Connecting through music creates moments. That’s the sort of thing that David Shaw, frontman of indie rockers The Revivalists aims to find, and he does that both as a singer/songwriter for the band and with his own solo work. On Thursday night, he’ll play The Rave for an intimate show with his solo band. We caught up with Shaw ahead of the show, where he called in from a practice space in between sessions with his band:

OMC: You’re coming to Milwaukee separate from The Revivalists. This is not your first solo tour, but is there a little bit of freedom when you get to go kind of do this thing off on your own?
Shaw: It’s different. I still have a lot of freedom in the band. But yeah, it's different. I think it gives me a lot of perspective on both things. I'm one that has learned that yin and yang is a very good thing for me and I think for us all, you know, so this is me, you know, doing my yin. Then I’ll go to the Revs and I’ll do my yang.

OMC: Does it give you an opportunity to try different things as a performer?

Shaw: There's not as many people in the solo band. So there's definitely more freedom melodically, I would say. With the Revs, everybody kind of has their part that they play, and you kind of have to stay somewhat in that part. With the solo band, there's definitely a little more room to take some liberties, I would say.

OMC: You have your second solo album, “Take A Look Inside,”  that you put out this past October. Time wise, when were you able to write this one? Were you on the road, or was it when you came home from tour?

Shaw: Man, it came about within the past two to three years, I would say. I was off and on the road. I don't really write so much on the road, honestly. It feels like such a different part of the brain, and I just can't do it. It just never happens for me. Some people, I think, write better on the road, but not me for sure. 

These songs were written inside my home studio or at a buddy's studio. It all just kind of came about really organically. It was when The Revs had just put out “Pour It Out Into The Night” the year before, and I had all these songs, and it just seemed like a good time to drop them. But that doesn’t stop. I’m sitting in the parking lot of our studio right now with The Revivalists working on new songs already.

OMC: So you’re already back at it, then. When you write, are you able to distinguish between what you want to be a Revivalists song as opposed to being one of your own?

Shaw: Yes, I'm starting to be able to figure that out. I don't want to bring a song to the band and be like “we're doing this song, guys.” I don't want to be like that at all. Now I'm like, “okay, here's a bunch of songs. What are the pieces that you guys are gravitating towards?” So I've kind of realized what tunes people are going to be excited about, you know? If I'm super excited about a song, I think they'll be able to tell.

It's been a bit of a road with that because the Revivalists or myself have never really shied away from any kind of genre, honestly. We kind of want to try to defy that as much as possible. It's challenging, because some could be either one at all times. It really goes down to what are the songs that people are excited about? That's the songs that I want to do.

OMC: You’ve spent some time now in New Orleans. Being around so much culture and different styles of music, does any of that find its way into what you’re doing, either with The Revivalists or solo?

Shaw: I think it gets in there for sure. New Orleans is very much an artist, counterculture city. The circles that I hang in and the people that I'm with and, you know, the stuff that I like to be around. I think it's very much it gets in there for sure. 

There might even be a little bit in New Orleans music that creeps its way in there, as well. I mean, it has to. We hear it. I mean, when I wake up in the morning at 6 a.m. with my daughter, I'm not putting on Queens of the Stone Age, you know? And I love that band. But I'm putting on some of Charlie Gabriel's solo record, or Preservation Hall, or Allen Toussaint. Something that's like, that's the vibe.

OMC: What’s the overall goal of getting to play out solo like this?

Shaw: That's a tough one because we're always striving. I feel like it’s for a connection beyond just regurgitating the songs live, you know? And it doesn't always happen. I don't think there's really any difference in the thing that I'm trying to get across or the performance that I'm trying to give with the solo band or the Revivalists. It’s more like when everyone is in a moment, you just know it, you know? If you think about it too much, then you're out.

OMC: It’s like a flow state sort of thing. 

Shaw: That is the word right there. The flow state. So I think that's actually the take away of this. Can we get to flow state in the show? That is what I want to do.

You can catch David Shaw of The Revivalists on Thursday night at The Rave. Tickets are currently available via The Rave website.