Interview with Dune Puma - Giving Thanks To Craigslist
Dune Puma will be playing at The Fire tonight at 7:30pm, along with some other great bands. We got to talk with some of the members of Dune Puma and learn about their musical influences, how they all met and why they are thankful for Craigslist. Check it out down below!
Q: How did you all come together to form Dune Puma?
A: Fish (bass), Nate (guitar), and I (Luke, drummer) have been in various bands together over the past 15 years or so. After our last band split, Fish and I kept jamming, wrote a bunch of songs and decided to find some other members. It made perfect sense to ask Nate if he wanted to join, and luckily he did. After having a couple different guitarists leave for various reasons, Jamie, who Nate and I worked with, joined. Our former singer moved to New York and, ironically, Evan moved from New York to Philly and was desperate to get into the scene, so he was the perfect final piece.
Q: Was music something you have always wanted to do or has you found a love for it over the last however many years?
A: Music has always been a huge part of all of our lives. None of us took lessons when we got started, we all just decided it was something that interested us, picked up instruments, and went for it.
Q: What has been your favorite venue to play?
A: I think we'd all be in agreement in saying that the Grape Room in Manayunk is up there. It's smaller so it fills up easily, the staff are great and easy to work with, and the sound engineer always makes us sound great. It's a great spot.
Q: When writing your own music, do you typically draw from inspiration from band's you like? Who are some of your biggest influences?
A: We all have pretty varied influences, which is kind of a blessing and a curse when writing. That being said, I think you can hear some emo qualities in the music. We were all kind of coming of age in the early 2000s when emo was huge so it has naturally influenced our writing. You'll hear some TBS influence with some of the dual vocal parts and harmonies. Personally, my two favorite drummers growing up were Dan Trapp of Senses Fail and Aaron Stern of Matchbook Romance, so there's definitely some influence from them in my playing.
Q: What was the process like creating the three tracks under the Dune Puma Sessions on Spotify?
A: That was an interesting time. Those 3 songs were being written right at the end of the time with our former singer through the transition to Evan. I think only Life On Trial was written with our current lineup. The other two, at least musically, were written before Evan joined. He then came in and put his touch on them, and voila.
Q: Do you have any new music in the works? Maybe an EP or possibly a full album?
A: We actually just finished recording a full length with Eric at the Boom Room. Thinking an early 2019 release.
Q: What is the best part about performing for a live audience?
A: The best part of performing live is feeding off each other and the audience. When recording or practicing, it's kind of the same experience every time. Playing live is always something different which always makes it exciting. We have some of the most supportive friends and have met some other great bands through playing live, and it's great playing for them and with them.
Q: We can't wait for the show on the 24th, what can fans expect?
A: Fans should expect a fun, energetic set. People that have never seen or heard of us should expect some surprises and great involvement from our friends and other bands. It should be a great show.
Q: Do you have any fun facts or cool stories about Dune Puma that most readers wouldn’t know?
A: We actually found Evan, our singer, on Craigslist....or maybe he found us. Either way, we had a listing on there and had a few responses. One person that we had set up to come jam asked if we could learn a couple covers to showcase his vocals, so we did. When Evan showed up, we asked which of the covers he wanted to start with and he looked at each of us like we had two heads. Turned out he was not who we thought he was, but luckily for us everything worked out in the end.
Check out Dune Puma on Facebook and their website!
They will be joined by special guests Qwirk, Moment to Capitalize and Jamie and the Guarded Heart tonight starting at 5:15pm!
Stay up-to-date on all The Fire news and events here: https://www.firephilly.com
By Jackie Karlsson