original illustration by Frankie Chan - interpreted by k

David Dondero is the voice of the worn open road that makes up for the heart of your atlas. He has the unique quality of transfering his life experiences into timeless song that has allowed him to release four incredible solo albums, following the demise of his early band 'Sunbrain'. His latest, 'The Transient' (out now on Future Farmer), is his most honest collection of songs that recollect the thousand of miles he travelled to tell his tales. Blessed be the back roads that bring him to us. I had the fortunate opportunity (thanks dana) to chat with D about his songs, his ladies and his influences.

sctas+ the guitar mask is gone, it was on the cover of all the previous albums - what happened?

David: it died in war as we did the video for "juarez meant to kill" and the premise for that video is this weird, loud American goes to Mexico and tries to meet up with a mariachi band, and so he does meet up with this band but all the while these street hustlers and trying to get him.. .

+ sounds a little "Don Quixote" influenced.. .?.. .. .

D: yeah, so what happens is I meet up with these, I'm wearin' the mask and walkin' through the city of Juarez and these hustlers are following me waitin' to jump me and I meet up with these like old mariachi band boys and we start playin' together in the streets - and then the huslters make their move and they stab me - they stab me in the heart and steal my mask, my belt and my shoes. That's the end of the video and so I die in a pool of blood.

+ and the mask is gone? forever?

D: gone forever - it's the death of the mask.

+ man. I wasn't prepared for something that serious. that's sad.

D: yeah, well the next video will be me coming back as a zombie in search of the mask.

+ so the mask will be returned? no?

D: it's impossible for the mask to return, it's at an ex-girlfriends house.

+ whoa.

D: yeah - it's possible that she has destroyed the mask, or thrown it away.

+ damn ex-girls. How about the ghostmeat and future farmer distribution deals? You are still a part of ghostmeat right?

D: yes, that's our friend Russ who runs ghostmeat, and it's more of a website than a distributor. Like a hub so people can buy the albums online, but they do not deal anymore with distributors. I do personally sometimes, like with the re-release of "Spider West".

+ yeah, I had gotten in touch with him about 6 months ago to get a copy of that one, and he said he would send me a cd-r of that since it was out of print if I bought something else from the ghostmeat catalog, so I got a Sunbrain cd.

D: (laughing) - that's totally cool. I told him to burn it if people wanted it, so that's cool. which one was it, "Pity Party" or "Spider West"?

+ Spider West.

D: which Sunbrain did you get?

+ "Liquid", and I haven't even listened to it yet - I'm a loser.

D: you should, that's the last album we did - it's good.

+ I will. Where do you consider home now when you're not out on the road?

D: I would call San Fracisco the home now, even though I don't have a place it's where I get my mail - at a friends house.

+ well that's where your Future Farmers are, and they seem like really nice people. Dana got me the interview and all -

D: Oh yes, they are - Dana is rad.

+ How about influences as far as your guitar style? It's like I hear a David Dondero song and it is instantly recognizable, you have a very unique sound.

D: Well - I have to mention Shawn Gould, he taught me how to flat-pick. And David Gardner. Russ taught me bar chords. Bands like Fugazi & Black Flag are influences.

+ how about Violent Femmes?

D: Oh yeah - totally. The Violent Femmes keep it much more simple that those others though. I mean you've got your hammer-ons and flat-picking along with simple chords. I like Woodie Guthrie, Simon Joyner - Simon Joyners first couple of albums were really good - 'Room Temperature' is really good.

+ Simon Joyner is so good, I also love "The Lousy Dance" - great writer.
+ Alot of your songwriting is in the first person - like actual stories you have lived and wrote about. Like in particular "The Waiter Song", how much of that song is truth vs. fiction?

D: the first half of that song is completely true. It was this waiter I worked with, who was jumped by 3 gangster guys when he was walking home from work - drunk - in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Usually when you walk home alone from work in that area, you would keep your wine key in your fist with the corkscrew coming out. And so this guy had him down so my friend punched him in the head with the corkscrew and it went in and the dude started twitching, like the thing he said went in like 2 inches - he like sunk it into the side of the guys head. And the 2 other guys were like "Oh shit!" when they saw him twitching and picked the guy up, threw him in the car and split. So my friend went to a bar, and he was bleeding & freaked out and wondering what had happened, like "Oh my god, I think I just killed that guy!", he was like in shock. And we checked the paper the next day and nothing was in it - so the end of that song was written with what we thought may have happened, like his buddies tossed him in a river so they wouldn't get busted.

+ Because your songwriting comes of so truthful that alot of times I'm like "Damn - did that fucked up stuff really happen?", .. .crazy

D: Yeah - the first part really happened, but the part about the fisherman and all is just a myth.

+ So have you ever tried to shoot at the sun with a water gun? You propably used a super-soaker or something right, it's a long way to go -

D: No - I thought that was a great way to say how it is in America, trying to write songs is almost like shooting at the sun with a water gun - you just keep writing these songs and singing 'em and they're just gonna evaporate y'know. It's just the way it is - like shooting at the sun with a water gun.

