Interview: Dbilovd on his new song Anvil

A little background here!!! David is a friend, I got to know during my time as a National Service Personnel at IT Consortium. We have since remained very good friends. One of the few people, I am grateful for and thankful for. Despite this gentleman being a programming genius and my programming buddy, today it’s all about his musical talent.

Below is an interview I did with my very good friend probing to find out how and when it all started, his inspiration among others I am sure will be interested to know too.

1. David, how are you doing and how are you holding up during this pandemic?

I’m doing better than I deserve. God is good. The pandemic has changed a lot of things and it can be tough some times but being safe is better than being comfortable, so I am staying indoors and trusting God for healing.

2. So, how did you start making music?

Honestly, I can’t clearly recall. I remember taking piano lessons as a child. Sadly, I didn’t complete it. I also remember my first song but I have no idea why I started writing it when I did.

3. What is the inspiration behind most of your songs?

God is. Specifically, His relationship with me and my response to Him. For me, the songs I write are either from things I am praying about or something I am learning about God.

4.  How and where do these inspirations come from?

As I mentioned earlier, these songs come from how God relates to me and my imperfect response to Him. So in whichever aspect of life that I feel God repeating a message to me, or even putting a prayer on my heart, sometimes that eventually becomes a song.

5.  Who are your biggest influences? And why?

Other than God and the Bible, John Piper will be at the top of the list. God has used him mightily to shape my theology. And as someone who writes songs about God, you really don’t want to be writing the wrong things about Him.
Musically, there are quite a number of people. To mention a few: Brandon Heath, Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Nathaniel Bassey, Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic), Hillsong, Passenger, Jim Reeves and many many others.
Other than this, I think a big influence would be the music I grew up hearing and singing at church and at home. My parents really like hymns.

6.  How would you identify your style of music?

Truth is, when it comes to music, I am a bit lost. So I tend to describe my songs more in terms of the lyrics than the music style. So I’ll say I write modern hymns.

7.  How is your songwriting process like?

One thing, it’s a simple process, yet I’m so slow when it comes to completing a song, so it takes me a really long time to complete a song.

It usually starts with something God is teaching me or a prayer I am praying. Other times, I get a melody and a word, a phrase or a sentence. I will most likely record it somewhere.

After that, I will keep making additions to the basic idea of the song as I learn more and I am inspired. These additions might be musical but most likely, lyrical. This is where the delay comes in, I easily get distracted and sometimes wouldn’t work on the song for months until I am inspired again. This also means I probably have quite a number of unfinished songs at any given moment.

A positive side of this is that by the time the song is completed, the ideas are more refined.

8.  How many songs have you recorded so far?

Right now, I have released 3 songs in the “Hymns for Tomorrow” project I am currently doing. God willing I will release another one next month, but 3 so far.

9.  How many instruments do you play?

Technically, I don’t “really” play any. I know my way on the guitar and the piano and can use them to put songs together but very little more than this.

10.  Now, lets talk about the new song.. Anvil? Why that?

An anvil is a tool used to shape hot metals. When you bring red hot metal from the fire you place it on an anvil and beat it with a hammer until it matches the shape you want it to have.

I think to understand where the song Anvil comes from, you’ll need to understand the “Hymns for Tomorrow” project that the song is part of. In January 2019, I made a career choice, which for me was the biggest career choice I had made to date. Almost immediately, quite a number of other things started falling out of place: finances (obviously), my faith, relationship, etc. That meant the remaining months of the year I really had to live on the edge and by faith. 2019 thought me how to trust God – I am still learning. It was during this time that I worked on most of the song, Anvil.

I had begun work on the first verse (questions about how sure my source of hope is) and had a fair idea of what I’ll like the second verse to say (answer those questions) when I heard this quote below in a sermon by Ravi Zacharias. The entire sermon was an answer from God to the questions I was battling with. I knew that needed to make it into the song.

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11.  Can you take us through what the lyrics mean and most importantly the choice of words?

You can find annotated lyrics here. I will explain almost each line of the song.

12.  Last one, how do you balance music and your personal life?

I don’t think I have found the balance yet. The truth is, the music ministry has been relegated down the priorities for some time now and that needs to change. Hopefully, when I find that balance, I will let you know.

Thank you very much, David, for taking the time off your busy schedule to share this with me and my audience. I appreciate that.

Song on AudioMack

Song on Spotify