"Middle Line" is the fourth single to be released from Dave's real-time project entitled, "Not Gone."
Middle Line began in March of 2020 as an experiment to mash up incredibly depressing lyrics, combined with the music of a happy pop song... it didn't work at the time... at least, lyrically. After all, with the global pandemic, there was more than enough to challenge anyone's psyche. So Dave took the approach that has served him well creatively, which was to power through a completely new lyrical concept that was more in-fitting with the song's melodic backdrop.
The track has no vocal or guitar retakes or punch-ins... one fluid recorded pass for each track, end-to-end and captured as a complete performance. Chris Harris' ingenuity to mic up drums in his basement (due to social-distancing requirements of this era) was key to pulling this all together as a distributed recording session. Dave's love of vintage tube amps, his lack of formal audio engineering experience, and a reliance on console faders and old-world outboard gear took precedence over digital options in many cases. With all of its un-edited human flaws, it's a song that materialized quickly, loudly, and with a high dose of extreme fun with each adventurous moment.