11 songs written and recorded in San Pedro, California in 2018. David Ivar on Santa Cruz Gold: "These songs are the songs of a Swedish-French Jewish immigrant in California. Straight to your ears from my studio, this album was meant to come out for Hannukah, on December 2nd of 2018. I produced and recorded the album, playing almost everything from Drums to Harmonica and had the pleasure to have wonderful guests like Nashville's Caitlin Rose and Steelism, Jolie Holland, Jon Natchez (War On Drugs) and Mayon who sings with me on all songs. I recorded this album after setting up a studio in my garage, for a soundtrack I was working on (Blockbuster, first French Netflix movie). I had just severed ties with all labels, publishers I'd been working with since 2006, and had also completely stopped touring, only performing in San Pedro, Long Beach and the Los Angeles area. Writing and recording at a time when no one was pressuring me to, and I must say at a time when I doubted that anyone would be interested in my songs was more of an existential need than anything else, and definitely not a career move. I shared these songs with David Berman (Poet also known as The Silver Jews) who told me these were my best songs, and even helped me shape the album the way you'll hear it now, editing the tracklist and even some lyrics. If these were my best songs, I was going to make them Gold (a reference to the old 20th century habit of rewarding sales with Gold Records), that's why I called this album Santa Cruz Gold." ***"This guy is the best lyricist going, the only act I've ever put forward that works my kind of turf" - David C. Berman (The Silver Jews) ***"I always follow and collect the songs of David Herman Dune_ from lo-fi home recordings to studio productions! He continually provides me with the very best example of what a songwriter should be, with charm and bravery and tremendous heart." - Jeffrey 'Lightning' Lewis (Singer & Artist) ***"I have said that David-Ivar 'Yaya' Herman Dune is like the Parisian Jonathan Richman. I have said he's like the Leonard Cohen I know. He's a deep songwriter with a powerfully unique voice." - Jolie Holland (Singer)