On Februray 3rd Dent May will be introduced to the music loving world with his debut record
The Feel Good Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, a record that has been on non-stop rotation here in Pop Tarts world for a couple of weeks now. I have spoken of Dent many times since he first came on my radar and with each successive listen I become a bigger fan of his folk pop sounds. This record is bound to become a buzz record here on the internets, but beyond the buzz Dent May is a unique talent in the music world. He has been working on his craft for years going all the way back to singing in church choirs and building his now trademarked voice through it. I think all of you will fall in love with Dent May through his record and soon after it's release a lot of you will get a chance to see him perform it live when he hits the road with AC Newman. I got the chance to chat with Dent about the record, the tour, and a whole lot more so take a minute and get to know the man behind one of my early favorite albums of the year.
PTST: It seems very sudden that you have become one of the new artists to watch in 2009. How do you feel about all this internet attention you've been receiving lately? Does it put more pressure on you ahead of the record's release?
Dent May: Everything that's happened in the past year has been in small steps, so it doesn't freak me out too much. The album's done. There's nothing I can do to change what it is, so there's no use feeling any pressure. It's very much in the past for me. I'm just psyched that a few people seem to be interested.
PTST: Aside from the increased publicity has anything else changed for you since signing with Paw Tracks? Do your friends call you Mr. Rock Star now?
Dent May: Not that much has changed. I moved out of the trailer where we recorded the album and into a proper house with a big yard and a big garage. We have more space to work on music, so that's affected my work ethic. I've also been working on improving my home recording setup. I have a new studio in my bedroom called HITZ INC. I'm growing less cynical with age as well. Positivity is back in 2k9!
PTST: Before this solo stuff you were around the music scene in some bands and an artistic collective, what drove you to write your own music and release it this way?
Dent May: I graduated from college, had a lot of existential despair, and decided I didn't want to ever have a real job. I'd gotten to the point where I'd started and abandoned a variety of artistic projects, so I when I did A Brush With Velvet, I really wanted to finish something and get it out there. I put it on the Internet for free, because it was the fastest and easiest way to do that. We're at a point where the monetary value of recorded music is highly debated, and I embrace that.
PTST: I know you play shows with a band, but do they appear on the record or is all of it from you? Who does your band consist of?
Dent May: The lineup is constantly changing. It basically depends on which of my gracious friends are available at the given moment. The core band that appears on the album is Konrad Bevilaqua who plays bass, Michael Bible, who plays percussion, and Jesse Toussaint who plays acoustic guitar. Konrad works full time for Fat Possum records, and Michael is an aspiring fiction writer who teaches at Ole Miss. They won't be joining me on tour for a while, but my friends Carr Chadwick and Robert Chisolm are hooking it up for now. John Barrett played guitar with me for a while, but his own stuff started taking off.
PTST: You went to college here in New York and you make several pointed references to the city in your songs, what drove you from New York? Would you ever want to return here or to another metropolitan area rather then Mississippi?
Dent May: I visited New York with my family when I was 10 and told my parents, "This is where I'm going to live one day." I'd developed up an insanely romanticized vision of what the city was, so even though I didn't particularly enjoy living there, it's still very important to me. I studied film at NYU for three semesters, but came away with the impression that art school is where creativity goes to die. Some people work better in a "learn the rules before you break them" sort of environment, but I prefer to just figure things out as I go.
PTST: What's so alluring about Mississippi to you?
Dent May: I don't think that it's necessarily better than any other place, but people elsewhere have such a warped idea of what it's like that I've developed an intense desire to promote Mississippi and help make it a better place. It bums me out sometimes when people talk shit about the South, but we kind of thrive on it in a way. Although my record was influenced by music from all over the world, it's essentially a local record. I made it for my friends and my community.
PTST: There is a general sense of romance to most of the music on this record, would you consider yourself to be a romantic or is that more of a persona that comes out in your writing?
Dent May: Maybe not in the traditional sense of the word, but I do tend to hype things so much in my head that ideas drift away from reality a bit. I didn't travel too much growing up, so music was a means of pretending. For example, I've never been to Paris, so I wrote a song about being there.
PTST: There seems to be a wide array of influences that went into The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & the Magnificent Ukulele, what were you listening to during the writing and recording process? Was there ever any thoughts to include certain styles or did it mostly come naturally?
Dent May: We listened to a lot of music while recording this album... Classic country, girl groups, German minimal techno, tropicalia, sublime frequencies, ELO,
Smile bootlegs, sunshine pop, 70s electronic music like Giorgio Moroder, southern rap like Goodie Mob... The list could go on for a while, but I do think the sound of the album came together fairly naturally.
