5 Questions with David Quested
Of both Taiwanese and Australian heritage, Local the Neighbour is the persona of David Quested, a Melbourne based musician originally from Darwin, NT. After moving to Melbourne to study jazz drumming, he became infatuated with the love of self expression and limitless creativity found in the art form.
Since then he has performed with ARIA award winning jazz musicians, studied in both New York and Los Angeles with jazz giants, and toured internationally as a sideman.
Armed with these experiences and approaches, Local the Neighbour takes these outlooks and delivers them in what is David’s ultimate musical passion - indie rock, written in a bedroom, lounge, or backyard while feeling emotionally confused like everyone is at times.
(Credit: Teja Binti Solah)
No.1
The press release for your single ‘Ruin Me’ (off the HUME31 pt.1 EP) states that you were ‘originally trained in the “cultish” art of jazz drumming’. Do you want to tell us more about that? What was your journey like from that to playing shoegaze?
Haha jazz feels like a bit of a cult to me, not gonna lie! The scene around that tradition of music is very niche, and the people are often very odd. But I love them—a lot of my friends are still very much involved in that world, and so am I from time to time. I think there’s a real sense of excitement and discovery when playing that [kind of] music, it’s very unique.
The journey from jazz to where I am now was essentially a U-turn. I really started out more in the pop/indie/rock/grunge world, having grown up listening to all of that. I never even knew what jazz was until I decided I wanted to study music at university. From when I was in late primary school to high school, my favourite drummer was Travis Barker from Blink 182. I found out he learnt jazz drumming from a young age, so I thought that’d be something cool to try and pursue.
Fast forward a couple years later, I ended up moving from Darwin to Melbourne and [found myself] studying jazz music. I fell in love with it and for a while I thought that was what I wanted to do. It took me living and studying in Los Angeles to realise I still really love music that isn’t jazz, and that I missed the poppier genres of music. I hadn’t listened to non-jazz for literally years and being exposed to it again made me realise how much I missed it. Playing that kind of music just feels so natural.
No.2
What would you say is the overarching theme—whether emotionally, politically, artistically—of HUME31.pt1?
I think it’s just life! It’s a rollercoaster. Sometimes I’m having a great week and sometimes, it’s not so great. For the most part, the world is a bit of a mess and I think the EP reflects a lot of that. The EP potentially leans a bit more to the bad, but I think with songwriting, it’s often those more negative moments when we need or want to write a song in order to feel a little more in control of the moment. That’s how I feel about writing music; there’s definitely an aspect of therapy, which is also what drew me towards music from a young age. You can transport yourself to a different place.
No.3
What did your songwriting process look like for HUME31 pt.1?
It was quite scattered over two and a bit years. These songs are literally some of the first songs I’ve ever written. I really had no idea what I was trying to do, so I think a lot of it involved natural intuition and feeling. I can definitely hear my influences, and the different things I was trying to chase. I think because this is the first batch of songs I’ve ever written and produced, there’s a lot of excitement and heart to the songs. I feel like I gave it my all with the knowledge and resources I had at the time. I’m quite proud to hear it and it’s definitely a timestamp of Local The Neighbour’s very early days.
No.4
How would you describe your music to someone who isn’t familiar with or hasn’t heard of the shoegaze genre?
Well, it’s not just shoegaze. I think the main shoegaze aspect in Local the Neighbour is the vocal aesthetic, where the vocals are more buried in the mix. I’ve always loved that and it’s one of the reasons I love bands like My Bloody Valentine and other associated acts.
To me, my music has a fairly indie-pop approach to the songwriting, then the production and instrumental aspect draws from a lot of shoegaze, grunge, and indie.
No.5
Who do you consider your musical influences and why?
I love DIY artists like Alex G, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Jay Som, and find them really inspiring. There’s something special about doing everything yourself—I often can’t get the final product as polished as, say, a famous producer, but the approach is 100% you, and that makes me feel like the music has a unique quality from the get-go.
Another artist I love is Zac Farro who is the drummer from Paramore. He has a project called Halfnoise where he sings and does all the production. I think that is a huge influence to me, especially as I started out as a drummer too. Zac does photography for artists and directs his own music videos, which I think is incredible. He’s a true creative through and through!
Across the six songs on HUME31 pt.1, Quested moves through self-sacrifice to gratitude, and the helplessness of seeing more school shootings in the US and reproductive rights being stripped from people with uteruses across the country.
Having started his music career playing with other musicians, his forthcoming debut EP is his first time stepping into his own light. He shares, ‘I have always dreamed of creating my own project that was a true representation of who I am, but having played a supporting role for so many others in my work life, it felt like that moment might never have come.’
Through Local the Neighbour, he hopes to be an approachable music companion for anyone needing to borrow some hope as they navigate the difficulties of youth and life.
Watch and listen to ‘Ruin Me’ above. Enjoy the rest of the EP here.