JPG: Songwriting-wise, the three albums are consistent as far as the albums have catchy tunes on each one. I was listening to all three yesterday. At its core the debut’s a little poppier and upbeat. The second one, very heavy drums, big production. This one seems to be a combination of the two. Do you agree or how do you view the transition from one album to the next?
JD: The first record, that was really like a Jim Donovan record. I didn’t know if I was gonna release it. I was in the studio just to see if I could record again. I had been writing since the mid-’90s but I was afraid to death to sing in front of people. So, I didn’t tell anybody and just kept them. Those songs have been in the hopper for a long time.
At the end of the process, then, I decided I’m gonna bring some people around this, and let’s go play it live. Let’s see what happens there. All experiments. I didn’t have any vision of going on the road, doing that whole thing that we used to do. But I was interested to play. I was missing music. So, that record really came out like this experiment of, could this happen?
The second record was, “Okay, I’ve got these people and they all have different strengths.” So, I was writing to them, writing things that Joe and Kent would be really excited to do, like in the middle of “Hey! Let It Be,” that whole breakdown jazzy section. Double time on the ride cymbal stuff, that was for these guys. The mindset was different.
Then, on this last one. We’ve congealed like…it’s a solid unit. We know each other. There’s a ton of goodwill and love and all that stuff. It was more like, “How can we further establish that this is a sound that we like to be? There’s lots of different variations of it. It’s rock. It’s got a little more percussion than some rock.
JPG: Definitely one track on each album that is all percussion. Speaking of the drum tracks, “Revival Drums,” off the new album, what year of Great Rhythm Revival was that taken from?
JD: I think it was 2022. We had to skip a year because of COVID, and that next year everybody was just on fucking fire because they missed everybody.
JPG: Do you think that because you led drum circles, lectured and taught at Saint Francis University, all of that prepared you to be a frontman for a band? Made it an easier transition?
JD: Yeah, for sure. Just having to speak in front of people every day, think on my feet and be in charge. When you’re playing drums, you’re driving the songs, but it’s a secondary position. I like it, but I was bored with it. I wanted to try…I’ve always wanted to, but was afraid. Now, I’m not because I stood in the fear.
JPG: And succeeded, obviously. When you were talking about the other members being more involved, writing with them in mind, is that what led to the change from using your name on the debut, then Jim Donovan & Sun King Warriors on the next one to the new album being just Sun King Warriors?
JD: With my name on the front, honestly, it’s too long. [Laughs.] It doesn’t look good on a shirt. The only reason I put my name in the beginning was because I have a little bit of name recognition and I thought it would help us connect some folks that knew me, and it did. I don’t put them on the t-shirts or anything like that. Sun King Warriors is fine. It’s a powerful name.
JPG: That and the elephant image you use is a powerful image, especially the images on the first and second album covers. I was doing some research on elephant images and read that it represents strength, wisdom and good fortune among other things. What is your reasoning behind the elephant image?
JD: In Hindu mythology, the elephant is the remover of obstacles. I like that. This is why we play. It removes obstacles for us, and, hopefully, for the audience. Be in your joy, be your best self.
JPG: You mentioned the album cover earlier, what about the album title Like A Light?
JD: That’s a line from “No Time Dying.” The whole line is, “How can I be I/Like a light in the dark night.” It’s like we’re in this nasty existence here and it’s noisy, and all kinds of shit swirling, but how can I poke out of that…and be big?
JPG: Among those that appear on the album are your three children.
JD: All three of them came in and sang on something. I’ve been doing that from the beginning, and it just feels good to do that.
JPG: It’s Tupelo, Oliver and Ella. Now, do they have much of a musical aptitude? I recall seeing Tupelo sing onstage with Sun King Warriors.
JD: All three of them do. Tupelo’s probably doing it the most. She’s in a couple of bands and has two records coming out this year. When she was five, she told me that she wanted to be a singer, and I’m, like, “Oh God, no. please.” But she’s doing that. My daughter, Ella, was a musical theater kid. Did that in college a little bit too but she’s not pursuing it. She wants to be in the music business and work behind the scenes to make the shows happen. Oliver, he is a visual artist. He’s one of those people that likes to do everything.
JPG: I was looking over the Sun King Warriors Learn section on the band’s website. On there, you recommend articles with exercises that use music to improve well-being. How does Sun King Warriors’ music align with that?
JD: All the systems that I’ve got from the Revival to Sun Kings to the work I do at Saint Francis University, it all has that thread of having music that was at the core of it, getting people together, doing things together, meeting each other, hopefully feeling better and remembering what it feels like to be alive.
They’re just different mediums for the same end. I like to connect it all. I have a wide life currently. It’s all these different things. It won’t always be like that. Each part of it is independently functioning and may also function together. The Revival is a good example of it. That’s a place where all that comes under one tent.
JPG: The Revival is probably nice for you since I imagine that even though you’re there, you can kind of let go and delegate. So, it’s not all on you.
JD: I’ve gotten so much better at delegating. I teach, and then I don’t have to worry about much else during the event, and that’s all by design.
JPG: Also, you traveled regionally hosting drum circles. I’m looking at your schedule now and see instead Sound Healing Facilitation, Wisdom of Rhythm and Sound Retreat. Are those technically drum circles or something different?
JD: They are workshops. There is drumming in the workshops, but there’s also lots of education. There are mindfulness techniques, sound techniques, social connection. Drum circles tend to be…It’s not just you sit there and drum the whole time, and you go home. This is a lot more involved.
JPG: There’s also your podcast.
JD: I did a whole bunch of them in the 2019, 2020 zone. The podcast is on hiatus just because of the wideness of my life got too wide. [Laughs.] But I am contemplating bringing that back. With all the AI tools now, it’s a lot easier to do some of that stuff. The editing was so hard, that it was challenging to have time to do all that.
JPG: You mentioned AI. Are you wary of AI like other creative artists are?
JD: I’m amazingly wary of it but I am using it and I’m learning about it because it’s here, and it’s not going to go away. I want to at least know how to work with the stuff and silently praying for the best. [Laughs.]
JPG: Last thing. Besides the new music, you’ve been teaching at Saint Francis University for how long?
JD: It’s my 20th year.
JPG: And you’re an assistant professor. We never discussed this previously. What do you teach?
JD: I teach music and wellness when I was hired by Chuck Olson, who’s a really phenomenal guy. He said, “If I could get you a position here and you build a program, would you take it?” That was a week after I left Rusted Root. I didn’t know what I was doing but I did know that I didn’t have a source of income anymore. So, I said, “Yes,” thinking I would be there for a year or two while I got my shit together. And here we are, 20 years later. It’s been a wild ride. Like you, just glad to be here.
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