PTST: The ukulele seems like an odd choice for a lead instrument, what compelled you to pick it up? What else do you play?
Dent May: The ukulele just has a delightful sound, and most importantly it's portable. I think some have misinterpreted my use of the instrument as somehow ironic or insincere which bums me out. But I want to change things up as much as possible, so there might not be much ukulele on my next albums. I'm not sure. Since I recorded the album, I mostly have been experimenting with electronic instruments.
PTST: Your voice is definitely a powerful focus point on the record, how'd you develop your singing style?
Dent May: I went to a performing arts elementary school and sang a lot in church. I've tried to learn how to sing "correctly," but I've never been able to really do it. I've always loved unconventional vocal arrangements and massive harmonies., mostly because you can be very effective without buying any expensive instruments.
PTST: You're going to be supporting the record by hitting the road with AC Newman, how'd that pairing come about? Are there any nerves about hitting the road with someone like Newman?
Dent May: This is the first time I've toured for longer than about 10 days, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. I'm mostly excited to travel. I haven't been to the vast majority of the places we're playing. I'm a little nervous for sure but mostly just thrilled. Our first show is in Vancouver, so we're driving there straight from Mississippi. I look at it as the great American road trip I never took.
PTST: Are you hoping to land a guest spot with the New Pornographers by doing the tour? They could probably use a uke player don't you think?
Dent May: I doubt it.
PTST: How do you think Newman's fans will react to your tunes?
Dent May: I have no idea. I don't mind if people hate it.
PTST: Let's talk a minute about Dent Sweat. Who or what is Dent Sweat? How'd that come about?
Dent May: Dent Sweat is the name I've been using for some of the dance music I'm working on, but I'm still considering releasing it under my real name simply to avoid confusion. Sweat is my mother's maiden name, and it's also a nod to Keith Sweat and the new jack swing era. Prince is probably my biggest inspiration, but I've been listening to a lot of early disco and house music like Salsoul and Larry Levan type stuff and a lot of rap music too. I grew up on Three 6 Mafia and Cash Money records. I also found a 99 cent cassette of jams from Arthur Russell's label Sleeping Bag at a truck stop that particularly blew my mind. There's an iTunes bonus track on my record called "Eastover Wivez" that's more in this direction.
PTST: Would you ever open a Dent May show with a Dent Sweat show or vice versa?
Dent May: I'd rather just combine the two into one giant sweaty freakfest. I want to try some of the dance songs on ukulele and vice versa.
PTST: Any plans to make a Dent Sweat record?
Dent May: I have no specific plans, but I'd like to record another album later this year if possible. I also spent a long time working on a psychedelic country rock opera called Cowboy Maloney's Electric City, so I'd like to finish that at some point as well. Michael Bible has been working on some really epic liner notes.
PTST: Out of all your other projects what's the most personally rewarding to you?
Dent May: The various projects are eventually going to melt together. At the moment, I feel like I'm just exploring the possibilities of making pop music. I'm still in apprentice mode, working on my craft. It's very important to me that each release is more adventurous than the previous.
PTST: What else do you have planned for 2009?
Dent May: The Cats Purring record label is hoping to put out some legit releases. We're wanting to put out something with our friends Jensen Sportag from Nashville, and I'm working on a limited edition double cassingle release with my friend John Barrett's Bass Drum of Death. Konrad who played bass on the record is about to release some of his own stuff under the name Flight, and it's amazing! Also, a bunch of my friends in Oxford are starting a magazine called Kitty Snacks, which I'm trying to help with when possible
Listen:
Dent May - "You Can't Force a Dance Party"Dent May - " 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)"Dent May Tour Dates (w/AC Newman):
02/20 Vancouver, BC The Biltmore
02/21 Seattle, WA Neumos
02/22 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
02/24 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s
02/25 San Diego, CA Casbah
02/26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
02/27 Santa Barbara, CA Club Mercy
02/28 San Francisco, CA The Independent
03/01 Eugene, OR John Henry’s
03/10 Ithaca, NY Castaways
03/11 Toronto, ON Lee’s Palace
03/12 Montreal, QC Il Motore
03/13 Providence, RI Club Hell
03/14 Boston, MA Paradise
03/15 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
So the second volume of your favorite indie bands covering songs they shouldn't like has hit store shelves and to celebrate Engine Room Recordings are throwing a couple of release parties featuring some of the bands that played on the album. Personally I love the idea of these compilations and the bands they've rounded up for the second go 'round makes for a pretty impressive roster of buzzworthy bands that have been blogged about many, many times by myself and my fellow blogging cohorts. It's a really fun record and I have no doubt that the show will be as well.
