DMG- So let’s start with a little about you- you went to Caldicott School, a very popular Prep School with the likes of Nick Clegg as former pupils...
TD- We lived in Amersham, so just outside London. My parents were in the theatre and used to take me and my brother there. The family has always had a musical tradition - my great grandmother was Jenny Lind – an opera singer known as the ‘Swedish Nightingale’, my Dad was a rock ‘n’ roll singer in the 60's and my Mum was an actress. TD Lind is an abbreviated name as it’s nice to carry on that tradition.
DMG- So then you moved to America to pursue the family business...
TD- I moved to New York in 1992 when I was 20 and signed to the record label Imago/RCA. I was told I obviously needed a backing band but I found most musicians in NY at the time were slightly up their own arse! Luckily one that wasn’t that I knew was in Kentucky- so I moved there and setup the band. That label fell through so after changing certain members of the band we were lucky enough to get the chance to move to A&M...
DMG- A & M were keen to sign you, this was your big chance.
TD- A & M were an amazing record label to get on, full of wonderful people. We had the album done, a promotional tour of gigging for a year and then two days before the album was due- A & M was bought and folded. We had been due to appear on Conan O’ Brien but now we found ourselves on Interscope- a big label but with not much chance of breaking out. They said: “We’ll call you in 6 months”, a year later we left and I moved back to Britain in 2000.
DMG- Two record labels down the drain, you move to Tall Tale Records and release ‘Let’s Get Lost’ and now ‘Call Me Sinner’
TD- Well you need a label to get played on radio and there were songs on ‘Let’s Get Lost’ that were more poppy that I didn’t want on there. ‘Call Me Sinner’ is much more of a focussed record- exactly what I wanted to do. I’ve just started a label with my brother, who’s also a musician- you know you can trust your family.
DMG- So what can people expect from the music, what are your influences?
TD- I’d say my favourite artist of all time would be Sam Cooke- for his song-writing and incredible voice, but I grew up listening to Eddy Cochran and Buddy Holly. There’s definitely a country element and also a lot of blues in my music. My favourite album is ‘First Take’ by Roberta Flack which I found on vinyl, a brilliant album but it also has a great cover!
DMG- So what’s next for TD Lind?
TD- Well I’m dividing my time between the UK and L.A. I’ve just got married in July to Sarah and we live in the U.S. together. I’m doing a gig in Kings Cross in October but I just want my music to get out there and hopefully have a successful album. I’ve got my own label now so no chance of what happened before! It would be nice to appear on something like Jools Holland and tour with some great artists. The initial reaction has been great, so we shall see what happens.
DMG- Thanks TD.
It’s clear that TD is very determined to bring his music to the world. Now aged 36 with new album ‘Call Me Sinner’, the softly-spoken bluesman will finally reach the bigger audience he has craved for so long.
‘Call Me Sinner’ was released on 22 September through Tall Tale Records.