Dust & Chrome – Money In The Bank

D&C: I’ve been playing for more than 10 years and got into electronic production in 2008. Originally started playing guitar and studied Jazz for a while until dance music totally took over. I wanted to find a way to incorporate my jazz / blues roots with my new found love for house music. What interests me is the intersection of melody and rhythm: where you can get lost in the beat and let it create a movie in your mind. I went to film school and I take a lot of cues from film, the way the style can create an atmosphere of it’s own for the story to make even more sense. The first release from Dust & Chrome was a short film “Delilah” directed by Jack Oles in 2012 the combination of the music and the visual style really tap into a certain spirit. There’s a feeling you get when you are out in the desert. This sense of freedom but also this sense of loneliness. There is a comfort in it. The balance of that bliss and the reality that you are just another grain of sand in the desert, really puts things in perspective. The most recent video for “Drop The Anchor” isn’t trying to achieve anything more than a day in the life of me and my dog Lucy. It’s what we do everyday living in Venice and I wanted to capture it on 8mm to show how Venice Beach should always be seen and remembered through a psychedelic lens of a colors in the twisted carnival paradise that it is.

CBS: How does the California culture influence your art?

D&C: It’s been my home since 2008 and it is a huge part of where I find inspiration. Hitting the beach in Venice, skateboarding, and overall just being out in the sun gives you a source of energy to write and create. When you hear old surf/garage records from the 60’s, it brings you immediately to the ocean. You hear the tremelo of one chord from a Fender Jaguar and you are at the beach. I want to be able to capture that feeling of being at the beach and the desert in my music. The geography of California is what makes it such an amazing place to live and I want to bottle that. Living in Venice, there are so many colors and cultures colliding into one stretch of beach and there’s a certain strange beauty that comes from that contrast. There are so many creative people that live here you can’t help but to be shaped by the style and the feel of it. There are people holding it down for what they love and then there are people trying the flavor of the week. Sometimes it’s hard to sort through, but there are real ones to be found who tap into the source out here.

CBS: What are some movies/bands you draw inspiration from?

D&C: I love film noir & westerns because the style of those films are so iconic and create such a mood. The Sweet Smell Of Success and Sam Peckinpah films like The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid are so amazing. They tap into a moment in time and create such a rich atmosphere. I also love how urban Noir’s are and how the Westerns tap into a more natural America. That connection of the city and the country is so interesting to me. Anything that is really stark against each other I really appreciate. As far as music goes, I love old blues records like Howlin’ Wolf and Lightnin’ Hopkins. They are the real deal. They speak from the heart, have their own style, and really don’t care what other people think about them. Whether they are sad, happy, or mad, they’re the type that aren’t afraid to show it. Their records are also so great because of the production, with one mic setup in the room you can really capture a vibe. On the other hand I really love The Gun Club, Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, that kind of stuff and new dance music like records on DFA and what Boiler Room is doing.

CBS: What is your take on how electronic music and indie rock intersect? Complementary or Independent?

D&C: For a while they have been really independent. It’s either you go to a rock show or you go to the clubs. You are sort of defined by the bands or DJ’s that are spinning and the spots you hit up. I really love both worlds and there are plenty of people who go to both shows and clubs and have really eclectic taste. It’s really starting to be more acceptable to like a ton of different styles and change up what you’re about. The Del Monte Speakeasy at Townhouse in Venice has really been an awesome place for music in the last few years. Tons of great bands and DJ’s all in one sweaty basement by the beach. There is too much rad music and too little time to be concerned with genre anymore! I want to combine a bunch of different things into one, like, I love the blues and that surf guitar tone but I also love the rhythm and production value you get from electronic music. Why can’t you blend them? Create something entirely new. We certainly have the tools and more and more of recent culture has been about taking from the old and re-inventing and making it new. With Dust & Chrome, that’s really what it’s about. Where have you been, where do you want to go, and how can you merge worlds to create something that is truly and uniquely you.

CBS: Best album of 2014?