Handing over a CD full of songs he’s just written, you simply have to wonder where Richard Davis finds the time.
The busy Heliopause singer is not one to let the grass grow under his feet. A visual artist of some renown (he works as animator, graphic designer, short-film and promo maker, photographer), the Belfast lad has for a long time been a familiar, if off-stage, presence on the local music scene. However, since the turn of the year, his natural artistic twitchiness has taken him out of the shadows and under the spotlight – he's been busy delighting gig-goers with his special brew of melancholic, guitar-led but electronic-flavoured lo-fi.
While mere mortals may wonder how Davis has managed to squeeze another line on his CV, Richard insists that his new direction has long been sign-posted.
“Music has always been a huge part of my life,” he says, “and most of my friends would be involved in it in one way or another – playing in bands, promoting gigs and clubs. I’ve had lots of people encourage me to give it a go.”
Richard has called on Niall Harden of Iden Green and Tracer AMC’s Michael Kinloch for help with Heliopause, and the fact that none of the band view it as their main creative breadwinner has, according to Richard, had a liberating effect on the trio.
“It’s a side project both for me and the rest of the band,” he says. “It’s a hobby really. We’re all really relaxed about it. Maybe that’s the reason why it works so well; there aren’t any great expectations or any sense that we’re desperate to get signed. We’re just having fun.”
For someone whose work normally takes place behind the scenes (or indeed behind a computer screen or camera lens), the move to stage-front could prove traumatic. Richard, it seems, has taken it all in his stride.
“I usually hide behind my work,” he smiles, “but, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t do that with the music. I actually feel surprisingly comfortable. Maybe it’s because of the way the group is set up, but I don’t feel like I’m the focus. I’m just another cog in the wheel and I’m really enjoying that. If I was relying on myself then this would have been a very long time coming. It’s just great to be part of things.”
Renaissance man that he is, Richard is enthusiastic when it comes to explaining how his various interests strike sparks off one another – revealing how he uses some of the techniques he picked up in art school (“I prepare sketches, layer things”) to write songs.
“It’s really great being able to work in these different fields,” he says, “and it’s been a real thrill discovering how they all bleed into one-another. The music inspires the visuals and vice-versa. Just being creative, working with other people, forcing yourself to think in different ways and pick up new skills – they all tend to refresh each-other.”
But while you may assume that, given his background in music video (as a co-founder of Chewie films he’s directed shorts for Tom McShane and Fighting With Wire amongst others), Richard has no sooner written a song, than he’s storyboarding the ensuing promo, it’s just not so. Heliopause, it seems, has uncovered a bit of a creative blind-spot.
“I find it really difficult to stand back and visualise my own songs,” he says. “I’m not sure why that is. Most videos are made by people who are independent of the band, so they benefit from having some distance to the song which allows them to build up their own interpretation. I think it’s all maybe just a little bit too close to home for me. But we’ll see. I’m not going to give up that easily.”
We wouldn’t expect you to.