Even if you’re just a casual reader of the blog, you’ve probably read about our growing frustration with instrumental music. Not because they’re not good, of course they always will be. We still respect that in many ways instrumental acts allows for expansive, unnameable feelings to manifest. But perhaps this quote from Tristan Brennis, Dumb Waiter‘s saxophone player, sums it up best:
“What more is there to say without saying anything? We realized that we had a whole lot to say about the current state of the world and this hyper-acceleration of society that I think we’re all feeling day in day out.”
Dumb Waiter has been bringing exceptionally smart math rock and prog to the masses since 2012, but their shape has constantly changed. The band’s first couple albums are confident, boxy bops that still holds up today, but looking back you can sense their trajectory subtly changing as you go through the discography. The song titles get more serious. The energy feels more frenzied. Things… well, change. Working through the records things slowly get darker and more complex, and by the time you get to their last album Gauche Gists, introducing vocals to further enunciate those feelings almost feels inevitable.
With the upcoming release of Change, it’s finally happened, and we couldn’t be more stoked on the results. Below, not only is the band premiering a new studio clip for “Bones” below to drum up fans’ appetites, they’re dropping an insightful new QNA as well. Scroll down for both and enjoy!
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FB: Before we get into your new album, there’s a whole new generation starting to discover progressive, mathematical jazz from the 2010’s. Given that Is This Chocolate? came out a year after T.R.A.M., which made serious waves despite how weird it was, can you set the scene a little bit with the impetus of Dumb Waiter and how you guys honed your sound?
Keith Paul: Dumb Waiter really started because Nick had booked a Lightning Bolt show and wanted to start a band in time to open the show so in a way Dumb Waiter began out of necessity. Tristan and I (Keith) were pulled in last second to complete a lineup. The sound we honed in on was not intentional. There was not much talk about genres or direction. We were all coming from different places and just wanted to show off our influences at the time. I think the only thing we really wanted was to do something different. It was a creative environment with almost no rules. Looking back on it now I see how unfocused it was in many ways.
FB: Sometimes it isn’t the note-per-minute virtuosity that sticks in our minds, but in jazz, math rock, metal, and more it’s always a metric people examine. Is it difficult to maintain such a disciplined sound? If so, does that ever get in the way of it feeling cathartic?
Keith Paul: Dumb Waiter never felt too disciplined until work began on our current album “Change”. Doing less and making simpler structures was a challenge after spending a decade not editing ourselves. Playing less notes without feeling embarrassed about it. It’s always been cathartic but maybe more than ever now.
FB: Speaking of math in particular, one thing that makes Dumb Waiter unique is that you guys don’t seem to pigeonhole yourselves with prog, even when things are technical – can you talk about your math rock and Midwest emo influences, or chastise us for even suggesting they exist?
Nathaniel Roseberry: Math rock, as a genre, was definitely a big influence on our first two albums, IS THIS CHOCOLATE and CANCEL CHRISTMAS. We wanted to exist in that universe, for sure. We purposely wrote complex time signatures, quirky genre shifts, and twinkling and tapping guitars. As of late, we have been doing our best to distance ourselves from being considered a “math rock” band, while still utilizing some of the structural and musical concepts from the genre. Bands within the math rock/math metal scene that have been a consistent influence on us are BREADWINNER, HELLA, DON CABALLERO, SLINT, TERA MELOS, CANDIRIA and early DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN. We have never been interested in the Midwest Emo scene. Some of us dig bands like MAJORITY RULE, PG. 99, CIRCLE TAKES THE SQUARE, and ORCHID. I would not say that they have a huge influence on our older material, but the song structures are definitely inspiring our current material.
FB: Having a diverse set of sounds also means you could share the stage with a wider array of bands from different genres – who are some bands or artists you haven’t played with yet, but would like to?
Nathaniel Roseberry: SHOW ME THE BODY, CONVERGE, THE MELVINS, FAITH NO MORE, CHAT PILE, BIG BUISNESS, BORIS, MR.BUNGLE, YOWIE, VIAGRA BOYS, MODEL/ACTRIZ.
FB: You guys have a very concise way of making an album feel thematic through titles, is that something that happens before or after the songs are written?
Tristan Brenni: Over the history of so many instrumental records, the track titles were the one outlet for lyrical expression to give some degree of objectivity or adhesion to the sound. Our titles have always come after the songs are written, in most cases, weeks or months after they’ve been recorded and mixed. That said, with lyrics now on the menu moving forward, I could see tracks earning their titles more quickly during the writing process.
FB: Now that we’ve caught up a bit, and forgive us if you’ve talked about it already, but one thing we’d love to know more about was if there was some kind of mindset shift around the time of Gauche Gists? It still sounds like you guys, just bigger and more badass. Was there an aspiration to do this or was it just the result of… you know, the whole pandemic thing?
Tristan Brenna’s: We recorded TSK a few months before the covid pandemic and in lieu of any sort of actual album release, we decided to just keep writing. Gauche Gists was definitely a pandemic-incubated album. The mindset shift had been occurring but I think moreover than that, Gauche Gists stood as a figurative endpoint to what we felt we could say as an instrumental project. This new album on the contrary, feels to me like catharsis in a post-pandemic world amidst the seeming ubiquitous rise of autocracy and the global assault on human rights.
FB: Also, it felt natural to ask because it seems that progression only continues and grows even more massive with Change. When did vocals become a thing for the band? Was that before, during, or after recording the new record?
Tristan: We had been considering vocals for a few years, exploring potential additions to the lineup but nothing was really clicking. Our writing process is irrational and pluralistic, thwarted by revision after revision, breaking and twisting riffs into new shapes constantly. We learned quickly that working with a vocalist would depend on their ability to adapt to this wacky process we’d cultivated over the past decade and we just weren’t finding that leading anywhere. We said, “well shit, we’ll do it ourselves.” Bought some mics and stands and started tinkering.
FB: How did recording the vocals for Change contrast with your recording experiences as an instrumental band?
Tristan: Other than being the most prepared we’ve ever been, the process was nearly identical for the instruments. As the guy with the bulk of the vocals I realized that there was a new level of head space that I had to find. It was less about execution and more about getting into character. I had never had a room full of people focusing just on my vocals before and it felt pretty exposing.
FB: Also, while still amusing in their own way, the themes on this album are obviously a lot darker, whether expressed by the titles, the music, or even both like in “Dumb.” It almost feels like Dumb Waiter is getting… sharper? I’m sure the music will speak for itself but for the super curious, how would you sum up the band’s evolution over the past few years? Do you have any hopes for what comes next?
Tristan: Dumb Waiter has become more refined, but the biggest change is in our restraint. Even though the music is simpler, we have a much stronger sense of when to hold back and use our technical abilities with intention. Thematically, we’ve shifted from public experiments to the weight of lived experience. Our music reflects aging: skin wrinkling, posture slouching, bones aching. My only hope for whatever comes next is that we keep evolving.
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