Broken Records Magazine was privileged to have the opportunity to interview Dustin Kensrue (Thrice) on his solo project and the ideas that propel his music.
1. Why are you touring with solo music?
Dustin: “Supporting the solo record. And at the core of it, I’m doing it to put food on the table. As much as I love sharing my music with people, that love pales in comparison to my love for my family and I would never willingly leave them for longer than a few days if it wasn’t to benefit them in some other way.”
2. Will you entertain an electric tour? Non acoustic…
Dustin: “For the next two legs of the solo tour I will have a band called The Rocketboys opening the show and then backing me for a majority of my set.”
3. What song do you feel is the most fun to play live?
Dustin: “I really most enjoy playing covers usually. There is something very different about bringing someone else creation to life and inhabiting it. “Down There By The Train,” by Tom Waits, is what I’ve been closing many shows with for some time now.”
Photo by: Kyle Neuenhaus
4. Will you be likely to continue your solo career regardless of Thrice?
Dustin: “I wouldn’t say regardless as I regard those fellows quite a bit. But I will continue making music in some form as long as I’m allowed. And I imagine that much of that will be solo material.”
5. What empowers your music and writing process between the two? (Thrice lyrics are much more about the human condition, solo more personal.)
Dustin: “I don’t see a sharp distinction between the subject matter necessarily, but the style of the music ends up influencing the style of the lyrics for me, which probably ends up bringing causing me to tackle similar topics from different perspectives and voices.”
6. Where does your inspiration for your writing / music come from? How do you generate you initial spark to create something? Does it vary?
Dustin: “It does vary quite a bit. A spark might be a good way to think about it. I can’t create sparks, but I can search them out or keep a sharp eye out for them. And then catch them, the sparks, and keep them glowing, until I gather fuel to burn and set it up to make a fire. I record melodies constantly as well as jotting down bits and pieces of ideas that could turn into a song later.”
Photo by: Kyle Neuenhaus
7. How do you edit your own work? How do you decide which songs to include on an album and which ones to eliminate?
Dustin: “I am very analytic and very perfectionistic when it comes to building and especially finishing a song. So much so that there are no songs I’ve ever finished that have just sat off the side. For me to finish a song it has to be to the point where I believe that it is great and worth putting out there. As far as sifting through all of the pieces of songs I have stored up, I just try to develop the ones that feel like they aren’t going away. Like they’re going to pester me until I set them free.”
8. How do you decide who you are going to artistically collaborate with onthe album art? How much input do you have regarding it’s design?
Dustin: “It depends. I’ve worked with Jordan before and he is a friend, so those factors together weigh heavily. He is also an amazing designer. The art for this record has been a cool collaboration between Jordan, myself, and Myriam who took the photos. I’ve also known Myriam for a long time and she is amazing. And then we’ve also collaborated now with Vern Moen and Andrew Van Baal. I have been adamant from the start that I wanted to have a unified aesthetic across the board for anything visual relating to the record. The commentary videos were also my brainchild and it was great working with Andrew to flesh those out.”
9. What message do you want people to get from your solo music? What is it’s mission?
Dustin: “There is no specific mission for this music, no explicit purpose as opposed to writing a marching song or a hymn. Broadly when I create, my hopes are that what I create would challenge, inspire, convict, comfort, enliven, and bring joy to those who would hear it. These are all tied to truth in once way or another, and therefor what I believe to be true cannot be separated from any of it, but that does not mean that each song or creation must therefor be an explicit appeal or argument for one truth or another. I believe artists should be careful of being overly didactic.”
10. If you could choose anywhere in the world to write and album where would that be? What place would you feel most connected to?
Dustin: “There is a studio I saw a picture of once that is out in the middle of nowhere in Iceland. It was absolutely gorgeous. I would not mind recording there at all.”
11. Why is music important?
Dustin: “Well, it’s either a gift from God or an absurd accident of nature (which we would also be in that scenario.) I choose to believe the former and I think with how much music affects us, and the specifically with the ways that it affects us, I think most people would intuit the same answer in some sense even if they would argue against it intellectually. What I’m getting at is that your view of music’s importance is wrapped up inextricably with your anthropological, teleological, and theological assumptions and assertions.”