The One You Feed - Dave Davies of The Kinks

Episode Date: March 31, 2014

This week on The One You Feed we have Dave Davies of the legendary band The Kinks.As lead guitarist and founder of The Kinks, Dave Davies is one of the most unpredictable and original forces in rock, without whom guitar-rock styles including heavy metal and punk would have been inconceivable. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Dave's massive guitar sounds have inspired bands from Van Halen to Green Day. In addition to his dozens of albums with The Kinks, Dave has released three official solo albums.In 2003, Davies was ranked 88th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"He has released six official studio albums, the latest being 2013's I Will Be Me.  He is also the author of a new book called Heal: A Guide to Meditation.In This Interview Dave and I Discuss...The One You Feed parable.How early in life he heard the pull of the two wolves.How we need both wolves.His new book Heal: A Guide to Meditation.The value of meditation.How breathing affects the mind and body.How meditation helped him to recover from his massive stroke.Star Trek and Star Wars.How we need our pain.The power of intention.Some of his favorite solo records.The karma of his relationship with his brother, Ray.The value of happy accidents.Some of his favorite guitar riffs.The origins of his beautiful song Flowers in the Rain.Thoughts on a Kinks reunion.What he has planned for the future.Dave Davies LinksDave Davies HompageHeal: A Guide to MeditationDave's excellent new record I Will Be MeDave Davies on Twitter Some of our most popular interviews you might also enjoy:Mike Scott of the WaterboysTodd Henry- author of Die EmptyRandy Scott HydeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I kind of believe that we need both wolves. The problem we have is integrating them so they work together. Welcome to The One You Feed. Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the importance of the thoughts we have. Quotes like, garbage in, garbage out, or you are what you think ring true. And yet, for many of us, our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us. We tend toward negativity, self-pity, jealousy, or fear. We see what we don't have instead of what we do. We think things that hold us back and dampen our spirit. But it's not just about thinking.

Our actions matter. It takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living. This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good wolf. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together, our mission on the Really Know Really podcast is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way to the floor,

what's in the museum of failure, and does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to reallyknowreally.com and register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign jason bobblehead the really no really podcast follow us on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts while dave davies of the legendary band the kinks needs little in the way of an introduction few people may realize that his talents and interests stretch far beyond that of a famous guitarist. In addition to surviving the kinks, Dave also survived a debilitating stroke in 2004, only to follow up with a hugely productive decade.

Most recently, he released a new record in 2013 called I Will Be Me, and just released a new book called Heal, which is a guide to meditation. And here's the interview with Dave Davies. Hi, Dave. Welcome to the show. Great to see you guys. Yeah, thanks so much for joining us. We're really happy to have you. So our podcast is called The One You Feed, and it's based on the parable where there is a grandfather, and he's talking with his grandson, and says, in life there are two wolves inside of us. One is a good wolf, which represents things like kindness and bravery and love. And the other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed and hatred and fear. And they are always at war with each other. And the grandson stops and he

thinks and he says, well, grandfather, which one wins? And the grandfather says, the one you feed. So our show is really about how people apply that parable in their lives. So I'd like to start off by asking you what that parable means to you in your life and in your work. I know that story well, because I've been fighting with the guy all my life. I love that story. When i was about five years old i was walking home from school and you know when you're a kid and you walk when you look at the pavement you have little slabs and there's lines and you sort of like play hopscotch you don't want to walk in the cracks but then sometimes you might want to walk in the cracks and not walk on the cliff stone you

know what i'm saying right and i distinctly remember one voice on one shoulder my left shoulder and one voice on my right shoulder with me in the middle saying, one would say, go on, walk on the cracks. And the other one would say, don't, walk on the spaces. And so it kind of, it shows itself, that kind of parable or that metaphor looms up quite a lot when you're very young as well. It shows itself in many different forms. I kind of believe that we need both wolves. The problem, the difficulty we have is integrating them so they work together. I don't necessarily think that

