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Nick DiSalvo has been forging some of the best riff-filled epics from the past decade, seamlessly weaving threads of psychedelic, prog and metal into a beautiful and singular amalgam. Best known as the singer and guitarist for Elder, he’s been pretty busy over the last few years with some remarkable solo and side projects such as delving and Weite.
TB: A few months ago you wrapped up your biggest tour yet, opening a couple dozen shows for Tool. How did that come about? What were your expectations going in, and did they match your experience?
Nick: We met Danny Carey some years ago at Stumpfest in Portland, Oregon. It’s a small festival run by his partner and her sister. He’s a real music lover and hangs around the festival too, aside from also going to gigs regularly in LA and he just sort of became a friend. The band takes turns choosing their support bands, and when it came to be his turn again for this recent run, he asked us. There was no management or palm-greasing involved, just the insane good fortune for him to like Elder.
Some friends who had done similar support tours offered up their insights into what to expect on a tour like that, but I personally went in with no real expectations. I hoped that crowds would dig us or at least listen with an open mind, and that turned out to be the case. I didn’t expect that doing the tour would turn us into a household name overnight, and that also turned out to be the case. Overall it was a great experience to test our mettle on the big stage and see that it by and far worked.
TB: Given that you only had ~30 min to play each night, how did you pick what songs would be played? A formidable challenge as ten minute songs are kinda your hallmark. If setlist.fm can be trusted it looks like you kept it pretty standard but tossed in “Compendium” or “Blind” a couple of times. What’s your favorite song to play live?
Nick: Indeed to play 30 minutes (or even 40, as they ended up giving us after a week) it was a challenge to find songs that would 1) showcase a variety of songs, 2) be somewhat easily understandable in a huge, booming room if you’ve never heard them before, and 3) find common ground with the average Tool fan’s musical diet. We found a few tracks that we thought fit the criteria and pared them down to the point where we could make a sort of medley. Sadly it didn’t allow us a lot of experimentation within the setlist, but we decided it would be better to play a few songs tight every night rather than try to mix it up too much. After a while you start to see what resonates with crowds and can change it up based on that. Probably my all-time favorite song to play live is “The Falling Veil.” There are a lot of twists and turns in that one and some really fun and challenging guitar riffs.
TB: Did you get to interact with Maynard at all and if so, what was that like?
Nick: No, I don’t think anyone had an interaction with him. He’s a very private guy.
TB: In addition to delving, you’ve also got Weite as a side project. Can you go into the different approaches and goals of these two? Will Gold and Silver make a reappearance? Side question – on Weite’s “Rope,” there definitely sounds like a distinct Tortoise influence there, which is a bit different from the usual touchstones I hear in your work; am I crazy or is that valid?
Nick: delving is what I’d consider my solo project, since I write and record 100% of the music with the exception of a few keyboard parts, for which I’ve hired a friend to help since I just suck at playing keys. I write music for delving much in the same way that I write for Elder, which is in my home studio. I think the principle difference in delving is that I don’t want a musical identity in the same way that Elder is a ‘heavy rock band’. It’s a project that I feel free in exploring whatever sounds I want to, though admittedly so far I haven’t strayed terribly far from the psych-rock world.
In Weite, I am not the principal songwriter. At least it’s closer to a democratic thing, but I’m not near the front seat with that band, which is great. “Rope” for instance was written entirely by the guitarists in the band (I play drums). The Tortoise influence is definitely not imagined, we all love that band.
TB: Recent posts tell us that a new delving record is in the works. Are any live shows planned in support? Are there any shifts in sounds for this one as compared to the first one? Do you write and hold riffs/song bits for specific bands, or is it just “next riff up” gets used?
Nick: The new album will come out on August 23rd and a European tour is planned for November/December of this year. In my opinion it’s one of the coolest albums I’ve ever made and I’m really proud of it. I’d generally say that it’s a lot more prog rock than the first one. It’s also more explorative in general… more different influences coming together. It’s long too, over an hour. There was a time when I used to write and record without any real purpose and call back on ideas when I was in a rut, but now I’m pretty much writing specifically for the various bands I play in.
TB: You’ve lived in Germany for a while now. Do you think it’s affected the music you create, or would you be doing the same thing if you still lived in the States?
Nick: It’s hard to say. I think that I’d probably be making slightly different music if I lived in the States. Where I live in Berlin is a very urban environment. There is a great music scene, lots of inspiration and input coming in from going to gigs and in general it’s a creative environment. When I moved from Boston to Berlin almost a decade ago I think the initial shock to the system really did inspire a lot of ideas that couldn’t have happened otherwise. Now I feel myself often daydreaming about taking a creative reprieve in nature. I think that your natural environment definitely influences the way you create.
TB: What’s in store for the rest of 2024?
Nick: The delving record is coming at the end of August, we’ve got a live Elder album around the same time, then in November we’re anticipating the next Weite record will come out. In the meantime I’m working on a new Elder record and playing various festivals with the bands. There’s really never a dull moment!
