ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Dak DuBois
Red Lion Pub hosted Milwaukee singer-songwriter Dak DuBois and Appleton-based artist Monte on Friday evening for a fun night of outdoor patio music.
Dak DuBois is originally from the Fox Valley but has lived in Milwaukee for about a year now. He started playing guitar when he was eleven and then eventually learned how to play more instruments as well. “My brother Nicholas is an insanely good musician and I felt I needed to be half as good as him,” he recalls. “I feel like I’m only about a quarter as good (laughs).”
His music is influenced by psychedelic pop and rock from the 60’s, funk and soul from the 70’s as well as modern indie rock. Currently DuBois plays live with bassist Michael Sambar and drummer Chris McRae (Monte). “They’re both amazing dudes,” he said about his bandmates. “Michael actually plays drums as his first instrument and Chris plays keys as his first instrument but they’re both great at any instrument they play.”
DuBois’ eponymous, eight-song debut album came out earlier this year in April. On the songwriting and recording process for his first release, DuBois shares, “I knew that there was some cool music to be played and I wanted to make it resonate with other people. I feel like I could’ve mixed and mastered it better…but I did all of that myself and I didn’t know what I was doing…and I learned a lot going into what I’m working on now. For my lyrics I use some pretty simple metaphors but I don’t want what I’m saying to get lost…it’s definitely all about experiences of heartbreak, losing people and gaining new people.”
That said, DuBois is working with artist CaseyU on an EP that he hopes to release in the coming months along with a few singles. “It’s been cool to give the keys to someone who’s so fucking good at songwriting,” DuBois said about CaseyU. “They’re the best singer I think I’ve ever gotten to work with. My bassist Michael is playing drums and synth on the record too. All three of us got together for the first time and started working on a few songs last week and it was super cool.”
Dak DuBois plays Company Brewing on September 16th, Var Gallery on October 6th, Ope Brewing on October 27th and Falcon Bowl for MKE Music Night on November 18th.