a dark wolf is bad. It just needs to be integrated. Right. Exactly. Real quick, Dave, we're hearing some clicking. I don't know if your microphone is clicking against your shirt at all. It's probably me fidgeting. Okay. I do fidget a lot. I'm sorry, man. No, no problem. I'm a well-known fidgeter myself. So you just recently wrote a book and released it called Heal, and it's an instruction guide to meditation that I read the other day. Do you want to tell us a little bit

more about the book? Yeah, Heal is really a short book, a mini book. I wanted to keep it short because um i wanted to get to the point quickly and hopefully devise a few exercises that can help people we're so bombarded by all different things in our lives like from the internet from the workplace and driving and everything is kind of bombarding our minds and our feelings. And half the time, I think, we're not really aware of what we're really doing. We seem to be just caught in this often chaotic state of mind, just bubbling up and down in this raging ocean, just hoping to get through another day. And it's really not a very good way to live.

Right. And I think all the great mystics, I think, all the great spiritual teachers always talk about, you know, creating distance between your soul, if you like, or your real self, and what's going on outside yourself. Because the only way to see the wood from the trees is kind of just to step back and have a look at what really is going on, as unemotionally as possible.

Because directly we sit and try to sit calmly and we get involved with negative emotions we're all at sea again being tossed around in this wild ocean rather than just sit there and go mad or confused or it's always good to try and do something with your mind or you know you might have had an argument with your brother just for just for example right or the lady next door or someone at work and and like it can really take over your whole being. meditation method where you start out with some deep breathing, then you go into some mantra or chanting work, and then finally you do some visualization at the end of that. Do I understand it pretty well, what you're trying to teach? Yeah, basically, yeah. One of my favorite was a Swami Vivekananda from India and he kind of taught some great disciplines and one of his things he said, if you breathe deeply, you think deeply.

And conversely, if you breathe in a shallow way, you'll think in a similar way. So breath and the way we think really affect the body physiologically. We're in this, not a time machine, but this robot, if you like, that's physical and mental and imaginary and is emotional. I think our task, our job,

is to try and work with all these different elements. And I think it's interesting being a musician and a writer that you're kind of doing that anyway, imagination, when you think of things and what you do with them and you move them around like a game. and what you do with them when you move them around like a game. And the imagination is a really powerful tool, but Vivekananda taught about breathing, how it affects the mind, and how it can help the willpower.

Not only just when you breathe deeper, you get more oxygen to the brain. It also gives you a sense of center or belief and makes you feel more self-empowered. It's almost as if we're scared or terrified just to sit down and be quiet. It's hard. It is hard to sit down and be quiet. It's hard. Yeah, it is hard. It is hard to sit and do nothing. And when you sit and close your eyes, you get bombarded with everything. Oh, the car, I've got to take the car to the garage.

I've got to go get groceries. Oh, why didn't I, oh, I was supposed to call. You know, it's endless. These things in mind just toys, toys with us constantly. And I try to do some concise, simple practices that I think are beneficial. And that's why I kept the book short, so you can read it in one session. The things you can do straight away, little breathing things, relaxation exercises. I

don't think people will benefit from the... I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the Really No Really podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like... Why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor. We got the answer. Will space junk block your cell signal?

The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer. And you never know who's going to drop by. Mr. Bryan Cranston is with us today. How are you, too?

Hello, my friend. Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park. Wayne Knight, welcome to Really, No Really, sir. Bless you all. Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging. Really? That's the opening?

