Introduction: Dog Fashion Disco, Bio
Interview by: Laura DeSantis-Olsson
Interview: Todd Smith of Dog Fashion Disco
“The band was started in 1998 by 5 high school friends, made some records, toured a lot, broke up in 2007. Formed Polkadot Cadaver, made some records, toured a lot. Decided being broken up was dumb in 2014. Did crowd funding campaign for a new album and raised $85K…” – Dog Fashion Disco Biography
1. How did Dog Fashion Disco choose the name of the new album?
Todd: “Well, it was just kind of a random suggestion I threw at our guitar player, Jasan, “What do you think about “Sweet Nothings?” It had a cool ring to it. It seemed to be received positively by the members of the band, so we just kind of went with it. It wasn’t really anything we labored over for a long time. It was kind of like, “Hey, what about “Sweet Nothings?” “Oh, that’s cool, yeah let’s go with it,” we said. Then we had the idea for the album cover, with the play on Red Riding Hood speaking sweet nothings into a very pissed-off wolf’s ear. It all seemed to come together. I think it works.”
2. I read, with Sweet Nothings, you are back to the original band line up of Dog Fashion Disco. How many line ups did it go through to get to where you are now?
Todd: “Oh my god, we had so many members in that band. It’s technically, right now, not the original, original line up. It’s the line up from our Adultery touring cycle that we did after that album came out in 2006. I’m the only actual original member who has been in the band since the beginning. The line-up we have right now is the Adultery line up. Our original drummer, John Ensminger, is the one on the album. At the same time, we tour with our drummer that replaced him after he left in 2003 for the first time. There are so many members in the band it’s kind of like a spinal tap joke. It’s like, I mean, if you go on wikipedia and look up Dog Fashion Disco, the past members is like 13 or 14 people. However, when you have a band that’s been together for almost 20 years, and 17 of those years you’re not making any money, people tend to come and go. There is a high turn over rate. I guess we are the Domino’s Pizza of metal bands.”
“Initially there were three horn players in the band. There have just been so many members that come and go. They leave for so whatever reasons, such as to get a real job, start a family or, whatever. The constant members in this band are Jasan and me. However, like I said, the guys who are in the band now have been a part of DFD since we disbanded in 2006, 2007, around there. It’s not like there’s only one original guy and a bunch of hired ones, you know. There is a history there. There is a decade worth of friendships and collaboration. It’s not a bastard child of what it once was. That’s what I am trying to say.”
3. It’s now eight years since Dog Fashion Disco’s last album was released. Why was there was that much time in between albums?
Todd: “Well technically, when we disbanded in 2007, we had gone on a tour that we had headlined and come home and all the guys had different agendas. For myself, I can speak personally, that I was staring 30 right in the face and really had nothing to speak of. When we split up, we probably each had $500 bucks in the bank. We had a tour that was on the horizon and it just seemed like we were kind of just treading water and not really making any progress. I needed to take some time off and save some money and buy a house and feel like I had my future a little bit planned out. Unfortunately a lot of bands come to an end because of money. But I mean you have to pay the rent, or the mortgage, somehow. You have to take care of your kids, if you have them, somehow. You have to feel like you are not living your life being broke and chasing a pipe dream. So at that point we disbanded. Everybody went on their own way and did there own thing. But music is in my blood so we continued with another band, Polkadot Cadaver. We recorded albums and played a few shows here and there and then that turned into more and more touring. Then, you know, you get back in the game and we figured, “Hey why not put Dog Fashion Disco back together and have fun with friends that we have known for a long time, do some touring, and just see what happens.” Currently, so far so good. We are at a different place monetarily than we were then. We are still underground, but we have enough of a fan base. We can continue and justify continuing. So we figure… it’s like a family reunion. So, you gotta hold on.”
4. “I wish I knew what I know now” is something we think of. What would you comment about this phrase in terms of Dog Fasion Disco?
Todd: “Absolutely, the mistakes that we made back then, that you learned from, makes a world of difference on how those mistakes can be so detrimental to a band: thinking that you should get a motel room every night when you are on tour; or, not really exploiting merchandising as far as tee shirts and as far as making vinyls for your albums or selling CD’s and hats, etc. I mean you get a guarantee every night, but, if you have interesting cool merchandise then your fans will buy it. That’s more money in your pocket. The most recent tour we did, we played 29 shows in 32 days and when all was said and done we had $40-$50 thousand dollars in expenses. So, if you don’t find ways to capitalize on being out there and trying to kick ass every night, you’re going to sink. You’ve got to be smart about it. And these are the things you don’t realize when you are in your 20’s and just worried about getting laid and drinking beer.”
5. You use the word “business.” Why do you think business is never discussed initially when someone wants to become a musician?
