Interview with Dalton Deschain (Number 31) by Revista The 13th

The13th AÑO: 3

NÚMERO 31

UNA R E VISTA IMA GINARIA

JOHNNY INDOVINA

[ Interview with Dalton Deschain by Diego Centuriรณn ]

THE RIGHT BLEND OF INFLUENCES

As always we mention space that we want to give to new bands, which we today dedicate to Dalton Deschain & The Traveling Show from New York. At the end of October they will release their "Roberta" EP, the first of three EPs they plan on launching in the coming months. But beyond the music, we are also interested in learning more about the musicians who are behind this project.

ringleader Phil Harris on drums, and murderous circus freak Mike Kennedy on bass, although since recording the record, Mike has moved on and we now have David Warpaint in his place. What’s amazing about this current lineup is that every member of the band is an outstanding songwriter of their own, and everyone should definitely check out their music as well.

Hey guys, thanks for accepting this interview. For starters let us speak about your foundations. How and when this project started? Well, the Traveling Show has existed in some form or another for about 7 years. The project really started with the story concept that threads its way through all of our songs, and that concept idea came from a nightmare I had in college. I immediately started writing songs about it, but at the time I was just playing them solo around Michigan. Then I moved out to New York about 4 years ago and started to really kick things up a notch. The story was getting bigger and bigger, and the scale of the project really required a full band. So I recorded our first EP (2014’s “The Collateral Vignettes”) all on my own, and used that to show people what the band was going to be, and find people that would be interested in joining this crazy idea. It worked, and the full band has been together now for almost two years.

Listening to "Freakshow" I could not help thinking of Mr. Bungle by Mike Patton. Who or what would you say are your influences? Well, this EP was certainly influenced most directly by cabaret-punk and circus-punk acts like the World/ Inferno Friendship Society and the Dresden Dolls. The track Freakshow in particular was influenced by the Cramps and the Talking Heads. In general though, there’s a few artists I’ve always looked towards when writing, like David Bowie, Tom Waits, and Oingo Boingo, which helps explain some of our flair for the dramatic. I think it’s the right blend of influences to keep us weird and theatrical, while also still fun and high-energy.

How did you end up coming up with your band name? It really just came naturally out of the story, which is this bizarre alternate-history horror story about a guy who becomes possessed by a demon and takes command of a traveling circus. So it just made sense that we were this traveling circus ourselves, fronted by myself, an insane possessed man from the Midwest. Boom: Dalton Deschain & the Traveling Show. Who are the artists making up your band? In addition to myself, we have powerhouse vocalist Jo Kroger, mad scientist Craig Kierce on lead guitar,

There is a change in the band’s sound from the first album "The Collateral Vignettes" to the new "Roberta". Do you also perceive this? How has your band transitioned? The big difference is that for that first EP, it was just me. Jo sang on one of the songs, but other than that I was doing the entirety of the writing and performing. Once we had a full band of amazing musicians, the sound started to evolve. They’ve also given me the confidence to get a lot more experimental with our songs, which will start to show more and more over the next few releases. You have a good variety of styles in your compositions. How do you go about writing songs? It always starts with the story. I used to be able to write based on lyric snippets that I thought of, or melodies I came up with on guitar, but nowadays I find that the songs that I end up keeping always stem

from a story idea. Which has to function on two levels: one as part of our weird sci-fi horror saga, but also on a more universal and personal level, and really the latter is what’s most important. If I can find a balance there that I’m passionate about, usually the song will follow naturally, and the style or genre of the song will change based on what the story is. Can you tell me about the next EPs to come? “Roberta” is part one of a series of three EPs we plan on releasing over the next year and a half or so. Each EP will have three tracks, and focus on a different character in the narrative. This one is of course about Roberta, a transgender woman, and her relationship with Rosie, a stagehand for the circus. The next two EPs, “Catherine” and “Casey”, will begin to explore other secondary characters in the story. Just like this EP, they will be released as chapbooks, with supplemental short stories contained inside, written by myself. But, if you’re not interested in the story, and just want to hear some good goddamn music, they will of course have that too! Each EP will also have a very distinct sound to it, and will focus on very different themes. I've seen the video for "Freakshow" and I liked it.

Can you tell me something about this? Are you planning to shoot new videos too? I’ve always wanted to do an animated music video. I met our current bass player, David Warpaint, about three years ago, and when I found out he did animation, I immediately wanted him to make a video for “Catherine’s Mistake,” the single from our first EP. That ended up falling through, but when I decided to do a video for Freakshow, he was the first person I talked to. The live segments were filmed at the Sidewalk Cafe, which is sort of our home field venue. It’s easily my favorite place to play in Manhattan. We were so grateful they let us film there. A bunch of our friends and fellow musicians came out and dressed all crazy and danced while we played the song over and over and over again, and I think the crowd really makes the video. The animation tells a story that’s not really told in the songs or the book, which is the story of Roberta being kicked out and finding her way to the circus. The animation is made to look like paper shadow puppets, and David really did a beautiful job with all the character design and movement. I’m so in love with this video, and I really owe it all to David and Craig, who directed the live segments. I’ve already got our next video planned, which will come out in advance of our next EP in

5 2017. We’re going to be working with an amazing video editor, and I can’t wait to see what she does. I have seen your version of "Loving The Alien". What does the life and death of David Bowie mean to you? Too much to ever explain. He’s been my hero since I was just a kid. His albums showed me what music could be, at its best. It sounds dramatic, but the day he died was one of the hardest days of my life. Everything this band does is because of him. What does Dalton Deschain and the Traveling Show

plan for the rest of 2016 and 2017? For the rest of 2016, we’ve just lined up a bunch of really incredible shows around the Northeast. Right after the album release we’ll be going to Pittsburgh and DC, and then we’ve got some shows here in NYC with a bunch of amazing bands. 2017 will see the release of “Catherine,” the next EP in the series, probably in late Spring/early Summer. We also plan on touring a lot more, so if anyone reading this wants us to play in their town, hit us up on social media and let us know!

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