Counterpush

Counterpush: Whispering to Be Heard

By Vic Rodale

Welcome to the US record industry, fall 2006: the Billboard charts bling with braggadocio and excess. In this new record business, "rebels" are packaged and offered up to the public as commodities. So who could've predicted that today's rebellion, defined in the Oxford dictionary as "the act of resisting authority, control or convention", is now being defined in the actions of an unlikely character-one we could call the "anti-rebel."

In today's music industry, this anti-rebel would be an artist who whispers while the rest of the herd shouts. This would be an artist who defiantly pushes against current musical trends by embracing time tested qualities that made music great, centuries before .mp3 and .aif files ever existed.

Melody.
Countermelody.
Simple direct lyrics.
What a concept.

These lyrics, sung in whispers, can change lives, define lives and even create lives. These whispers—the whispers of Jack Johnson, James Blunt and other singer/songwriters—have begun to garner regular notice as the pendulum of public taste swings once again and audiences crave something honest and direct.

Velardo Dala, featured in his band Counterpush, is among a rising wave of "anti-rebel" pop artists that could begin to shift the music industry by sticking to the basics—songcraft and storytelling.

Growing up in Long Beach, CA, Dala's musical influences were steeped in pop and power pop bands like the Beatles, Cheap Trick and The Cars, and later, alternative rock icons like The Smiths, The Pretenders and The Sundays. "I literally wore out the cassette of Live At Budokan. I should've bought the CD instead," Dala says with a laugh. His family's love of pop music indoctrinated him in the sounds of pop songwriting at an early age. But while they encouraged him to play drums in elementary school, it was his father's resistance toward guitar playing that made Dala choose his primary instrument. Dala recalls, "Because I was left-handed, my dad told me I couldn't learn to play guitar since no one made left-handed guitars". So, Dala began learning to play right-handed instead, and still does today.

Unassuming and laid back, Dala's demeanor leans a bit toward the shy side. However, if you look closely behind his trademark self-deprecating humor, you can see traces of the stoicism that runs throughout his songs.

If Dala's stoic side had a direct personification, it would have to be in Julie, a recording artist that caught his eye in an LA Weekly article years ago. Something about her story always stuck with him. "Julie's Song is about following your dream in a world filled with cynicism—I could never forget her idealism".

When asked what typically inspires his writing process Dala quipped, "ex-girlfriends". But it's clear his well goes deeper than that. 'Wrapping Up The Day' is the story of another stoic heroine keeping the faith through a world of nighttime fantasy.

Producer Dave Carlock talks about the song: "When I heard Velardo's original acoustic/vocal demo, the simplicity of 'Wrapping Up The Day' really appealed to me. I kept the arrangement simple and quiet, as a reflection of the woman's life. Velardo ignites the listener's imagination by keeping his writing sparse and letting you fill in the blanks. When we began, he asked me to cowrite on this track with him, but I didn't want to touch it-it was finished. He paints the picture so simply and well, you feel voyeuristic listening in."

However, two tracks on the EP feature writing collaborations between Velardo and Carlock. 'By The Way' serves as an understated footnote to a past relationship, reminding us all that no matter who does the leaving, no one escapes from relationships unscathed.

In contrast, 'Provincial Pride' is in-your-face storytelling. "With family, you assume that they all love and support you until one day you discover that some of them really don't at all, and that's a feeling of deep betrayal—one you'll do most anything to get rid of", Carlock explained.

As a songwriter, seeing Suzanne Vega at the Wiltern Theater in LA changed Dala's life. "I'll never forget the petite image of Suzanne getting an auditorium full of people to be so quiet that they could hear every word and inflection of her a capella singing. It was amazing. It really opened my eyes to the power of great songwriting," Dala said.

Counterpush's EP, De Anima , communicates the power Dala felt in the theater that day-the power of a song's ability to connect with its audience entirely absent of bombast and flash. Instead, De Anima speaks in whispers that force you to listen and won't let you forget.

© 2006 27 Sounds

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