• Home
• /
• Entertainment

The bright Side of life

FOR THOSE OF you who do not spend hours browsing YouTube in search of the next big thing take note because 24-year-old David Sides from Riverside, California, is just that. Known in the industry as “D-Sides,” he is a completely self-taught musician primarily playing the piano by ear alone.

Ever since his performance of Apologise racked up over 4.5 million views on YouTube David has been one of the most-watched artists of 2008. He has quickly become a national and international superstar, known for his sensational ability on the piano. Dubbed as “Mozart Gone Hip-Hop, Pop and R&B,” David has played live at events including The Playboy Spring Break in Mexico and at numerous colleges such as Columbia University, Cal Lutheran University and the University of North Carolina-Pembroke where hundreds of fans showed up for a one hour performance on Valentine’s Day.
 Last year David also performed at the Visage Nightclub in Minneapolis with an attendance of close to a thousand fans. He performed several of his highly popular musical renditions of chart topping songs such as the smash hit, Buy You a Drink, originally performed by Florida based artist T-Pain. He also played his increasingly popular version of the new hit single Bed, originally performed by Washington, D.C. based vocalist, J. Holiday.
 Officially released in February of 2008, David’s first album, The Collection-Volume I has received excellent reviews on the internet retailer iTunes as has his recently released The Collection-Volume II.

With as many as 40 million collective video views from fans around the world, David is continually working on perfecting his talents, as well as writing, arranging, and producing new music that he hopes to share with the rest of the world.

We spoke to David about his life in music, launching on YouTube and where he is headed.

When and why did you first decide to take up the piano?

I first decided to take up the piano when I was about 10 years old, back in 1994. My grandma sent me a keyboard for Christmas once she learned of my interest in playing the piano. Around that time, I fell in love with the movie The Lion King and its soundtrack. Once I got the keyboard, my parents also bought me the movie soundtrack for The Lion King, and I started to lock myself in my room, banging away on the keyboard trying to learn how to play the songs that I would hear. And that’s how it all started.

Did it come easy and how did you approach learning the instrument?

It actually didn’t come that easy for me. I struggled to learn how to play it in the beginning. It actually took me a while to get things really going. I was able to pick up some things on my own. I started to notice patterns with note spacing and then patterns with chord progressions, once I got good enough to figure out how to play chords. I actually picked up a few piano beginner books to learn the different notes and how to build chords. After a few months of toying with it, I was able to notice some progress.

Can you begin to describe how it is you are able to play by ear whereas so many people struggle with sheet music?

You know, I think that playing by ear is actually easier than learning from sheet music. You have to look at playing by sheet music as learning to read a new language. You’re reading something foreign to you so you have to learn the basics and then build from there. Playing by ear is a little less complicated in my opinion. I’ve figured a technique, which I’m sure a lot of other people who play by ear have figured out as well, that makes playing by ear pretty simple. So in comparison, I think a lot of people struggle with sheet music because it’s harder.

What were your favourite tunes to play in the early days?

Back in the day, I enjoyed playing a lot of the popular radio songs. I really don’t remember a lot of them, but I do know there was some Savage Garden in the line up, some of the boy bands and Biggie.

When did you first think of playing the piano professionally? What were peoples’ reactions when you told them you wanted to be a musician?

I honestly never really considered playing professionally until I got to college. I grew up playing the piano, but then once I got to high school, I stopped playing for a while. I didn’t really see it going anywhere; really I just saw it as a hobby. When I got to college I spent the later part of my time there studying music and that’s when I decided to try and pursue it professionally. People always knew me as a piano player so there wasn’t much shock when I told people that this was something I wanted to do.

How has YouTube helped your career? Did you ever foresee such a positive reaction to your music?

YouTube has helped my career in a big way. I actually never really saw things taking off the way they did. I posted my first few videos just to kind of get my name out there. I was actually planning to come out with some instructional material for learning how to play the piano and I figured that putting out a few videos, just to build my credibility would be a good idea. Soon though I noticed the view count on my videos slowly climb, so I decided to stick with it. The viewers and the fan mail I would receive were my motivation to keep going.

Do you intend to put more on YouTube? Would you encourage up and coming musicians to do the same?

I do intend to post more videos on YouTube. Right now I have a lot of different things that I’m tied to, so I don’t have as much time to post videos as often as I would like, but I’m working on getting more time to post more videos. And yes, I would definitely encourage up and coming musicians to do the same. The music industry has changed. YouTube is one way of providing everyday people like me to effectively promote and advertise themselves. I think that everyone, not only just musicians, should take advantage of it.

The songs you put on the Internet are mainly covers, do you intend putting your own music on video?

Yes, I have a couple originals up there now. I’m looking to post more up there soon.

Are there any deals with record labels in the pipeline? Can we go out and get your CD?

I have been approached by a few, but at the moment there aren’t any deals in the pipeline. And yes, I have my Volume 1 CD as well as my Volume 2 CD, which was released February 1st, available on iTunes as well as my official website: www.themusicofdavidsides.com

How did you feel when some of your videos reached over a million views?

That was an amazing feeling for me. All honesty, I was excited when they reached 100. But yeah, it made me feel really good, and it was somewhat surreal knowing that people all around the world are looking at my videos. I still find that really hard to believe at times.

Do you feel as if you have “made it”?

Well I feel like I haven’t really reached the level of success that I want to achieve yet, so I’m still definitely climbing. But some of the various successes that I’ve encountered along the way have definitely given me that feeling of, “I’m almost there.” Some of those successes were when I was honoured as one of the featured musicians on both YouTube and Myspace.

What are your top five tunes on your iPod?

My favourite songs always change from time to time, with exception to the first one on this list. Juicy by Biggie is my all time favourite song, so that would be number one. Two would be The Progressions How We Do remix by Lloyd and Luda. Three is Stop This World by Ne-Yo. Four would be Got Money by Wayne and T-Pain. And fifth would be Hero by Nas.

Can you tell us about your album The Collection- Volume 1?

My Volume 1 CD is compiled of 18 songs that are found on YouTube, including Like a Boy, Ice Box, and Buy You a Drink. The songs on my Volume 1 CD are my older songs that are on YouTube.

Who would you most like to work with? Why?

I would love to work with people like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyonce, Jordin Sparks, Chris Brown and Rihanna. There’s a long list. I respect and admire a lot of people in the industry and it would be an honour to be able to work with them.

Have you had any feedback from musicians in the industry?

Yes I’ve talked to a few here and there about possibly collaborating on some work down the road.

What do you do to relax?

That’s a good question because unfortunately relaxing isn’t something I usually get to do a lot of, but when I do relax, I try to watch a Laker game, catch a movie, visit my family, or just hang out with my lady or my guys, nothing really extraordinary or over the top. As I get older, I notice that I’m not into certain things as I used to be when I was younger. I’m more into just lying low and being around my people, not so much into partying or anything like that.

What are your plans for the future?

If all goes well, I plan to do a lot of things. For one, I’m definitely going to continue this piano adventure, but I also plan to get into the industry as a producer as well, working with various big names. I would love that. I also would love to have some originals of mine in movies or on shows. There are a lot of things that I want to do and I plan to hopefully accomplish all of them, most importantly, making a positive impact, not only musically, but just overall. I have a lot of eyes on me and I understand the responsibility that comes along with that, so whatever I plan to do, it will always be good natured.

david@khaleejtimes.com