David Usher

Biography

David Usher (born April 24, 1966) is a Canadian musician, best-selling author, and activist best known as the frontman for the band Moist. He has also released a number of solo albums. He is the founder of Reimagine AI, an artificial intelligence creative studio.

Early life

David Usher was born in Oxford, England to Thai Buddhist artist Samphan Usher and Queen's University economics professor Dan Usher. He has lived in various places such as Malaysia, New York City, California and Thailand since early childhood, before his family settled in Kingston, Ontario. He attended high school at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute at the same time that Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip and Hugh Dillon of the Headstones attended the school. Usher attended Queen's University for one semester before transferring to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, majoring in political science.

Career

While studying in Vancouver, Usher helped form the band Moist, composed of Usher on vocals, Mark Makoway on guitars, Jeff Pearce on bass, Kevin Young, who, like Usher, had moved to Vancouver from Kingston, on keyboards, and Paul Wilcox on drums. Usher became the principal songwriter for the band.
Moist's debut album Silver was released in 1994 and went on to achieve quadruple-platinum status, selling 400,000 copies in Canada. Their sophomore album, titled Creature, was released in 1996 and reached triple-platinum status, selling over 300,000 copies.
In 1998, Usher took a year to work on his own recordings. He released his first solo album, Little Songs×Little Songs17 March 1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Trickster3:242St. Lawrence River4:143Jesus Was My Girl3:174Unholy, Dirty and Beautiful3:445Forestfire3:386Babyskin Tattoo3:357F Train2:278Million2:529Final Thoughts and the Last Day on Earth3:0010Mood Song2:56. Most of the album was recorded in the kitchen of David's apartment. The album contains a track titled "Baby Skin Tattoo", which bears no relation to the song of the same name on the Moist album Creature.
In 1999, Moist released their third album, titled Mercedes 5 and Dime, once again achieving multi-platinum status. They followed this with a compilation album and DVD in 2001, titled Machine Punch Through: The Singles Collection, and thereafter entered a hiatus period that would last twelve years.
Usher continued with his solo career, releasing his second solo album, Morning Orbit×Morning Orbit24 July 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1How Are You3:432Too Close to the Sun3:563Black Black Heart3:514Alone in the Universe3:575Butterfly3:236Joy in Small Places4:487A Day in the Life3:448My Way Out4:299Blinded3:5310Fast Car4:4511Closer3:2612Black Black Heart 2.03:26, which sold 90,000 copies. The song "Alone in the Universe×Alone in the Universe2001 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Alone in the Universe (CHR version)3:432Alone in the Universe (Rock version)3:44" was released as the first single, and the album featured collaborations with some members of Moist and with several figures of the Canadian music scene including Jagori Tanna and Bruce Gordon of I Mother Earth, Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip, and the rapper Snow. The album also included a cover of the Tracy Chapman song "Fast Car". A Thai version of the record was released, and included Usher singing in Thai on two of the tracks.
Usher's third solo album, Hallucinations×Hallucinations9 September 2003 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Hallucinations4:052I'm Coming Down4:123Numb3:524Time of Our Lives4:015Devil by My Side4:176Message Home3:417In This Light4:218Surfacing3:569Tomorrow Comes3:5310Tidal0:3211Fearless3:4612If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next5:5213St. Lawrence River (live)4:53Disc 21In This Light (rock version)3:512Butterfly (live)5:213Forestfire (live)4:12, came out in 2003, and includes a cover of the Manic Street Preachers song "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next".
Hallucinations was followed by If God Had Curves, which includes collaborations with Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara, and Bruce Cockburn.
Usher continued to release solo albums throughout the first decade of the 2000s, with Strange Birds×Strange Birds20 March 2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1The Music3:362Brilliant3:513Ugly Is Beautiful4:004So Far Down3:115Spotlight On4:136Science4:127White Flag4:028Happy Endings3:189Life of Bees3:1110Blue2:5511Some People Say4:32 (2007) and Wake Up and Say Goodbye (2008). Strange Birds contains themes inspired by New York City, where Usher had moved with his family. It also includes extensive collaborations with other members of Moist. Wake Up and Say Goodbye includes a bonus track featuring Quebec-based singer Marie-Mai, and the album was nominated for a Juno Award.
In the early 2010s, David Usher released two more solo albums before reforming the band Moist. The Mile End Sessions came out in 2010, and Songs from the Last Day on Earth in 2012. The Mile End Sessions is composed mostly of previously released songs re-recorded in acoustic arrangements, is produced by Moist member Jonathan Gallivan, contains Usher's first French-language recording, and features contributions from Marie-Mai and Cœur de pirate. Songs from the Last Day on Earth is also produced by Jonathan Gallivan.
In 2013, Moist returned from a twelve-year hiatus and recorded their fourth studio album, Glory Under Dangerous Skies, the following year.
In 2016, Usher released his ninth solo studio album, titled Let It Play×Let It Play4 November 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1They Will Believe (In This Love)3:252We Will Be Free3:583Let It Play3:214No Cure4:015Black Black Heart3:226Dream of Flight3:287War Again3:258Who Knows4:079Nothing to Lose3:1810Asleep Underwater3:4411Till the Night Is Gone3:22. The album features English translations of French-Canadian songs, re-recorded originals from Usher's repertoire, as well as high-profile collaborations with artists such as Marie-Mai, Alex Nevsky, Monogrenade, Karim Ouellet, Dumas, Ingrid St-Pierre, Caracol, Daniel Lavoie, Dominique A, and Baden Baden.
Throughout his musical career, Usher has sold more than 1.4 million albums, won four Juno Awards and had several #1 singles singing in English, French, and Thai.
Usher is also the founder of Reimagine AI, an artificial intelligence creative studio based out of Montreal. Reimagine AI integrates interactive and AI technology to build virtual beings.
Usher is the co-creator (with Damon Matthews) of the Climate Clock. Climateclock.net
In 2012 Usher made a presentation about the creative process at the Mesh Marketing conference in Toronto. In 2015 he published a book on creativity and the creative process, titled Let the Elephants Run • Unlock Your Creativity and Change Everything.

Personal life

He is featured in the 2001 MuchMusic special Musicians in the WarZone, a humanitarian documentary directed by filmmaker Liz Marshall, in which he journeys to the northern border of Thailand to visit a large Burmese refugee community.
As of 2018, he lives in Montreal, Quebec, with his family.

Other appearances

"Watching the Wheels" (John Lennon cover) (Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, 2007)