Gavin DeGraw keeps things fresh with "Make a Move"
Gavin DeGraw has learned not to let too much time lapse between albums. His fourth album, "Sweeter," came out in 2011, and just as he was releasing the final single from that set, it was essentially "go time" for new music.
"When I launched the last song from 'Sweeter' -- the song 'Soldier' -- I started working on this album, so there would be a quick follow-up," DeGraw said during a visit this week to CBSNews.com.
That follow-up, "Make a Move," came out this week on the heels of the success of the album's up-tempo lead single, "Best I Ever Had."
DeGraw is focused on releasing music he's proud of as quickly as possible these days. "I really feel that it's the type of business that time goes by so quickly in the minds of the listener or the people who pay attention to pop culture...and so it really does happen that fast. If you can get it out within two years, you're not doing so bad," said the 36-year-old singer-songwriter. "The main goal is trying to maintain some momentum from where you were."
That momentum was once curtailed between the release of DeGraw's 2003 debut album, "Chariot," and his sophomore self-titled effort, which surfaced a whole five years later.
"The biggest problem for my career was between the release of my first album and the release of my second album. It took a couple of years to have some success with the first album," he said. Riding high from the hits "I Don't Want to Be" and "Follow Through" in 2004 and 2005, Degraw hunkered down to write his second studio album, which when completed was "essentially dismissed." Back to drawing board, DeGraw spent another year reworking the material, which delayed that second album even more.
The New York native wanted to prevent that large time-gap from happening again. So, as soon as he finished touring in 2012, DeGraw hit the studio to start laying the groundwork for "Make a Move." After having teamed with other writers on a few songs for "Sweeter," DeGraw decided to try that method once again, this time co-writing each of the new songs with a batch of established writers and producers, including pals Kevin Rudolf and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder.
DeGraw, who splits his time between Los Angeles and Nashville, Tenn., thinks today's diverse musical climate means there are "zero rules" when it comes to sound. "It allows artists to experiment, which is really our job. The last thing I want people to say, 'If you've heard one Gavin DeGraw album, you've heard them all.'...You want them to hear something and go, 'Oh that's really cool. That's fresh.'"
For more on DeGraw's "Make a Move," check out our sit-down interview with him above and check out the story behind "Best I Ever Had."
