We were lucky to catch up with David Thiele recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, David thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

When I was very young, around age 11 when I got my first guitar. I taught myself how to play and always seemed to have a great ear for music. I could hear something and figure out how to play it fairly quickly. As I learn how to play guitar, my brother Mike also learned to play the drums and we had a band together. I wrote most of the songs and also produced and recorded the songs for the band. We played at the local clubs around Chicago. I was the 15-year-old lead guitarist doing hair metal solos. I guess I just always seemed to have an interest in the creation of music and producing and mixing.

David, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My road to where I am today has led me a few different places. I grew up in Chicago where I learned my instruments and had some experience playing clubs. After high school, I went to a school called The Recording Workshop which is located in Chillicothe, Ohio. It was a three month long intensive training program where I learned a lot of the basic skills of sound engineering. Then I moved to Nashville where I learned a lot more about songwriting and honed in on some production skills. I did a lot demos for BMG Music Publishing songwriters. That was a lot of fun and a good challenge. I would get a cassette work tape from two people sitting in a room playing an acoustic guitar and singing, and I would have to turn that into a pop song or a full band finished demo so they could pitch it to whatever artists they were wanting to pitch it to. I was always pursuing a solo artist career as a singer songwriter. When I figured out that Nashville wasn’t the place for my style of music, I ended up moving to Los Angeles. While I was there I ended up signing a record deal with a brand new independent record label. I was going to be the first artist they would release and they were going to do radio promotion, etc. etc. Well this was right around the 2008 market crash and after we got finished recording the record, the investors backed out and eventually the label folded. I got the masters back, but at that point I was pretty burnt out. So I took a long hiatus from music.

In 2018 I decided to get back into music but instead of pursuing an artist career, I directed my focus on producing music for Film and TV. Which allows me some freedom to write and record many different styles and genres.

These days, I’m focusing mainly on production, mixing/mastering.

I have a few artist projects of my own that vary in genre. New Sheriffs – with my good friend and longtime collaborator, Joe Uzzo. I’ve also recently teamed up with Justina Shandler and we have an artist project called Velvet Halo which explores more of a beautiful, melodic soft pop side that’s based on the piano which I’m very excited about.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding aspect is the ability to convey emotion in a way that not only uses words but uses music to create the mood and embellish the words even more. I love taking the listener on a journey emotionally, and when someone says that they get the chills, or the music brings them to tears it’s probably one of the greatest joys in my life.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Being a musician/creative person can be very challenging and isolating if you don’t have a core group of like-minded people. It’s very hard for someone to relate to the mind of a creative person. It’s not a regular 9 to 5 job that you just clock out and leave. The music is always on your mind, you’re always trying to figure something out whether lyrically or musically or in my case, production-wise or mix-wise. It can be very all encompassing. I guess I’ve had to learn to put it away sometimes and just be present in the moment with my family especially. I’m not always the best at it, but I’m getting there.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.davidthiele.com, www.velvethalomusic.com
• Instagram: @davidthiele, @velvethalomusic, @theelmusic, @newsheriffsmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VelvetHalo

Image Credits
Photos by Wayne Faulk, Heather Evans