Really, No Really. Yeah, really. No Really. Go to reallynoreally.com. And register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast, or a limited edition signed Jason bobblehead. It's called Really, No Really, and you can find it on the I heart radio app on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It's very, it's very practical. And just a second ago, you talked about how beneficial

you think this stuff is. And I know you had a stroke in 2004. And some of the reading I've done, I know you had a stroke in 2004, and some of the reading I've done, you attribute a lot of your recovery of that stroke to meditation and other spiritual practices, correct? Oh, absolutely. And it was like this kind of weird striving that we have. Now, we want to come out on the other end. We're all going to die anyway. no we want to come out on the other end we're all going to die anyway

it was like we're all running around trying to escape some sort of pain or suffering but in the end it's going to just take us away I think that acceptance of the inevitability of life is death it shouldn't be approached in a fearful way. So a lot of confusion in our lives, I feel, arrives from fear.

When we're fearful, we can't breathe. You know, when you see someone in a panic, they go, they're not getting any breath into the lungs or into the brain. That's why breathing is so important, even simple breathing, so we can try and relax the body so that we can try and see what's going on in the mind. When we're in a state of fear, we can't do anything. And so specifically, how were these things helping you with the stroke recovery? What parts of that did you find to be most valuable in helping you to recover,

maybe more strongly than somebody that didn't have these tools? Well, yeah, because I'd practiced these type of techniques all my life, or since my early 20s at least that um when i was in that state that i was paralyzed lying on my back i didn't lose consciousness but um you have to use everything at your disposal how can I get out of this situation? I mean, it was almost, it was so debilitating, it was almost funny. It was like, I think I know things and I can do things, but actually sometimes you just cannot do anything about life. Sometimes you just cannot do anything about life.

I think acceptance of that really taught me a lot about my own personality, about my own person. And I think as I went through the process of recovery, my spiritual ideas and meditation help me through it, bit by bit, step by step. It's the easiest thing in the world to be pessimistic and to be negative. Oh, that don't work. Why should I bother with that?

It never worked before and all that kind of stuff. And I think directly we go into that state of mind, it gets fed by one of the wolves and its many, many allies that are in our mind and in our consciousness. So that's why we always have to, and there's so many metaphors, isn't there? Be positive or look to the light and all these things. The bad wolf does seem to have a lot of allies in our culture these days. I think it's everywhere you go. Yep, yep.

So do we try and avoid the bad wolf entirely or do we embrace him? It's intent that drives the result. Whatever we want to do. Why do we do things what's the intent behind every action that we do whether it's picking up a pen or just having a thought right you know if we can persuade the bad boy i don't think we should be so hard on him i think it should be included like the i love the old Star Trek films, and there was a great, there's great lines in all of them.

There was some guy, some prophet, thought that he knew where God existed in the universe. So he hijacked the Enterprise to get to this place where he thought God was, this center of the universe. And he had some kind of hypnotic trick where he'd hold one of the crew and he goes up to Kirk and he says, Oh, Captain Kirk, let me take your pain. And Kirk turns around and says, I need my pain.

I love that. Maybe we need the so-called dark side. It's like Star Wars. It's a wonderful, deep, multi-layered story about metaphysical war in our own minds. You know, Star Wars is an incredible concept. There's a great scene in The Empire Strikes

Back when Luke, and it's really funny, Mark Hamill is a dear friend of mine. He's a big Kinks fan. And there's a great scene when I think Mark has to confront his dark side and he cuts

his head off and inside the helmet it's himself so the dark guy is himself as well so what do we do with it is it wise to try and kill it

entirely to cut it off? I think that's a big, big mistake, if I may say so. Or if I may not say so, I'm saying it. Maybe that's a fundamental error in religion. It's trying to cut off or get rid of these elements that were maybe unsavoury at first. But maybe we need to understand why those energies and those forces that are within us respond or act or react

in the way that they do. I think it's all to do with intent and nurturing and understanding. All these things have to come first. So let's talk about music for a second. I'd like to ask you about your solo work. If you look back on the solo work you've done over your career, I'm curious, what song for you do you feel like the stars truly aligned and you got everything just the

way you wanted it? The music, the lyrics, the recording, everything. Which one, you know, everything came together for you that you feel most proud of? I think the things that catch you by surprise are always the special things. I think the things that catch you by surprise are always the special things. Like, You Really Got Me. It was a series of really clumsy events that led up to that record being made. And when I look back, I think, how the hell did we do that? On my latest album, there's a track called Cote d'Aron.