+ You've been no stranger in Omaha - and this isn't the first time you've worked with Mike Mogis right? You are credited as 'executive producer' in the liner notes of the 'Desaparecidos' cd too -

D: yes, you would not believe the amount of work I had to put into that record. I had to walk accross the street, buy a case of beer, and drink it and smoke cigarettes. Like repeat that every few hours - just chill back and hang out. It's basically just a joke.

+ so you were more like executive chaperone, tell the truth -

D: yeah, they were just like (in a new york accent) "Let's make you the executive producer". Just me hanging out looking over the daily situations, enjoying myself.

+ back to another one song question, "Jackson Crosses" seems to be a song that is fairly unlike any of the other songs you'll hear on a David Dondero album, where did the motivation for that song come from?

D: it's a love song about teri, my ex-girlfriend -

+ she the one with your mask?

D: yeah, that's her. we're good friends and I still love her - so basically it's about her directly, paying tribute to her. the romance part of it died, but we are still very good friends.

+ you do alot of traveling, and it shows in your songs - have you ever picked up any "lot lizards"?

D: ( looks to drummer craig d. for assistance in this terrible question)

+ "lot lizards" are the woman who hang aroung truck stops offering to pleasure the drivers.. . .

D: I have seen several (laughter), actually I saw one I believe recently just west of Oklahoma City - at one of the truck stops there was this really hot lady in a skimpy dress who had obviously met some trucker there, like rendez vous at the truck stop, and they were walking out arm-in-arm and I was like "what's this hot lady in this skimpy dress doing with some overweight trucker?" as they were walking out to his truck.

+ oh, see, your hiding some truth from us I think.. . but anyhow - is there any music out there in the world right now that has your interest?

D: there's this one group, Okkervil River - they're really good. We like those guys stuff.

+ I've seen alot written about them, I need to check it out. ( matter-of-factly, the latest issue of Magnet [# 61] mentions lead-singer Will Sheffs "quavering voice often gets comapred to Conor Oberst" - as David does ).

+ so is there any question you feel you don't get asked enough, or one we can start?

D: meat. don't get me started on meat. I was a vegan for over 5 years, and now I'm back to the dollar menu's - you have to have fast food. yep.

David Dondero The Transient Future Farmer, 2003 If Jack Kerouac made indie rock, his name would be David Dondero. I know that's a bold statement to make, but lend an ear to "The Transient," and you'll see what I mean. It kicks off with the quick and peppy "Living and the Dead," in which Dondero is so scatterbrained and shaky that it's hard to make sense of it all. But that's the joy of it. All of the oddities most people take for granted are on display for our scrutiny. Coughing noises add percussion to the mix. "Ashes on the Highway" is a bit slower, and its brilliant nonchalance concerning death makes a profound statement: "When I die, burn my body, sprinkle my ashes on the highway, let the traffic spread the ashes, in the ditches and the overpasses -- HEY!" There is even clapping in this song, as Dondero makes it abundantly clear that he wants no attachments -- no fancy funeral -- no fuss at all. By song three the tone has fallen all the way down. Another gutwrencer reminiscent of "Jackson Crosses" (from 2000's 'Spider West Myshkin and a City Bus') sings about coming full circle in the last twenty years though not much has changed. Time is such a mind-blowing concept, especially when "I don't remember committing the crime, but I remember doin' the time." Violin and weepy vocals make sure we feel his pain. The rest of the album is fairly complex, in that it has sounds similar to Pavement, heavy metal, Irish folk, and classical music. There are times when David sounds like a little boy, and as one reviewer said, you feel like you want to take him home and take care of him. Yet Dondero has a quality about him that shows he knows what he's doing. The lyrics prove high intellectual and emotional intelligence, at least. Those that stand out are "Less than Air," "The Stars are my Chandelier," and "The Transient." "Less than Air" is very light and reassuring with sensational finger-picking and light, soothing percussion. It draws to mind a picture of Dondero in a jail cell with a bummed-out mate, whom he needs to cheer up. Sweet gibberish is as follows: "Shamshamalingon, dipty-dip!" Piano blends in and adds a touch of class. Whistling through the teeth provides humility, and the talking at the end of the song lets us into his world. A gorgeous landscape is painted in musical notes in "The Stars are my Chandelier." The title alone is enough to put John Keats to shame. This is the essence of Dondero's musical mindset. Appreciation for what's around and using the simple beauty and elegance of nature as a backdrop for his home: "Just like the stars are my chandelier/ Just like these landscapes are my living room/ Just like the highways are my veins/ I am the blood/ I am the rain." The title track confirms that our host is a wandering soul, endlessly searching and accepting every town as a potential home, as he never lays down roots, likes to keep moving, almost as if there's a high off of never settling down, almost as if he's a floating free spirit moving across the earth, haunting people with his legacy through intriguing music.Having heard a few other albums by this artist, I'd say Dondero has finally arrived. His music is polished but not pretentious, full of unique sounds that leave the hearer heartwarmed. The live act is also an immense treat, always spontaneous and lively, full of laughs and cries and hugs and claps and shouts for more. (originally appeared at www.urgentculture.com/jaime/david_dondero.html) Jaime Ohlsson :: ( Summer 2003 ). :::::: jkohlsson@hotmail.com