I just learned about redemption versus contaminated stories on Hidden Brain. D’Lakes newest album, Heaven is a Silent Disco, could be the soundtrack to that show/idea. The concept of making things better and it’s a joy to listen to the album from start to finish. It’ll be just as much fun to see the band live on Nov 30 at the Green Room. You can get more info on the album from the five answers from Dew d’Lakes below.
Dare to Be Bogus – whoa. Remind me not to get on your bad side. The sound is cheerful, the words are damning. Part of me wants to ask how you’re doing but maybe I’ll just ask about the inspiration.
I’m doing great now (aside from minor self-inflicted shoulder pain haha). Writing is such a great tool for expelling big emotions, while still validating them – it’s my main way of processing things, which probably explains why I have a bunch of unreleased stuff that is way too embarrassing to release, now that I think of it. I see Dare to Be Bogus as an initial reaction to growing apart in a complicated relationship – I wanted it to be very anthemic and loud, since that was the feeling at the time, plus it’s a good song to start with so the rest of the album could recover and grow. I was watching a lot of Italian Horror films from the 70’s at the time, which is where the La Notte Dei Dannati reference comes from. It’s funny how we put ourselves into the media we consume and if you’re in the business of creating more media then at a certain point it all becomes referential.
The rest of the album seems like a step into a lighter world, a happier world. That’s probably the inspiration I really want to know about. Can you tell us more? Is it a continuing story?
Absolutely! The rest of the album is about the many realizations I had after meeting my (now) fiancé. I was able to learn a lot about what it’s like to be in an equal partnership and to have mutual admiration with someone. So in a way it was a continuing story, but with new characters. The album essentially takes the listener through being in the joys of meeting a life partner! Occasionally throughout the album, I slip back into the mindset that starts the album off, but it always becomes less significant, until the song Four Steps where I really let go. From that point onward, it continually gets happier and happier. I wanted to leave everything on the best note possible, since ultimately, this band is just about expressing queer joy, even if it takes a few detours along the way.
How was the making of the second album different from the first? Do you have any notes or suggestions you want to share (or remind yourself) for when you’re looking at starting album three?
With the first album, Unforgettable Cheer, I was finishing writing it and recording it during the lockdown portion of the pandemic. I literally had nothing else going on other than teaching music lessons over zoom, and making weird cocktails haha. As I started to work on this record, I was back in the swing of working a bunch, finally seeing friends again, etc. and it just stretched the whole process out. But I was super happy about how our drummer Ben Ehrlich and I produced/recorded/mixed nearly the whole thing, with help from Matt Holmes on a few of the songs. I also definitely enjoyed coming up with parts more for Heaven Is A Silent Disco – I was essentially composing the entirety of our first album, whereas with this new one, I just noodled around until something I liked came up. Thinking ahead to album three, my goal is to give more and more space for everyone in the band to write their own parts. We dabbled with that a bit on this album (Ben listened to the songs a bunch and added super fitting drums; Patrick Adkins, our synth player, came up with really awesome harmonies, effects, and patches; our bass player, Graydon Peterson, came up with pretty much everything for “Not So So-So Anymore” and a few others, but as much as I like playing bass, I’d love to hear what a d’Lakes album with all Graydon bass sounds like. Also our new member Alma Engebretson is one of the most fun vocalists I’ve met, so I’m sure we’d come up with some wacky stuff together.
It seems like Pleasantness gives a nod to the days of pandemic. Does that just speak to the timing of everything else in your life or is it a fingerprint of the lasting impact of that time in our lives?
A little of both for sure! It was an ode to the band members and turned into a more general idea. The nice thing about being in this band is we all have long histories with each other. Graydon has been a foundation of the Twin Cities jazz scene for years and had played with Ben and Patrick a bunch in the past, Ben and I grew up in the same neighborhood, Patrick and Alma have been in the band SPACE for years, Elizabeth and I went to college together, I could go on! The point is, I love them all and want more opportunities to travel with them. As I met my fiancé, we realized pretty quickly that we travel super well together, so it reminds me of him a bunch as well, but yes, it was definitely written after a big covid surge and right as we were all getting vaccinated. The hope for the future and the promise that we could all get back together one day soon, was the main inspiration for that track. It’s definitely become a favorite!
And speaking of pandemic – personal silent discos (which I always called solo discos) saved me during the pandemic. I’d dance with headphones in my room for hours. How would you like to see people celebrate Heaven is a Silent Disco? I mean – after the release party. Can you tell us more about that too please?
Yeah, what are you doing if you aren’t dancing in your house regardless of who’s there or not! I got a lot more into dancing over the pandemic, probably just because I wasn’t so active, but was still buzzing with energy, who knows? I think it definitely shows in the grooves on this album. We put so much work into each of these songs and just really want them to be heard! Tell your friends, your dog, your parents, the random junk drawer that’s in every house, everyone and everything! As for the release, we’ll be performing our hearts off at Green Room on Thursday, November 30th! Our performance artists will be joining us, additional performers with the band, we have our amazing friends from Spaceport and Drug League opening up the night! I literally couldn’t think of a better time! Be there or be dodecahedron!
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