Couse About That?

n his early forties, Dave Couse, one-time singer with A House, was thinking about his place in the greater scheme of things.
“I really wanted to try and find my own place in the massive mosaic that is the world of popular music,” he says. “Even if it meant I was just a little bit of grouting between the cracks, I wanted to create something that was totally unique to me; a unique sound to which someone can only say ‘that sounds like Dave Couse.’”

Now, many would argue that Couse had already done just this with five A House records and solo albums. But, unsure of his legacy, he decided to learn an entirely new instrument.
“At 41-years-old I started to teach myself the piano,” he smiles. “It was very basic piano. My daughter is learning piano at school. She’s nine and can play it almost as well as I can. But I know enough to get by. I just needed to play the chords... a few notes... some harmonies. I’d written seven albums on an acoustic guitar and I was getting tired of writing with that. I’d run out of ideas basically, so I learned the piano and wrote an album on it. I suppose it’s naïve art in a way... like someone who picks up a paintbrush in their forties.”
Then, in keeping with this outsider artist theme, Couse decided to produce the album all by himself.
“I’ve always worked with producers and engineers and I did without all that for Alonewalk,” he says. “Usually, I love the fact that music is made by a combination of people with their different attitudes – they bring a different thing to the table. And doing it this way was actually hell on earth because I’m not an engineer. I can’t really engineer. I had to take a small course in how to use Pro Tools and I began recording the record. It’s hard work! In the old days I had the luxury of being an upstart youth surrounded by people facilitating my music. I could have my little tantrums and drama queen moments and stomp out of studios with my hands on my head. If I did that with this record I’d leave an empty studio and an album that wasn’t going to be finished.”
At some point between recording his own piano playing and the electric guitar and cello of his collaborators Fergal Bunbury and Rike Soller, Couse emailed Cathal Coughlan, former singer with Fatima Mansions.
“I was writing the song ‘Good Friday’ and I was wondering, ‘How would Cathal Coughlan approach this?’ So I thought, ‘Why don’t I ask him?’ I contacted his manager and within a day I was emailing him a stereo mix. He put his vocal onto it with his own Pro Tools and e-mailed it back to me. I’ve never met Cathal Coughlan,” he adds.
At the end of it all, Couse has created a beautiful record that does not sound quite like anything else... including previous Dave Couse records.
Not that he’s averse to returning to old glories when the mood strikes him. In 2006 he re-recorded ‘Endless Art’, A House’s musical tribute to great dead creators, rewritten to include some new names that had died since the original release.
“I might even record it again in a few years,” he proffers. “And when I die someone else can pick up the gauntlet. Maybe they’ll even add me to it... if they feel I deserve to be there.”