Folmer lightens up
08:45 AM CST on Wednesday, January 6, 2010
At age 23, Daniel Folmer is ready to relinquish his role as the prince of pain.
On his 2007 CD Gloria, the Denton singer-songwriter spilled his guts about a toxic relationship. Last year's release A Leaf told the story of a more mature but equally doomed love affair.
His new album, which will be released this weekend, sees the prolific artist tackle broader themes and poppier arrangements. On The Roaring Twenties, Folmer writes about the tug of war between running wild and settling down.
"As far as me pushing out the same material forever, that's impossible," he told us last week. "It is possible to write about happy relationships, among other things. I've done it a few times."
Here's more from Folmer, who will play two release shows this weekend.
Q: First of all, there are a couple of other things besides music that you're passionate about. Tell me about those.
Folmer: Part-time, I work as a therapeutic horse-riding instructor. We basically use the horse as a therapy tool, give all our lessons for free. My other job is as a play therapist. Every child has the innate ability to work through his own problems; they're just not all given the correct avenues. We use toys to help them act out all their inner trauma, because they aren't old enough to really talk about it.
Q: Were you the kind of kid who was able to work out your own problems as they came?
Folmer: Oh, yeah. I loved drama and acting things out with my sister. I felt like my parents made that possible. We had a playroom in my house, which is kind of rare nowadays. Yeah, I faced my horrible battles with life through Ninja Turtles. Music is a way now to exorcise whatever's going on in my life.
Q: And then there's your obsession with hockey ...
Folmer: I've played since I was 5 or 6. I played on the UNT team, and then coached them for a year after I quit. But it just stresses me out so much, so I even quit coaching. But now I play with two different leagues just for fun – one with old college friends, and one with old men, CEOs and stuff.
Q: So what's your take on the whole Sean Avery debacle with the Stars?
Folmer: I was a huge Sean Avery fan. I was disappointed. I thought the league overreacted. He's a folk hero to me now. I play a lot like him and I act a lot like him on the rink.
Q: Your new album is called 'The Roaring Twenties.' Pretty easy to guess what that alludes to, but give me your take.
Folmer: I called it that because I saw a book with that title, and started thinking about where I am and where all of my friends are in their lives right now. It's the cutting-room age. They are moving away or leaving home or going to jail. [Laughs.] I started listening to all of the songs I'd written, and they all applied to the lifestyle of our age group.
Q: And the arrangements seem more playful, more poppy. Intentional?
Folmer: All the songs I wrote, but some I co-wrote with my keyboard player, Taylor Jordan. He helped with the melodies, and he's super- talented. He'd give suggestions about where to put certain parts. So he gets credit for some of the change in sound.
Q: You told me once that you are your own worst critic after recording. Is it different when it's more of a collaboration?
Folmer: Now I listen to it and it's more about putting myself back into the situation I was in when I wrote it. I just want to put the listener into that same mind-set, so the real challenge is to nail that as accurately as possible.
Q: Some of these songs have been floating around for a while in your live act. Why were they right for this album?
Folmer: I had a pretty hard year and a half. "Shut Your Mouth" was written about a girl who abandoned me and then complained about my emotional state. "We Were Cowboys" was written about all my friends going to Portland. "City Sold Its Soul to Ben E. Keith" was about Denton being such a bar town, where everyone just wants to find a place to go out and get plastered.
Q: You've lived there for a while now. What, if anything, have the sweeping pieces about the Denton music scene in 'The New York Times' and other papers gotten wrong?
Folmer: It seems great from the outside, but what they don't see is the transient population here. Students are coming and going all the time. There's not really that fan base that's talked about. People come to go to school, they start a band, they go away.
My friends all go to each other's shows, but it's not all roses like those pieces would have you believe. It's a lot of playing free shows for nobody. I don't want to sound like a whiner, but the writers who just came here for a few days just didn't see the whole picture.
Q: Do you think that that's Denton specifically or just how people are in general?
Folmer: I've been to a lot of places in the last year, and it's the same everywhere. People get their music instantly; they go to MySpace to see if they like your music before they'll even come to a show. They don't buy records, that's for sure. I can't even give away records sometimes. But that doesn't stop me from doing it. It's just expressing myself and having at least one person there to hear it.
Q: Sounds like you're a realist when it comes to having a music career, but what are your hopes for this new album?
Folmer: I have no hope. [Laughs.] My hope is that someone will listen to it and think, "Geez, that song perfectly captures what I'm going through right now." I hope they'll put it on a mix tape for their girlfriend or their friend. I hope they'll think, "This guy, he feels it." ... Also, I hope that Microsoft buys it and puts it in a Zune commercial and I get $50,000.
•CD-release show Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Hydrant Café, 208 W. Oak St. in Denton. With Doug Burr, Burnt Sienna Trio and Glen Farris. No cover. hydrantcafe.com.
•CD-release in-store performance Friday at 7 p.m. at Good Records, 1808 Greenville Ave. With Dust Congress and Nervous Curtains. No cover. goodrecords.com.
•Get the CD at gutterth.com. Hear music at myspace.com/dfolmer. "