Song Spotlight: D.A. Stern's I Never Said I Was The One (a night at Club Tee Gee)

Before Los Angeles was flooded by a series of holiday storms, D.A. Stern opened up the night at Club Tee Gee for an AM Presents Music showcase. Based on his Spotify bio, he's a New Jersey native who eventually made his way to Los Angeles. He must be a big baseball fan as his bio mentioned that while in New Jersey he'd spend time watching the Yankees with his mom and that once in Los Angeles he lived close to Dodgers Stadium. As for his music, "Stern’s laid back, tongue-in-cheek lyrics effortlessly compliment his dreamy pop rock arrangements of dense guitars and swirling organs. The music of D.A. Stern, who is more inspired by filmmakers Albert Brooks and Mel Brooks than any songwriter . . . "

D.A. Stern at Club Tee Gee

I can totally understand getting inspiration from movies versus music while from an arts perspective being more involved in the world of music. In these blog posts as well as blog posts I write for other sites, I will often compare music to movies or television series that I love (or how the music impacted the movies). My first love is movies as compared to music. That likely explains why my involvement in the Los Angeles music scene is from the photography side versus playing in a band. I attempt to capture the most perfect scene. 

Noticed: to expand on the sound of his three piece band, that included one musician who switched between a couple saxophones and a flute, he hand a boombox. He didn't have a drummer as part of his three piece so the boombox provided some pacing. 

D.A. Stern at Club Tee Gee

Noticed 2: Club Tee Gee doesn't exactly have a large music area. With the area already set-up with a drum set and keyboard that would be used by the next band of the night, he and his three band mates were dealing with an even more cramped space. Yet, that didn't prevent him from created a nice little dance floor for his legs and feet to put on some moves. 

When it came to the setlist, "Not A Punk" and "I Never Said I Was The One" stood out as songs about relationships that weren't meant to be. "Not A Punk" is about two diverse personalities. Maybe they got together for awhile or maybe it was more of an arm's length attraction.  "I was watching Jeopardy . . . You were . . . reading zines by vegan teens who dumpster dive . . . "

D.A. Stern at Club Tee Gee

The song spotlight has to go to "I Never Said I Was The One." The song was introduced with, "This is a slow dance. A mean slow dance. It is a song with an instrumental sound that one could imagine being played at the Back to the Future prom dance. Yet, the lyrics of the song just wouldn't be a fit for couples dancing the night away.  

Don’t you get so sentimental.
It’s not the end of the world.
Love isn’t always so gentle.

Are the two songs about the same individual? I would say no.  

Partial Setlist: Lulav, Karen, I Never Said I Was The One, Not A Punk, Don't Take Your Heartache Out On The World.

If interested, he'll be playing Permanent Records Roadhouse on January 28th.