Howie Day: The perfect time for Day, Part 2 by Nancy J Price

In part two of our interview with singer/musician/songwriter Howie Day, he talks about his album, being on Letterman, and his ultimate goal. (Read part one here)

Oz and the world
Even with a wealth of tunes available online, Australia went on to sell another 70,000 copies after Epic re-released it in June 2002 -- bringing the total sales for that CD up to a cool hundred grand.

By the time sales began to slow, his loyalists were ready for something new. After months of planning and negotiating, Day was whisked off to London in the spring of 2003 to spend three months in London recording a full-length follow-up.

The finished product, Stop All the World Now, was introduced to the world in October 2003. The eleven tracks on the album had a decidedly English feel, undoubtedly due in large part to the influence of some of Day's favorite artists, including Radiohead and The Verve. Not only were several of the musicians who recorded on it British -- including Simon Jones, actually a former member of The Verve -- much of the behind-the-scenes team was, too. In fact, the CD was produced by the semi-legendary (and also English) Youth, who worked with the likes of U2, Kate Bush, Dido, Paul McCartney and others.

A self-confessed fan of "moody" music, Day's Stop All the World Now offered a dreamy, deeper, darker -- yet somehow not depressing -- vibe compared to some of his earlier work. It also featured a few songs with a soaring 25-piece orchestra -- something else you wouldn't find on his independent releases.

The end result was an album that was richly-layered and sophisticated, but remained accessible to pop fans. Both the mood his method drew comparisons to everyone from U2 to Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band to John Mayer -- certainly not bad company to be keeping.

The first single off the disc was "Perfect Time of Day," an ode to the notion of carpe diem. Next up was "She Says," a song he originally wrote in his mid-teens, which was followed by the recent "Collide." (See a few paragraphs down for links to a live video performance of this song.)

Smile for the camera
Just like actors have to plug their movies and TV shows, musicians have to get out there to promote their work, too -- and not just at concert halls. After signing to Epic, "For the first time, I was doing TV stuff and stuff live on television," he says. "That kind of freaked me out the first couple of times, but you just kind of get used to it."

It's a good thing he was getting comfortable playing Mike Teevee, because in January 2003, Day got a booking on CBS cornerstone "Late Show with David Letterman."

"We did Letterman the day before my birthday this year, so that was pretty cool. Kind of scary. I'd never been there before, so it's just like, 'Oh yeah, there's Paul Schafer... there's David Letterman.' And they announce you, and just sit there and watch you." Not your average everyday experience, to be sure. "It's weird. I think with those shows, it becomes so surreal that you don't get nervous, because it's just like, 'What the hell is going on?!"

The quest for imperfection
So one year later, does Day think that Stop All the World Now be a tough act to follow when it's time for a new album? "No," he says. "I think -- most musicians would probably agree -- as soon as you put out a record, you have things that you want to do better next time," says Day. "The day it comes out, there's already things that you start to go, 'Oh, I should have done that a little differently.' You start to make a list in your head. I actually write things down -- what I'm going to do next time."