Brooklyn – Dinosaur Feathers is the umbrella moniker for an indie band that’s seen its fair share of turnover since its inception in 2008. Likewise, the mastermind behind this act, Greg Sullo, is equally comfortable with embracing the unknown with unabashed gusto. Since he started to focus his efforts on making music, Sullo had steadily and decidedly churned out a discography that would make any mother proud, and most music geeks weak in the knees.
But the way this musician has lived his life is equally and exceedingly impressive. Authentic, unquestioned dedication such as Sullo’s is rare, and his willingness to give all to his art is as naturally impactful as colliding tectonic plates.
Dinosaur Feathers’ debut LP was 2010’s Fantasy Memorial, followed by 2012’s Whistle Tips. Their third LP, Control, is slated to hit shelves on October 7 via Ernest Jenning Record Co.
While we wait, Sullo spoke to Best New Bands about his journey as a musician, his influences and the making of Control. Dive into the text below for a window into what makes Sullo tick.
LIZ ROWLEY: Are you based in Brooklyn?
GREG SULLO: The band is based in Brooklyn, although I moved to Oakland a little over a year ago and that’s where the new album was recorded. About a month ago I moved to Bloomington, Illinois. I’m not super familiar with the town, but it seems like it’ll be all right and rent’s way cheaper than Brooklyn!
You said it. So when you began realizing the band in 2008, did Dinosaur Feathers begin as a solo project?
When it first started it was just me fooling around with a drum machine and a guitar. Derek [Zimmerman] was a friend from college, he came to a show I did and he hopped on board shortly thereafter. My buddy Adam [Fetcher] joined around that time but ended up leaving pretty soon for work reasons, and Derek also left the band a couple years ago.
So what’s the roster for the band’s current incarnation?
As far as recording goes, it’s mostly Ryan [Michael Kiley] and me. We mix all the work together. We have a new configuration for playing live. The first show of our tour was in Boston. We also played at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn on the 20th. We hit the road after that!
What’s on deck for the tour?
We head south, then down the East Coast. We’ll play Philly and Atlanta before heading up the West Coast and back through the Midwest. Our last shows are in Chicago and Bloomington, Illinois, playing my new hometown. It’ll be a nice homecoming, but I won’t get too much time to stick around because I’ll be headed back to New York to play CMJ.
What was the writing process like for your new album, Control?
We were on the road for almost three years. We were recording then, and maybe we were a little burnt out. During that time, I didn’t have an apartment and spent a decent amount of time crashing with friends. I needed a chance to recharge and reset, so I ended up moving out to Oakland. At that point, being separated from everyone else in the band, I had a chance to start from scratch. It felt like reliving the early days in a way, when it was just me in my apartment in New York.
It was a lot of reflecting and writing, and not knowing where it was going to go. But somewhere along the way the idea of what I was looking for started to take shape.
I’ve listened to your first single, “Zeitgeist.” It seems like a fuller, somehow funkier spin on your signature sound. Is that a valid perception?
Yeah, it’s interesting. The sound of this album feels a lot different than my previous work. It was a different process. When I first moved to the Bay Area I was listening to this radio station that plays a lot of early 80’s R&B, so I was thinking about that a lot. I have a good buddy in Oakland who plays the sax, and is generous enough with his time and whatnot to help me out. So I got to record some horn lines, and indulge in that.
If you had to pick a standout track on the album, that you would point to and are particularly proud of, which would you choose?
There are a couple tracks on the album that have been great for us and have been very different, especially in their live incarnations. They’re slower and maybe a little more patient than we’re used to. One’s called “On My Mind,” and the other one’s called “Fools.” Those tracks have been a departure for us, and I’d say they’ve been pretty successful. That’s pretty exciting. I don’t know that we were specifically looking to challenge ourselves with creating something compelling, but it’s been kind of a pleasant surprise to be thrown out of our comfort zone.
Let’s talk about the lyrics to this album specifically, or lyricism in general. Is there something that informs how you write the words to your songs?
It’s an organic process, although I have a very specific vision going into each track about what I want to write about. This album was informed by what I was listening to, and each song touches on a particular experience or experiences. There was a lot of grappling with three years of life on the road, and not having an apartment. Being in Oakland I had a home again, and a job. So, there was a bit of re-normalizing. It was a process of stabilization that informed the experiences I was having, and the things I was thinking a lot about at the time.
What was it like to bounce around like that? It seems like that takes a lot more courage than to just settle into a routine and commit.
On one hand it takes more courage, but on the other hand it takes more cowardice [laughs]. It was a lot of running away from commitment. But to be honest, it was never really a plan or a specific choice, to end up like that. As it happened, it was a matter of convenience.
More than anything else, it was about allowing myself the chance to go on the road and to keep making music. It was about taking advantage of whatever opportunities that were out that. And that was really exciting for a long time.
The toughest part about that, and it ties into the idea of community, was not being part of a scene. There were a lot of bands we used to play with in New York and when we came back from touring half of them didn’t exist anymore. But on the flipside, we got a chance to make friends with musicians across the country in countless different cities. I guess you can’t have it all, right?
When did you know that you wanted to be a musician?
I’ve been playing music forever and I can’t pinpoint when or if it ever was a conscious choice. It’s always been the thing I ended up doing that was most compelling.
I guess the better question is: what do you like about being a musician?
It’s funny. I guess it’s the one real thing that interests me. Music is the one thing that’s always there, and it’s the one think that I always come back to. I keep having new ideas that I want to pursue, and on the road I kept making friend that inspired me. I kept meeting other musicians and other bands out there, and our minds keep going in a similar direction. We all kept following that spark, I guess.
How would you describe your sound, to someone who has never heard your work?
Well, we recently did a radio campaign where we were asked to come up with similar artists, a ‘recommended if you like these artists’ kind of a list. Most of our ideas were rejected because they were a little outdated. But we thought the most accurate were Prince, Chaka Khan and early Janet Jackson. Someone at a show we played recently made a reference to Hall & Oates? So, we’ll take that I guess.
What could your new album soundtrack: a crazy party, or a solitary adventure? What should I be doing when I play it for the first time?
Well, between our first album and our second album, we were playing a lot of punk DIY shows. We were also playing a lot of topical rock music. But in the buildup to this album I was living at home, cooking dinner often, that sort of thing. I wanted to put on a record I could dance to, that I could play at a party, but that I could also listen to while I was cooking dinner.
You mentioned Janet Jackson. What other decades or genres inspire your sound?
The decade would definitely be the early 80’s. That’s truly the time that influenced this album. The record also draws on late 60’s, early 70’s Motown vibes.
What does the name Dinosaur Feathers signal?
The name comes from the Museum of Natural History in New York. About six years ago there was a display there that talked about how many dinosaurs are now believed to have had feathers. So, it was just something on my mind at the time.
What new bands are you listening to, who has impressed you in the past five years?
As you can tell, a lot of our influences are more backwards facing. But I think this year has certainly been cool for a lot of bands we’ve met on the road, that we’ve made friends with and have had the pleasure of playing alongside. Future Islands, Mac DeMarco, Tune-Yards, to name a few. I think those are all great bands. I feel like most of the contemporary music I’ve been listening to in the past year has been more hip-hop and R&B, like Drake, Miguel and Frank Ocean. There’s also been a lot of impressive electronic music. There’s tons of great stuff out there at the moment!
Liz Rowley
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