dwarves We’re back with a new full-length, jenkem,arrival
In the run-up to the album’s release, we caught up with the band’s mastermind, Bragg Dahlia, to talk about what we can expect.
jenkem They don’t feel like a legacy act trying to recreate the past, but rather a band that still enjoys pushing buttons and making loud, chaotic records. What excited you most creatively while making this album?
Thank you for noticing! That’s why Dwarf calls themselves the last punk band. Because as bands get older, they often forget why they started making records in the first place. It’s sure to be fun! We still get together in the same room and play together, so it sounds more like a band playing than a bunch of overdubs looking for someone to mix. Honestly, the most exciting part of making this record for me was just hanging out with my friends. We still have a lot of fun talking trash and making fun of each other and everyone else. jenkem It’s the result of a bunch of friends who just happen to be rock legends having fun making music.
One of the things that has always made The Dwarves unique is how they combine humor with really catchy songwriting. Even if the lyrics are outrageous, there is always real skill behind them. Do you consciously try to balance these two aspects, or has it just become second nature to you over the years?
Every member of this band writes the songs, so it’s not just a repeat of what we’ve done before, but an amalgamation of different styles. Also, trying to create something super fast and catchy with loud guitars can be difficult. That’s why so many thrash, punk, and metal records lack humor. The melody on those kinds of songs is usually just one note, a bald, tattooed guy moaning about how excluded he feels. Rather than hiding behind loud noises or anxiety, I aim for melodies that you can sing along to on an acoustic guitar or while whistling while walking down the street. But sometimes it’s fun to moan. It depends on the song and what you’re trying to convey.
People think we’re trying to do outrageous things or shock everyone, but to me it’s just crazy to record things that are actually on everyone’s mind all the time: sex, death, violence, profanity, more sex. Many artists censor themselves from the beginning, constantly trying to create something that won’t offend, signal their virtue, or be a predictable success. They make it sound like we’re trying to shock people, but in reality we just want to convey a genuine impulse, not the background noise of a sports drink ad.
Dwarf has survived and remained relevant through various eras of punk and underground music without sounding like anyone else. Looking back, why do you think the band has continued to connect with people for so long?
A lot of it was avoiding or ignoring the music industry. When you’re no longer 25 and record company executives no longer expect you to send their kids to college, you’re a relic of history. From there, you can make great music until you drop, and the only people who notice it are the fans who actually like you. We were there for punk, post-punk, nu-metal, thrash, noise rock, grunge, pop-punk, etc., but to stay relevant, you have to actually love what you’re doing, keep your ears open, take chances, and ignore the haters. Those are hard things to do, especially when musicians get older and more sensitive. That’s why being a decadent, ruthless bastard has really served us well sometimes. We didn’t care that Hollywood neobabies, disgruntled British tabloid dudes, or social media hipsters objected to our music. We didn’t make it for them, we made it for ourselves and the people who liked it, when no one was buying records. we just laughed.
Songs like “We Are the Scene” feel like The Dwarfs are reflecting on their relationship with punk culture years later. Having been active in underground music for decades, what is it about the scene that still inspires and entertains you?
Something new is always emerging. I’m amazed when young bands like Sik Sik Sicks contact us and want to play a show. Instead of enjoying it, I think to myself, “How did I even hear about this band?” So I ended up writing a duet with the singer from that band for my last record, and the fans loved it. Hopefully, there will always be some cool kids out there pushing the boundaries of the new and unearthing the best of the old.
“We Are the Scene” is a song that pushes the idea that “We don’t care who likes this, who buys this, who promotes this. We did this for one audience, ourselves. We are the majority. We don’t need your love or approval or permission. We decide who runs the scene. And it’s us!”
Your records have always had a mix of chaos, humor, great hooks, and complete unpredictability, and young bands are still trying to capture that. When you listen to new punk and hardcore bands today, do you hear elements of Dwarf influence in surprising ways?
I wanted to hear more! Marketing and other topics come up here, because people are only influenced by what they actually listen to. And because very few people had heard of us, we weren’t generally told by many bands that we were a big influence. I think the biggest influence on us was the young bands we played with. “Hey, you guys really don’t think about anything, do you? You guys just do what you like and that’s it?” A lot of times they couldn’t believe it. This is especially true the more management, labels, agents, lawyers, and publicists are controlling them. The idea of being truly independent and being able to wreak havoc on stage and laugh with friends was really liberating for some of the bands we played with. The better ones accepted the challenge and ran with it.
This new video, “Damned If I Do,” is interesting because over the past 20 years or so, you’ve been doing increasingly evolutionary things with your records, using session members, producers, and different styles. And this time I said let’s do a gut-level punch with a throat punk record, which is most of my work. jenkem teeth. So all of a sudden I wrote an 80’s style mid-tempo hit song and said I’m going to put it on this album to piss everyone off. And it turned out to be the catchiest track on the record. Then we made this video with a young Hollywood director and some hot L.A. girls and had fun getting into the quagmire. The band started as a reaction to 80’s style mid-tempo hits, but now they’ve decided to create a band just to piss themselves off. It would be even better if it wasn’t punk rock. It’s the dwarves!
us date
06/12 — Austin, Texas @ Pronged Austin Noise Fest
06/13 — Dallas, Texas @ Dusty’s
06/14 — San Francisco, California @ Bottom of the Hill w/ Pandora’s
Europe and UK dates
06/17 — Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz 3
06/18 — Valencia, ES @ 16 Toneladas
06/19 — Vitoria, Spain @ Azquena Rock Festival
06/20 — Tours, France @ Bateau Ivre w/ Eye Hate God (free show)
06/21 — Clisson, France @ Hellfest
06/23 — Utrecht, Netherlands @ DB
06/24 — Duesseldorf, Delaware @ Pitcher
06/25 — Harlem, New Jersey @ Patronato with Eye Hate God
06/26 — Isselstein, Netherlands @ Jera On Air
06/26 — Deventer, New Jersey @ Burgerweeshuis with Truck Fighters
06/27 — Hamburg, Delaware @ Hedi (2 sets)
06/28 — Berlin, Delaware @ BiNuu w/ Eye Hate God
06/29 — Regensburg, Delaware @ Alte Mälzerei w/ Eye Hate God
07/01 — Trutnov, Czech Republic @ Obscene Extreme Festival
07/02 — Brno, Czech Republic @ Kabinet
07/03 — Zabok, HR @ Regenerator
07/04 — Pula, HR @ Monteparadiso with Eye Hate God
07/05 — Treviso, Italy @ Nomad (free show)
07/08 — GR Athens @ Gazalte Ground Stage
07/09 — Prolsdorf, Delaware @ Krak am Bach Festival
07/10 — Stuttgart, Delaware @ Goldmarks
07/11 — Essen, Delaware @ Don’t Panic
07/12 — Belgium, Gierle @ Sjock Fest
07/15 — Marseille, France @ Molotov
07/16 — Bergamo, IT @ Punk Rock Raduno (free show)
07/17 — IT, Turin @ Blah Blah
07/18 — Delaware Three @ Backside Festival
Additional dates in the US
09/04 — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
09/05 — Brooklyn, New York
09/06 — Montague, Massachusetts @ RPM Fest
09/11 — Scottsdale, Arizona with The Exploited, Total Chaos
09/12 — Los Angeles, California with Exploited, Total Chaos
09/13 — Murrieta, California, Total Chaos
09/16 — Total Chaos and Las Vegas, Nevada
09/17 — Orange County, California with Exploited, Total Chaos
09/18 — San Francisco, California with Exploited, Total Chaos
09/20 — Sacramento, California with The Exploited
Get the album here.
