Simplicity and Music Theory: An Interview with Indie Artist Dashiel

Dashiel is an indie experimental pop musician currently located in northeast Ohio. He studied the music industry and business (entertainment) at Loyola University in New Orleans. His newest single, a song about unrequited love and introspection titled “roll sum,” debuts today. Although I may be biased, having known Dashiel for half my life, his music overflows with sonic creativity and guts—and his new single bridges the experimental with a more mainstream pop sound in a truly refreshing approach. I hope you enjoy.

I thought to introduce your music to our readers because what you’re doing seems somewhat consistent with the music scene in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and with the Calvin community in particular. Phoebe Bridgers is someone who I hear in your music, especially thematically but even sonically. She also played at Calvin relatively recently. Why do you think your music might appeal to our readers?

I’ve always gravitated toward very “pop” chord and song structure. From a theory standpoint, I like simplicity, but then adding little nuances to make it not as bubblegum. [Phoebe Bridgers’s] music strikes me as out-of-the box pop.

Much like our blog, the post calvin, your song titles don’t use capital letters. What does this aesthetic choice communicate about you as an artist?

That’s a funny question, I like that. Oooh! That’s a Soundcloud aesthetic. There’s people who came from that scene who didn’t use capital letters, like Kaytranada, who was a Soundcloud dude and has now won Grammys. I just thought that aesthetic was cool. It’s kind of less serious, and I really like that. When I was first trying to be serious about making music, I was annoyingly serious. Now I find solace in letting things go, letting things be silly and not perfect.

Would “playful” describe your music?

I’ve never thought about it like that, but yeah. It’s loose. I freestyle a lot of my melodies. I’m just trying to capture feelings in the moment, which are fleeting things that you can’t hold onto for long. It’s also affected my songwriting. It’s hard to capture the essence of an emotion over a long duration since they’re fleeting, so I don’t try to do that anymore. The time I use to write is now condensed to better catch those emotions.

Continue reading at the post calvin.