Here are the main takeaways from that portion of the Sirius interview.
-Dave says writing is going well. He's been home in Virginia, just hanging out and noodling on guitars outside with Rob Evans. Rob will start randomly setting up mics saying to Dave "Well what if you play something really good?" So it sounds like there's a lot of recordings.
-Rob was the one constantly saying "We should get Carter to play on this..." There was one song in particular that Dave said they got really excited about and just 2 hours later it's one of his favorite songs he ever wrote.
-The above song is called "Walk Around the Moon" and according to Dave it's about taking a walk in the woods and maybe finding a mushroom in the woods... This is the song that made Dave say "Okay, let's call Carter."
-Dave says at the moment he and the band have a couple more songs than he can count on both hands (so 12?)
-Dave says some songs are raucous rocking, some songs are really sweet, and there is some "retro music" he's excited about.
-It started with him going into a room playing a song for Carter, Dave standing behind the glass and just listening to him. Carter came in and said "I'm so outta practice since we haven't been on the road" but then he'd just slay, and play something so beautiful, with so much power but so composed, so elevating.Typical Dave fawning over Carter, which, fair.
-Then they brought everyone else in the studio, Dave joked that they were in hazmat suits. It started with Carter, then Tim and Buddy (Dave's really excited about sharing some videos of Tim and Buddy sitting next to each other with their masks on just exchanging licks).
-Dave says the process was beautiful and maybe overcautious--They're all tested absurdly frequently for Covid. Stefan came in, got off the airplane in his "hazmat suit," played the bass with big gloves.
-Then finally the horns came in.
-When asked how has this year's events impacted his songwriting, Dave says he had a lot of time to write music, and it's been a time of real freedom for him. He didn't want to put pressure on himself, so it's all been really open for him.
God, I hope we hear more on this soon! Really love Singing From the Windows and The Ocean and the Butterfly!