Living and Loving: Del Water Gap on the Release of His Sophomore Album
Photo by Erica Snyder
Del Water Gap has made it known that his heart is staying on his sleeve. Following up his self-titled debut album is a sophomore project that navigates the hues of emotion, tackling elements of self along with diving deep into the intricacies of love, lust, and intimacy. Released on September 29th, I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet hones in on Holden’s ability to be elegantly vulnerable as he pushes to question what lies both beyond and within the mundane. He delivers with an air of curiosity and criticism, balancing between stepping back and being engulfed by a life full of thrill, love, and excitement but also heartbreak, remorse and melancholy. Collaborating with Sammy Witte and Ethan Gruska to build this world, the project explores pop through a confessional lens. In a conversation with Unpublished Magazine, Holden discussed touring and the making of his newest album, from collaboration with Arlo Parks to traveling with candles.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You’re about to release your sophomore album - congrats! How are you feeling?
[HOLDEN]: So proud and so tired. I struggled to make this album. I started writing while I was on tour opening for a friend, so raw with exhaustion that one night I spontaneously started weeping after being asked what I wanted for dinner. By the time I got back to Los Angeles and in some proper studios I knew I had caught something special.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are the ingredients to a Del Water Gap album? What themes or messages are found within I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet?
[HOLDEN]: I watched a lot of films the last three years, so cinema has been a huge influence on my work. Story telling. Romanticizing the mundane. I love Gus Van Sant and Wong Kar-wai. Given the nature of my life these days, a lot of transience made its way into the songs. Living and loving in hotels - what grounds you and keeps you sane when everything is moving? The life that happens between life, the moments of monotony and melancholy that unfold when you’re waiting for something to happen. It’s about fear of change, sex and intimacy, lust and melancholy, life in a post pandemic world. Trying to learn how to connect with people and take care of myself. Sex, intimacy and mutual melancholy - the spar of being in love - overthinking and over-talking. The liminal space between lust and commitment. How strangers fall in with each other and share so much to so often lose each other so quickly.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You worked on this album with Sammy Witte and Ethan Gruska, how did you meet them and what was it like working with them? Any memories you would like to highlight?
[HOLDEN]: I had worked a bit with a friend of Sammy’s who had told me he thought we would vibe. He was right. Our publishers set us up on a date and we immediately clicked. He’s become one of my best friends. He has this mystical calm about him. I was struggling a lot our first few weeks of writing, having a hard time getting out of my head, so I would come in in the morning and Sammy would say, “Ok, we’re not going to write today. We’re just going to hang out, drink coffee and play with my dog.” So we would just putz around and listen to music and at 6 or 7 PM I would be packing up my stuff to go home and Sammy would sneak over to the piano and start playing some chords. Something would catch my ear and I would go into a sort of fugue state and wake up and have a finished song. Gruska is one of the most gifted musicians I have ever met. I think we met because I messaged him on Instagram and told him I was a fan. We had some mutual friends. Working with him changed the way I think about making music. He’s also so kind and an extremely talented magician. If you ever meet Ethan Gruska, ask him to do a card trick for you.
[UNPUBLISHED]: The album is described as “a spell-binding, audacious picture of sexuality and substance use that draws on the gritty 60s rockstar glamor detailed by writers from Joan Didion to Eve Babitz.” In light of literature, are there any specific lyrics, imagery, or metaphors within the album that you would like to highlight or that you are particularly proud of?
[HOLDEN]: I’m proud of the lyrics on “Beach House”. It’s a song about being so angry, your rage turns into hopelessness. Like a kettle that boils over and puts out the stove.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You’re embarking on tour shortly after the album release, is there a particular song that you love performing live? Or perhaps a song off the album people have not heard live that you are excited for people to hear?
[HOLDEN]: I’m most excited to perform “We Will Never Be Like Anybody Else”. It’s one of the most vulnerable songs I’ve ever written and I think playing it for a few thousand people every night will force my heart to stay open.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Do you have any tour necessities? A favorite snack? A pre-show ritual?
[HOLDEN]: It’s taken me years to learn how to keep my sanity on tour. It’s the little things - the small comforts, the rituals - that inevitably keep me on this side of mental stability. I always carry a candle. A candle can make any hotel room feel a little bit more like home. Sense memory is so powerful. I try to journal every day. I find seeing my mind on the page a very stabilizing practice. We meditate as a group before we go on. That’s a must. We get our breathing in sync and we talk about intentions for the show.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You celebrated your album at the Flower Shop in NYC the other night! How was the show? Any memories that stand out?
[HOLDEN]: We couldn’t fit everyone inside the Flower Shop, so before the set I went outside into the street and played some acoustic songs for the folks waiting outside. It was one of my favorite music moments ever. A few thousand people showed up and shut down traffic across a few blocks in the Lower East Side. People were honking and yelling but eventually gave up and got out of their cars and stepped up to watch and listen. There were people all around me in the buildings lining the street, popping out of windows and climbing out on their fire escapes. For as long as I live I’ll never forget looking up and seeing all the faces. I made it back inside just as the police showed up.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What was it like working with Arlo Parks on the song “Quilt of Steam!” What was the creative process like between you two?
[HOLDEN]: I love Arlo. She’s a powerful artist and a powerful friend. Arlo and I had toured together on her first album and got close and discovered this mutual love for poetry and instrumental music - we built a bit of a connection by sending each other tidbits from different parts of the world on our respective travels. We had both been quite burned out when we first met but had talked about writing some songs together eventually, and when we finally caught some time off and the color started returning to our faces we spent two days with Ethan. Arlo brought her dog and some juice and we had a nice laugh and we made a few songs. "Quilt of Steam" is what stuck.
[UNPUBLISHED]: In an interview I read, you dubbed yourself a “film bro” and talked about how you often watch movies. If you could pick a song off Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet to be on a movie score, which would it be and why?
[HOLDEN]: “Gone In Seconds”. I wrote it about my grandma. She got me into film so I think her song in a movie would be a nice way to honor her.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Who have you been listening to lately? What’s been inspiring you?
[HOLDEN]: I’ve been listening to a lot of Italian disco on tour. I also recently found Orion Sun’s album A Collection of Fleeting Moments and Daydreams. It’s gorgeous and romantic. Been in heavy rotation for me. Revisiting Clairo’s record Sling. One of my all time favorites.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are you most excited about for the future?
[HOLDEN]: Finding a place to call home.
