Dave Sills

I was born and raised on the rough and tumble streets of Chicago’s western suburbs. It was a tough childhood – we only had 12 kinds of cereal in the pantry and my parents couldn’t afford to buy me a pony. We struggled to get through the tough times, like when the cable would go out or when we would just get bored. Those were dark days indeed, but we got through with love.My first instrument was the cello, which I took up in elementary school. A girl that I had a crush on played violin and I thought that by joining the orchestra she would notice me. I wanted to play double bass, but they said I was too short and handed me a cello instead. I didn’t care until I realized the cellists were seated quite far away from the violinists, and as such, the object of my affections never did notice me. Thus began a lifelong association of music with heartache.A year or so later, I begged my parents for a guitar, for a guitar was sure to attract more girls than a cello. My parents of course had noticed my lack of commitment to the cello and were reticent that I would treat the guitar in a similar fashion. But they couldn’t resist when I held my breath until I turned blue. After the paramedics left, they agreed to get me a guitar.I took some lessons and a bit later I started a band with some friends. Well, it was kind of an imaginary band, since none of my friends played instruments. They just thought it was cool to say they were in a band. Eventually that band broke up due to musical differences (the difference being I was a musician, they weren’t). I then met several people who actually did play instruments and I was struck with a brilliant idea – why not form a band with them? This band could actually play gigs, and I figured that some gigs would finally get me the attention of all the girls who had been ignoring me. But they still ignored me, much to my chagrin, instead choosing to focus on the lead singer.This made it clear that I could not live by guitar alone. So I decided to “carpé mic” if you will. I began writing my own songs to sing and poured myself out into the lyrics. I started recording those songs and collected some of them together as what the kids used to call “albums”. The first one was True Fiction, the title was derived from a quote by the author Jessamyn West - “Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” The next one was Sometimes Nothing, from a line in the film Cool Hand Luke - "Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand." My most recent record was called Waiting Room, which was the working title of the song that became "All Messed Up" and not related to the length of time it took to make. I'm currently making a plan to make a plan to record the next one, which has the imaginative working title of "The Next One".I can often be found playing in, around, over, under, and between Chicagoland. I'd like to come to your town too. Maybe I could stay at your house...