morty costume I got. I dressed up as Rick. That’s probably my favorite.
RR: Did you have the portal gun?
Notaker: Yeah, I had a little portal gun. I found it on Etsy. This guy 3D printed them. It was really nice. I couldn’t find it anywhere else and I think they had a really cheap one for sale at Hot Topic but they were all sold out. I had my costume ready but I didn’t have that. There were other ones on there too where you could dial in and it would make sound effects. But they were trying to sell that for like $300, haha.
RR: Wow, yeah I wouldn’t be able to justify that! Well, anything else you would like to say or tell your fans?
Notaker: Thank you for listening to my music! Hope to see you guys out at shows more often.
RR: Of course, there is one show we know about later this year.
Notaker: Yeah, I’m off for a while. I will be doing a show in New York with Black Gummy and that’s all I got on the schedule right now.
RR: I wish I could be there, we know it’s going to be so good! Thank you for meeting with us!
We want to thank Notaker for taking the time to meet with us. His latest single, “From Dust & Ashes”, is available to stream on Spotify and Soundcloud now. You can find tickets for this next show here.
Connect with Notaker:
https://www.facebook.com/notakermusic
https://twitter.com/notakermusic
https://soundcloud.com/notakermusic
https://www.instagram.com/notakermusic
https://www.notakermusic.com
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