Todd: “Well, I think initially when you are young in your teens, or early 20’s, you just want to go out and kind of share your music with the world and you don’t have a lot of responsibilities, you don’t have a lot of bills to pay, you don’t have a lot of things that you need to take care of, first and foremost. You go out on the road and party and play music and travel around. Everything else is secondary next to somehow getting yourself in a band and going on tour, and being young, stupid, and carefree. But that whole thing comes to an end pretty quickly when you have that sort of mid-life crisis where you’re like, I should have more than I have now. I mean, everything isn’t materialistic: having a great TV, or the biggest house, or being able to buy a house, or make your rent. You know when you’re young, it’s like, “who cares” I’m going to live forever and everything is going to work out. But at a certain point, you are like Ok, Ok, it’s time to grow up a little… it’s time to put my priorities in place. We are by no means a huge band. We are by no means anything but underground but we have a loyal fan base that loves what we do, no matter what band it is, no matter what you call it, no matter what style of song we put out, there’s a core amount of people who love what we do. Without them, this whole party would have ended a decade ago. So, I mean if you have that core fan base that supports you, you can be almost 39 years old, still be underground, and still do it. That’s the impetus for continuing.”
6. What made you stay in the game so long? What picture do you have in your mind of where you want to go with this? What makes you keep going?
Todd: “I mean there’s just the fan base.. I feel like we’re in a stride right now, where we’re writing the best material that we have ever done. I don’t feel that we are struggling for new ideas. I think that it is flowing out so effortlessly, that we would cheat ourselves to not nurture what we have built upon… and people still care. It’s just in our blood to do this. Will I be in my 50’s touring and making records? Who knows? However, for right now I still feel like a spry young guy. I can get up on stage; give them hell and breaking sweat. People seem to enjoy it. No sense in slowing down.”
“A lot of people, looking at an underground musician, looking at somebody in their 50’s think like “why haven’t you given up?” Why would you give up? If you are out there doing it, people are listening and caring, and your hearts in the right place, why would you not do it? If you are enjoying it, who cares? Age has nothing to do with anything. A million albums has nothing to do with anything? If you’re out there kicking ass in a club and there are 100 people, why would you not continue that if that is what you love doing. It’s like, “Boo you’re not huge!!!” Well, ok, but at the end of the day, if you are out there seeing 50 people in a club in the middle of nowhere and they come out, pay their hard-earned dollars, and they sing your words back to you, that’s cool. That’s what it is all about. That’s what you dream about when you’re a young kid, playing a broom in front of a mirror, listening to whatever, when you’re 13. You know. That’s what it is all about.”
7. Making music is part of your life. Will there come a time when you think you will stop making music?
Todd: “Even if we decided not to tour anymore, we’d still make records and put out music. It’s too much fun. It’s like, to actually make money from it kind of feels like you’re cheating the world. I’m having so much fun doing something and I am actually paying my mortgage while doing it. That’s great.”
8. What messages are you sending with this music, this album? Are some political? Where did you pull the feelings from?
Todd: “I don’t like to be “preachy” as far as politics go. Some of the subject matter on the new album is abstract and some is pretty literal. However, “We Aren’t The World” in particular, is….. I think if people maybe took a step back and realized that they’re not the epicenter of the entire universe, and maybe thought a little more about other people instead of themselves…. that’s kind of the gist of that whole thing. When that song “We Are The World” came out, when that song title popped in my head, it just kind of seemed to me …… If people thought about others before themselves a little more, then this world would be a better place. That’s my inner-hippy coming out.”
Dog Fashion Disco – “We Aren’t The World”
9. Does everyone in the band decide what the overall message is going to be before the writing process begins?
Todd: “Well, I mean, I’m definitely the mouthpiece for the lyrics. It’s completely a collaborative effort as far as the music goes. I’m not opposed to other people offering lyrics or song titles or whatever. We’ve definitely been at this game long enough, where it’s not like, “me, me, me”; “I do this”; “you do that”; “don’t step on my toes”… So, I’m always up for suggestions. However, the lyrics definitely fall on my lap. I take pride in them and I think they’re pretty good. I’m very protective about my lyrics.”
10. What is the writing process that you guys usually use? Technically. And how did it work out for this album?
Todd: “The writing process usually starts with guitar riffs and, on this album in particular, our keyboard player wrote two songs complete, from beginning to end. Our guitar player wrote four and I wrote six. But that’s not usually the ratio for other albums that we’ve done. It’s kind of like whoever gets their creative juices flowing, and everybody is digging the direction of the songs, they end up making it on the album. For the most part, my keyboard player, Jasan, our guitar player, and myself, were kind of throwing the songs we had out, and everybody was all about them. This album came together so easily, it came together too easily almost, which is a great thing. There was no writer’s block or any of that going on. There was a lot of creativity flowing and we just shared ideas, laid it down, and then everybody added to the puzzle until it made a complete picture.”
11. Who produced this album and why did you choose to work with them?
Todd: “It was recorded and produced by Drew Lemond and Steve Wright from Wright Wing studios in Baltimore, actually located a block over from my house. We’ve worked with them for almost 10 years. So it’s like two extensions of the band, two additional band members almost. We trust their opinion. We bounce ideas off of them. We don’t even think for a minute that we can’t rely on their opinion. It’s one of those things. If we need an opinion that will be the tie-breaker then those two guys are absolutely essential in decision making.”