Yeah, we love that one. Which seemed to just come out of itself. It got built out of itself. Meanwhile What have we here No Cote d'Aron You just see from off the pier I just got busted outside my front door Making you old fashioned

Lipstick chicks with sexy smiles Turning tricks at night on the boulevard Police surveillance gives me the creeps Those frail and greedy men It's based on a character that I made up, but it's obviously part of me, and it's part of people I met. So I spent many years in L.A.

This guy, he lives in this little apartment, he's been through it all, and he hasn't got any money, and he's going to lose his flat, his apartment, and what's he going to do? at the park where the guy talks about when he was a kid, when I was just a lad, I dreamed about a place. And that was me, really imposing myself on this guy's life, if you like. And I, as a child, I always imagined that the future was going to be full of hope and fields and beautiful things, animals. And I still think that. I'm Jason Alexander.

And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the Really No Really podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor. We got the answer. Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you.

And the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer. And you never know who's going to drop by. Mr. Brian Cranston is with us. How are you, too? Hello, my friend. Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park. Wayne who's going to drop by. Mr. Brian Kranson is with us tonight. How are you, too? Hello, my friend.

Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park. Wayne Knight, welcome to Really, No Really, sir. Bless you all. Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging. Really? That's the opening? Really, No Really.

Yeah, Really. No Really. Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast, or a limited edition signed Jason bobblehead. It's called Really No Really, and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You made a joke about it earlier, and I'm sure you get tired of questions about you and your brother's relationship, and I want to put a slightly different spin on it, because what I'm curious about is how these spiritual practices

help you to deal with that relationship and make it better as you get older. Well, as I said, it's continual work, because I think the most precious thing that I've learned in my life I've probably learned from my brother that the confrontational aspects of it the the two people being excuse me two people being so vastly different from each other it seemed seemed like a battle, but we were each other's teachers. Yeah. And it seemed very hard because we had a lot of karma and a lot of lessons to be learned.

And it's a very special kind of relationship. I'm thankful that it's been so difficult because I needed to find out things that I might not have found out any other way. So looking back on some of the Kinks records, I would be curious, you're obviously very well associated with You Really Got Me. But I'd be curious, what are some of your other favorite riffs from the Kinks period? Because there's so many great ones. We talk about the famous ones a lot. I'd be curious if you have a couple others that maybe aren't quite as well known that you're particularly proud of. There's on my first solo album in 1980, there's a lot of riffs on there.

Wow. And there's a song called In You I Believe, and there's a riff behind that that I love very much. And it goes down and up very quickly. I don't know. I like things that move around and go up and down quickly. I probably like my emotions. Yeah, there's that.

And like Schoolboys and Disgraces has got some great riffs in there. I love riffs. Well, you're good at them. We were listening to Waterloo Sunset not too long ago, and just the guitar part on that is perfect.

It's just, it's wonderful. ¶¶ Keep rolling, rolling to the night People so busy, make me feel dizzy Taxi light shines so bright But I don't Yeah, it's a very special record. And I mean, Ray's uncanny sometimes. His observations are so poignant and sad and distant, but still feel there's something

about his writing that's looking so hard. I love that about his writing, is that looking, observing, which is like meditation. We can't see unless we really penetrate the veil. We need to really look at people and the way they behave and their body language and their frowns and their laughter. You can tell so much from the way people laugh. And Mortally Sensitive is a very beautiful observational piece of poetry. Yeah.

As well as sonically, it's full of light and hope. I can't be so very lucky to be involved with some really, truly incredible pieces of music, which when you're doing them, you don't always realize what you're doing. So you were in the process, I think, of starting, of promoting the record Bug when you had your stroke. And my partner Chris, one of his favorites, is Flowers in the Rain from that record. Oh, bless him.

