Tracks Of My Years: David Kitt

David plays Spot The Pool

ith his rather fine album, The Big Romance, marking its 25th anniversary with a night in sunny Greystones in The Whale and a special edition re-release, we asked the mighty David Kitt to tell us not only all about the songs that inspire him, but also how music came to be his heart and soul.

And, you know, his bread and butter.

Just to add to that full circle feeling of looking back to move forward.

Take it away, young David…

My dad taught me guitar when I was 7, and I started messing around with open tunings and recording on a tape recorder when I was about 11 or 12. I got my first four-track when I was 15, and that was it. I made about 7 albums on that thing before I released my debut, Small Moments.

I’ve been doing the same thing obsessively since.

Aphex Twin Analogue Bubblebath
Hard to believe it’s his debut release, it’s so fully formed. Massive influence in my late teens, along with Orbital, Underworld and Krafwerk.

Nas It Ain’t Hard to Tell
Still probably my favourite hip hop album. I love how it’s so concise. Hip hop albums that were taking advantage of the CD format tended to be a bit bloated around then, and this is 5 tracks, side A and B, like Harvest or After the Goldrush by Neil Young. I love how perfectly out of tune the samples are on this one. Every track is genius on the album.

Nina Simone Suzanne
As well being a great songwriter in her own right, Nina Simone is, for me, the greatest interpreter of other people’s songs of the 20th century. Here, I love how strange the piano motif is, and how independent it seems to be of her singing. The song also evokes something very different to the original. I saw her live in New Jersey around 1996, and her piano playing really blew me away. She was one of the great jazz pianists, as well as everything else.

The Beatles A Day In The Life
My favourite albums are probably The White Album and Revolver or Rubber Soul, but this song is such a massive achievement for the time it was made. I was about 12 when I got deep into The Beatles, and they’ve had such an influence on everything I’ve done. Geoff Emerick, the engineer on this song, was another godsend to add to George Martin in helping guide their full-throttle creative journey. They broke a lot of Abbey Road rules, and Geoff nearly lost his job. Now a lot of his techniques are standard practice.

Nick Drake Pink Moon
I overdosed on Nick Drake in my teens, and found listening to him a bit heavy after a while. I’ve recently gone back to this album and realised what a big influence it was on me. I was already on that path with finger-picking and open tunings, and repitition, but this was a real blueprint record.

You can check out The Big Romance (Kittser’s Version) on David’s website here, and his upcoming show at The Whale on Saturday, June 27th right here. This article first appeared on March 2nd, 2022.