12. How was the response to the release of the Sweet Nothings album release party in your home town?
Todd: “It was great, it was great. We had a packed house and, yeah, as far as I can see, the feed-back for the album and the release party is just 100% glowing. People love this record. I think we set a high bench-mark with our last album that we put out before our hiatus. For the most part, it’s a pretty well-received album.”
Dog Fashion Disco, Title Track – “Sweet Nothings”
13. Would you say the positive response was the same for the tour the band did in May and June?
Todd: “Yeah, yeah, that was great. We had a great tour. A lot of enthusiasm out in the audience, and people were excited to see the band back together. It’s been 100% awesome.
14. What was one of the nicest compliments a fan has given you about the new music? Did anything stick out in your mind as to what someone told you about their listening experience?
Todd: “There have been several comments where people say that we’ve refined our song writing and it sounds mature and that the lyrics are some of the best that I’ve ever written. It’s great to hear. I’m pretty proud of all of our music. But, if we keep out-doing ourselves, that’s a good feeling, if people feel that way. It’s pretty cool to hear that we still got it and not just going through the motions. Our fans are not shy about giving their opinions. So, they let us have it with small criticisms of a 10 second snip-it of one song. It would be like “whoa, it sounds kind of muddy”, or “I don’t know about that guitar part.” It’s like alright, you’re being a little too specific. You’re never going to please everybody. However, I mean, when you put your heart into something and then people embrace it and love it, it’s a killer feeling. Everyone seems to be happy so far.”
15. On this particular album, did you still have any musical influences?
Todd: “To be quite honest with you, I really don’t listen to that much music. It’s a lot less than I use to. Whenever Clutch comes out with something, I’ll definitely pay attention. If Faith and War does another album, I will definitely be first in line to check that out. However, in particular, all my metal favorites are bands that started in the 80’s. I’m not a big fan of newer metal by any means. I’m extremely picky and kind of a prick when it comes to music. I don’t know. I’m just very hard to please. I have my staples of bands that I listen to and they’re all bands that I sort of listened to in my early 20’s. I don’t do well with newer bands. But as far as this record goes…NO, there wasn’t anything really as a strong influence. We just wrote. You know. We knew we had to come up with an album that was pretty killer and we just wrote. And it ended up the way it ended up.”
16. In the grand scheme of history where do you want you music to lie?
Todd: “The thing I am most proud of about our music in general is that we really don’t follow any trend. And we never have. With a lot of bands, their fans expect one type of music. And we have the autonomy to do whatever the hell we want. It has probably worked out to be a blessing and be detrimental at the same time, because it takes a open mind to like a band that does a country song and then also does a really heavy metal song, or a ska song, or a jazz break down in the middle of heavy riffing. We wrote our own rules and didn’t really follow any trends or a flavor of the week kind of thing. It’s nice to be able to write whatever you want and know that for the most part our fans will embrace it because they like the unexpected and they don’t know what to expect from our albums. I think the thing they know to expect is the unexpected, if that’s not too cheesy.”
17. Why is music important to us as human beings?
Todd: “Well, the good thing about music is that the listener can interpret it in their own unique way and they make something that somebody else created very personal to them. You get goose bumps on your arm, the hair stands up and you get an overwhelming feeling that reminds you of a certain point in your life when you hear a song… those things mean a lot to people. I definitely have those moments too. I have songs that remind me of people who are no longer here, and when you hear them it’s a snap-shot in time. It takes you right back there. Those are special moments for people. It captures a feeling, it captures a moment in your life, and they’re always there with you. Anytime you want to press play, you can take a trip back to whatever it reminds you of, or whatever was going on at that time. It’s a cool thing that you can do and kind of just enjoy as long as you want.”
18. It is very unique and abstract, how did the band choose the name, “Dog Fashion Disco?”
Todd: “This is the most unexciting story ever. We were trying to think of names. We were originally called HAPPY?, yes, with a question mark. We were called RAPTURE, which is lame. Then we decided to agree upon the lamest pen name ever “Dog Fashion Disco’ which was suggested by our guitar player’s cousin. She just put those three words together and said “what do you think about this?” and we agreed. It’s been a curse ever since. But some people like it. For me, I heard so many people I tell our band’s name to, say, “I really don’t like disco”. Then I have to go, well we really don’t play disco. Then why is your band name “Dog Fashion Disco”? Then, my blood pressure is up and I have to walk away. It’s been a curse ever since 1995. That’s how it came about. Knowing what I know now I would have named it something not in anyway mentioning disco. People get totally thrown by that.”
19. Is there anything I didn’t ask about your new album that you want to share here?
Todd; “Just that people can down-load it on i-tunes; come out and see a show; check out our tour dates. Also, if anyone is not familiar with the other bands we are involved with: Polkadot Cadaver and El Creepo, check those out. There is definitely a ton of material out there, if they’re not familiar with the band(s), to dive into. We also have our own record label called “Razor to Wrist.” Spread the word.