All the things I didn't say All these words keep going round and round in my brain And I miss you most of all When I see flowers in the rain Wish I could do something about it Life can be cool No doubt about it I was in LA at the time and I was thinking, I really miss England.

I've got to get back to England. And there's something very profoundly special about the Moorlands in Dartmoor and Exmoor in Devon. It holds a special feeling for me, these moorland places, where you can go and get totally lost in nature, in the rain, and it's always raining, and the cold. And I went back to england i went to devon country so with a friend and we we sat in the middle of dartmoor which is a beautiful place and um i felt and i said to the woman i said when i die i want you to plant me i want you to plant me up for it in the ground here because I've got a feeling I'll actually grow.

I know it sounds like an insane person, but it's like I felt like we're plants, and that we might not be physically attached to the earth. But I think there's certain places on earth that we have more intimate intimacy with than the others and I find Dartmoor a very special place and Flowers in the Rain came out of that feeling and the I miss you most of all's directed at people I've known that are there no more but it's also about the place in Dartmoor so I miss the place and the flowers in the rain but it's really about a place although it's got memories about people yeah, it's a special song for me. Yeah, it's a beautiful song. So, you mentioned at the beginning you're really busy. So, what's

coming up with you? New records, touring? What other things are going on? Well, I've just signed an indie deal for a new album. Excellent. Because after the other album, it's really given me a sense of, like, what's next? What's next? And so I'm writing songs for a new album. I won't tell you what it's about because it'll spoil it. I'm looking forward to start recording that.

I'm doing a big show in London. I haven't played in London for 13 years. And I'm playing at a place called The Barbican on April the 11th. And I'm really, really excited about that, playing in my hometown. And not actually far from where my family grew up so it's kind of a really special feeling i'm also um working on a paperback version of the heel book and um i want to promote and pursue that i'm hoping after the barbican on the 11th, I'll come back to the States and do some selected shows. Because rock and roll's in me blood, as they say.

We'd love to see you playing over here in the States. Whereabouts are you, Eric? We are in Ohio. Oh, cool. Columbus, Ohio. And I think if I didn't ask this, Kinks fans around the world might find us and hunt us down because it is the 50th anniversary. Any word on you guys playing together for that? Not really because I don't know why, but I was saying to Ray the other day or the other week,

what's all this stress and pressure about a 50th year? Don't they realize that it's going to be the 51st year celebration of the Kinks next year? And the 52nd right after that. Yeah. One of the things, though, that I read in an article of yours recently that I admired was you sort of talked about you seem to have a real sense of integrity around not wanting to do something that's not good, not wanting to do it for the money. You talked about some other bands of your age who seem to just keep sort of milking the last out of the profits, and you seem to be much more focused on doing something that's meaningful and important. It's about intent, again, going back to that word.

You know, I want to do, like I was saying to Roy, I would love for us to work together, but I want to do something that makes me happy. Right. You know, I'm sure we can make a lot, man, if we're two old guys crawling up on stage and just blasting through a bunch of songs. I'm sure we can make quite a lot of money.

But I don't want to go in my little quiet time and look at myself inside and think, hey, what are you doing? And I'll be playing with the wolves again. Ray, Dave Davies and the Bad Wolves, reunited.

Dave, this has been a really enjoyable talk. I like the book, we like your latest solo record, and we're looking to see more from you. So, thanks so much for joining us today. It's great. I like what you're doing.

It's a really cool idea. Well, let me know if there's anything else you can help with, and stay in touch. We will. And hopefully we'll see you here in the States sometime over the next couple years. Yeah, cool. Okay, man. All right, Dave.

Thanks, guys. Thanks. Take care. See you. Thanks, cool. Okay, man. All right, Dave. Thanks, guys. Thanks. Take care. See you. Thanks, Dave. Yep, bye. You can learn more about this podcast and Dave Davies at oneufeed.net slash Dave Davies.