Oh lucky man

It’s not every unsigned Irish artist who gets to tour in America and work with a top LA production team responsible for a string of worldwide hits. But Australian born, Cork-bred Dave Caplice appears to possess the happy knack of making such unlikely things happen.

Formerly a drummer with Limerick outfit December’s Child, Caplice releases his second single, ‘Smile’, this month on Telstar Records. Produced by the crack studio crew, The Wizardz of Oz, whose credits include notables such as Ricky Martin, Christina Augilera, Savage Garden and Janet Jackson, ‘Smile’ is an engagingly catchy slice of r’n’b, which should bring the 23-year-old a wider audience.

“It all happened more or less by accident,” Caplice explains. “We went out to see our lawyer in New York and The Wizardz just happened to be in town at the same time. She put me in touch with them, they liked the songs I had and we struck up an immediate rapport. Three weeks later I was out in LA working with them. It was a dream come true for me.”

What is a relatively unestablished Irish singer doing with a New York lawyer?

“It’s a long story and I won’t bore you with it,” he says. “But after the last single there was a lot of interest from a certain US label that I’d prefer not to mention right now. They took us on a wild goose chase for months, until we eventually found out they were full of shit. We had used this lawyer at the time and we’ve simply retained her.”

As for his live appearances Stateside, it was another case of being in the right place at the right time, as he explains. “The Mayor of Baltimore was on holiday in Ireland and he popped into Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick one night when I was playing. He invited me over to perform, he even set up the gigs including one in the White House for Al Gore.”

Now signed to a five album, five-year deal with Telstar, Caplice has already recorded tracks for his debut album and plans to put a band together. “The live thing is important to me,” he says. “U2 are probably my favourite band of all time and I’d be into people like David Gray. Since I was 11 years old I’ve been a big fan of The Eagles. I thought they were dead but saw them in the RDS in Dublin last year – they were brilliant.

“I’m planning to take a group of session players on the road with me. There’s no way I’d be into miming – I did the 2FM Beat on The Street and I think I was the first person to sing live on it in eight years.”

Caplice is keenly aware of the high attrition rate in his chosen genre but appears to take it all in his stride. “I’ve always done my own thing and I’ll continue to do it whatever happens,” he says.