REWIND ↺ Dallas Green: From Alexisonfire to City and Colour, his best is yet to come
Originally published on Talk Rock To Me on Aug 26, 2011
It’s easy to perceive Dallas Green as a natural-born songwriter: he began working at it when he was a teenager in high school, has gone on to produce acclaimed music for two concurrent Polaris projects, and even took home a Juno in 2009 for Songwriter of the Year. First known as the singer/guitarist for hardcore band Alexisonfire, the St. Catharine’s native shook up expectations in 2005 by releasing acoustic material under the alias City and Colour that was perceptibly softer and more vulnerable than anyone could have anticipated. Just hours before the breakup of Alexisonfire is announced, Dallas explains how taking the hard road to Little Hell has made him so proud and why, even after achieving a number one debut, he’s still struggling to write his best song yet.
So, how did Osheaga go?
It was good! We had a shorter set than usual because of bands going on late and staying on late. Someone had to take one for the team, and we were that band. That always happens at festivals.
A review of your set by the Montreal Gazette said that it ‘looks (and sounds) like a young Dallas might have had those Hip records within reach as a kid…’
Well, yeah, Gord Downie came out and sang with us, but I mean, as a Canadian music fan, how can you not have The Tragically Hip records in your collection? I was born in 1980, so it’s like it’s in my DNA. As a kid at that time, it’s just what you did – you listened to The Tragically Hip.
What about your current record Little Hell makes you the most proud?
The whole thing. I’m proud it was recorded on tape; I’m proud that it’s just me and a couple of other people singing, and that there are no computers or Auto-Tune. It’s just songs that I wrote myself and played, and that makes me proud. I’m happy about how the songs came out.
“[Songwriting is] something that has always come to me, but not naturally. I constantly work on it, and I will always work on it.”
Will you find it anticlimactic to go back to digital now that you’ve done it the hard way?
It’s funny that you refer to it as the hard way because that’s the way everyone did it for so long. It should be referred to as the normal way, and using computers as the easy way. It was frustrating at times; you want to move along as fast as you can because time is money, as they say, but if you’re in it for the right reasons, then tape is the way to go. The sound benefits from the warmth, at least, the songs I’m writing anyway.
Has songwriting always come naturally to you?
It’s something that has always come to me, but not naturally. I constantly work on it, and I will always work on it. I struggle with it, but the way to get better at it is to always be struggling with it, to always question it and to always try to be better at it.
Do you ever second-guess your work?
Every day (laughs). Every time a record comes out, I wonder if it’s good enough.
“I appreciate the reception and appreciate that people are interested, but I also realize that there will come a day when people aren’t as interested as they are now. I just try to focus on writing the best songs that I can write and hope for the best.”
A record is like a tattoo, isn’t it? It’s a huge commitment because once it’s there, it’s there.
Well, I’ve got a lot of tattoos (laughs), so I know what you mean. I’m just that way. I don’t have the utmost faith in myself, so there’s always that ‘what if?’ But you can’t analyze everything forever. I just try to get to the point where I can release it and be happy to get it out of my hands, and hope that people understand what I’m going for.
And if they don’t?
If they don’t, then they don’t, and that’s music. It’s personal.
But Little Hell was very well received; it debuted at number one on the Canadian chart.
Yeah, it was great, but I try not to focus on things like that too much. If you start getting your hopes up, then that’s what you’re always depending on. Next time, if it doesn’t debut at number one, does that mean I didn’t do as well? I take it with a grain of salt. I appreciate the reception and appreciate that people are interested, but I also realize that there will come a day when people aren’t as interested as they are now. I just try to focus on writing the best songs that I can write and hope for the best. That’s it.
“Anyone who’s played an electric guitar really loud knows that it’s really fun to do, and anyone who’s sung quietly while strumming an acoustic guitar knows that it can be very calming and beautiful. I just happened to have been able to do both of those things for a while.”
Did you have a ‘career goal’ when you first started?
My main goal was always just to be able to play, and that was it. If I could somehow figure out how to write the songs, then play them for people, then that would be the dream come true. And that’s how I’ve always been…I set small, obtainable goals. I’ve never wanted to be a world-dominating pop star, and I’ve never wanted fame; I just want to write a good song and then write a better song than that one. If I can do that, then I hope that everything else will just fall into place.
City and Colour and Alexisonfire are miles apart. What do they each afford you artistically?
I just like music, and I like a lot of different styles. I think it’s confusing for a lot of people and unexpected. To come from a hardcore band and then to move into an acoustic project, it’s like people were upset with me, saying, ‘You’re already in one band, how can you possibly put out another record that’s unlike the other one?’ To that I say, ‘I like music and I listen to lots of different things.’ As a songwriter, I have a lot of musical ideas rolling around in my head. Anyone who’s played an electric guitar really loud knows that it’s really fun to do, and anyone who’s sung quietly while strumming an acoustic guitar knows that it can be very calming and beautiful. I just happened to have been able to do both of those things for a while.
Might those musical ideas rolling around necessitate yet another project?
Probably. I’ve got a bunch of these weird electro songs I’ve been writing on my laptop for like, 10 years. I do it late at night for fun when I can’t sleep. I make beats, slowly piece them together, then every once in a while go back and play with them a little more. Who knows if it will ever see the light of day? Maybe it will.
“…touring with Alexisonfire for the first couple of years; playing to no one; sleeping on floors or in the van or cramming 10 guys into one hotel room because we didn’t have enough money was all pretty shitty but it shaped who I am as a musician and my career path.”
You once said, ‘Going outside in the sunshine is nice, but it’s all about going through the shit that makes you who you are.’
Well, people always ask why I write songs that deal with such serious topics, and it’s because I don’t really feel like writing songs when I’m happy, you know? I don’t want to write a song about the sunshine. Maybe one day I will, but when I’m thinking about something that bothers me, then that’s when I want to be writing.
What’s a pivotal ‘shit’ moment to have shaped you?
Musically, touring with Alexisonfire for the first couple of years; playing to no one; sleeping on floors or in the van or cramming 10 guys into one hotel room because we didn’t have enough money was all pretty shitty but it shaped who I am as a musician and my career path. It allowed me to appreciate working for something rather than just signing a major label deal and getting on a tour bus and playing in front of thousands of people right away. I appreciate everything that I’ve earned and everything that comes to me in my career.
And is there a pivotal ‘sunshiny’ moment that stands out?
I don’t know…I’d like to think that it hasn’t happened yet. There’ve been a lot of great moments in my life, but I don’t know that I could pinpoint one perfect one, you know?
There’s something nice in thinking that it’s yet to come.
Yeah, I think so. I’d like to think that I’ll never write my greatest song and that I’ll always be striving to do so. I’d like to think that my best show is still ahead of me, too.