It's not often that I get to exchange bedtime routines with a songwriter. But that's what Dave Hause and I did at the end of our interview. We had been talking for about 50 minutes and established that we had a great deal in common, so it's probably little surprise that it came to this point. We both read a lot of magazines. Too many, really, to keep up with. So they just pile up next to our beds, waiting to be read. The second we finish one, two more arrive.
Hause's songwriting process and reading material reflect his high level of engagement with his environment. And this level of engagement makes for one thing: Hause is a smart and introspective man. He doesn't just give me answers, he tells me why he does what he does. And he's able to do this because he's constantly thinking about his place in the world. He reads Rolling Stone for the political articles and GQ for the non-fiction. He's constantly picking up auditory and visual cues for song ideas, and he has an endless supply of notebooks and Blackberry files to show for it.
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