Music Landing:

Before he lands at Space 101 next Wednesday, Dan Sullivanthe man behind the music of Nad Navillus will have played in Toronto, Montreal, Brooklyn, Washington D.C. and more with guitar in hand and Parker Paul by his side. \nTraveling on a shoestring budget and crashing at friends' and relatives' houses, Sullivan and Paul are promoting their latest albums from Bloomington's Jagjaguwar Records indie-style. \nSullivan has been playing music since he was a child. Partner to many musical projects, Sullivan says he got his break when he met up with Jason Molina, songwriter of Songs: Ohia (produced on Secretly Canadian, Jagjaguwar's parent label). Sullivan has since toured with Songs: Ohia, played bluegrass with his brothers and completed session work with various artists. Sullivan released a new disc of his own fingerstyle songwriting, Show Your Face, last November. Dan's newest album takes him past the instrumental work on his first solo release and brings him to the galaxy of songwriting. He also appears on Paul's newest release and is heading into the studio for his next.\nPaul has been playing music "for a long, long time" and isn't thinking of quitting yet. He is currently pushing his October release Wingfoot, filled with deep vocals and gritty lyrics (the second verse of "When I Got You at the Pound" starts with "When you ate that poison rat, / The morphine variant made you / Throw up at the vet). Keith Hanlon joins him and Sullivan on drums. Paul's description on Jagjaguwar's Web site hails back to a starkly indie pretext: "You should have no illusions. The future for Parker Paul is still unclear. But he is resolute on one thing: not relying on critical acclaim, on ivory towers alone, to spread the word. The masses will come or Parker Paul will fade permanently into obscurity." \nSullivan and Paul gave up some time to answer questions about the tour and their music last week.\nNad Navillus\nQ: Have you ever played Bloomington before?\nA: Well I played Bloomingtonfest this summer, that was without a doubt the best festival I've ever participated in in terms of the quality of music… You could easily see a bunch of bands… I just got back from South By Southwest which is the exact opposite of that. I've had good shows in Bloomington, the people are respectful. It's always a good time in Bloomington if nothing else to see the folks who are hanging out at the offices (of Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar).\nQ:What differences are there in your new album compared to your last?\nA: The first CD I released on a small label here in Chicago was all instrumental and Show Your Face has singing on every song. It's not that I woke up one morning and decided to sing; I've been singing since I was a kid. It also forced me to work harder on my songwriting. Once you start working on the craft of songwriting, it's just this never-ending process. The masters of it have been working on it their entire lives. It's a timeless art. I think that's what I try to develop in my songwriting, maybe so more than other people, is a more involved musical approach -- really thinking about the way the song sounds, not just the lyrics.\nQ: What do you try to accomplish at live shows?\nA: I think as a performer you're always looking to reach deeper to your audience, maybe in a way that you haven't before. You're trying to do justice to the complexity of emotions and of our lives without sounding trite or heavy-handed. You want to try simultaneously to touch people… with your songs… I like to engage them as an instrumentalist to play the guitar in a way that they find engaging and sing in a way that touches them emotionally.\nQ: What does the future hold for you?\nA: I think just trying to increase my scope nationally and internationally, that would be my focus for the foreseeable future. Continue to make music that I find challenging to myself and others. I think when you start looking at music as a potential career, it doesn't change your outlook on music necessarily; it changes the way you look at the big picture.\nParker Paul\nQ: What are you doing to prepare for the tour?\nA: Danny is building a loft right now in the back of the van. You do your laundry, you find someone to dog-sit, then you practice, practice, practice. \nQ: How would you compare recording in the studio to touring?\nA: Well, you're nervous and you're spending money when you're in the studio. But when you're playing it's fun and you're having a good time. It's not the final deal -- you're just letting it rip.\nQ: Do you have the option of quitting your day job and playing music full time?\nA: I can quit anytime and play music, I just won't have any money. I think if I didn't work my music would be a lot more boring… My big challenge would be finding a good valet to buff the suede on my rock boots.\nQ: What are you looking for in the tour?\nA: That we become a cohesive unit and lay down a trail of incendiary wooha… It's a lot louder when you have a group. Sometimes it's a lot more fun.