Blood & Dust, aka Oakland-based artist Doug Tiemann, first came to my attention through the Balanced Breakfast East Bay music meet-ups. A hard-working and well-respected artist, the Midwest native has been tearing up the Bay Area circuit, garnering raves for his brand of acoustic soul. Leading up to our shared gig at The Monkey House in Berkeley this Saturday, September 27, Blood & Dust kindly answered my questions about his musical path.
Q: How did you first start singing and writing songs?
BD: I actually started writing songs pretty late in the game. I
spent many years playing drums and percussion and picked up the guitar
in college. It wasn't until grad school that I got the gumption to
write a song. Life had changed a lot and I had my first quarter life
crisis, so I decided to write about it.
Q: Who were some of your earliest influences?
BD: I have
an interesting mix of influences. My father grew up in the 50's and
60's so naturally there is a lot of early rock n' roll and Motown in my
influences. I still draw a lot of inspiration from early soul singers
like Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Otis Redding. My mother brought to the
table a lot of songwriters from the 60's and 70's like Simon &
Garfunkel and John Prine. I can't help but acknowledge these influences
mix in the way that I approach my singing and writing. Today I find a
lot of inspiration from songwriters like David Ramirez and Amos Lee
among many others.
Q: Blood and Dust. Great name. What led to it?
BD: Blood & Dust came
out of needing a name. Doug Tiemann isn't a bad name, but it's not a
great stage name either. It pretentious to me to change my name to
something cool so I thought that I would choose a name that could work
whether I was playing solo or if I had a whole band behind me. I wanted
something gritty and earthy, something that when you heard my music, it
made sense with the name. Blood & Dust was where I landed, I
figured that it's either a great name for an Americana band or perhaps
some sort of death metal band. It seemed to make sense to me so there I
landed.
Q
What/who led you to California? Can you say anything in respect to how
the Bay Area music scene is influencing you in contrast to/or similarly
to your experience as a musician in the Midwest and South?
BD: I originally came to bay area to
attend graduate school. I'm a Midwest boy, so you can imagine that the
Bay Area changed my life a bit. I even moved away for a short while but
I couldn't stand NOT to live here so I moved back. The Bay Area has
been a huge part of my influence as a songwriter. I've been a musician
in the south and the Midwest and while there are definitely scenes, the
Bay Area music community inspired me to write, to build community, and
to try to be part of something bigger than myself. While every music
scene is competitive, the Bay Area scene has a sense of camaraderie
that, I believe, has allowed me to pursue music and grow in my craft.
Q4: What are you working on now? Any new projects or recordings shaping up?
BD: I've been working on a new block of songs since my first album.
Sophomore albums are definitely a challenge across the board, but I'm
excited to explore new sounds. My first album ended up sounding a little
more like a rock album, but I'm excited about the using roots
instruments and what that will bring to the mix. Revisiting old songs
with new instrumentation has been really refreshing as well.
Q: You
host a music series—what's it like for you being on
the other side of putting on a show? Any rewards, pitfalls, or recommendations to share with us?
BD: I was doing a concert series called "An Evening in DogTown." While
it's currently on hiatus, the experience there has been invaluable to
me. I think what made our concert series so valuable to those who
participated was that we kept our focus on the most important thing: the
music and the people making it. When you abandon that for just trying
to get people in the door you lose something. I would say that there
are too many venues that are only concerned about making a quick buck.
It's a business, and to be successful money has to be made, but you have
to care about the product you put out. I think this is why so many of
my fellow Bay Area musicians are seeking out more house show gigs. I
would encourage anyone that wants to pursue putting on house shows to
clearly define their reasons for doing so — that's a good start.
Blood & Dust appears live at The Monkey House Theater in Berkeley, Saturday, September 27, 2014 7:30pm. Tickets & more information: http://monkeyhousetheater.com/
