Dabster Gentleman is a creative duo founded by Dale Thompson and Myles Barfield. Their approach to songwriting is refreshing, distinct, and all their own.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Myles about the band, their music, technology, challenges and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
There are two primary members of Dabster Gentlemen right now. Dale Thompson who is from Kentucky but now lives in New Zealand and myself from Amarillo, Texas.
When we first decided to re-brand ourselves (Me coming from an instrumental back ground, and Dale from a heavy metal back ground: Dale primarily from the band Bride) we made a very conscious decision to try something new. Even if no one liked the final product we wanted to make something that truly reflected who we were and what we enjoyed playing/listening to.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Dale and I have a drive that keeps us going. We simply love the creation process. In fact we love it so much that we have actually recorded seven albums under the Dabster Gentlemen name so far. Our plan is to release one every December; we are currently working on the eighth album. Four of these albums were completed before the first was even released. I say this because our goal here is two fold; first it is not really about whether the masses like what we produce or not, its about how we feel right now, and where we are at in our lives right now. Which leads to the second point, we wanted the entire Dabster Gentlemen “collection and Library” to be a snapshot, to capture this moment in our lives. If we waited years between recording, we might be tempted to shift the style, or tweak it to what we think might get us more media attention, or popularity. This way, love us or hate us, we are locked in.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Dale and I both approached writing from a different perspective entirely; vocalist Dale Thompson gives the listener his first impression of each song. He listens to what I have written/composed, finds a lyric set that he feels matches the tone of the song and jumps in.
What we are trying to accomplish, and truly hope that it comes across is giving the listener music that is fun/serious, fresh and unique, and fun to listen to. Our goal is not to be rich and famous; although earning money to keep the band going would be welcome; our goal instead is to create something new and fresh. To give people music that isn’t trapped in a specific genre, and music that is not what we have both been involved with in the past.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
This digital age is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it is so easy to get music out there now. I could upload the next album in minutes, and it would be live in days! So getting music to the people is not difficult to accomplish at all. Yet, because it is so easy to get music out there, anyone can put music out there…and the ocean of what is available to the public is so vast that it is hard to keep your head above the flood of new music that comes out daily.
It is also hard to make enough money to support what you do. While we encourage our listeners to use Spotify and Apple Music, we make .025 cents off each listen. So there isn’t allot of return to the musician.
Another negative and positive is as I watch Spotify and YouTube streams and statistics like a hawk!
The positive is we can see that people are listening/watching, and are interested.
The negative is I go on an emotional roller coaster like I am watching the stock market go up and down as one day we may have allot of streams, listeners and new subscribers, and the next day have none.
What was the last song you listened to?
I am guessing that you mean other than ourselves?
If so for me it would likely be Zoe Keating’s “Legions (War)” I am captivated by all of her work, but these three “Legions” songs on her “One Cello x 16: Natoma album have captivated me for years now.
The last time I spoke with Dale about music other than our own, he was very into breaking down Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”
If you are asking which of our songs keeps pulling me back, “As Darkness Falls” has a special place with me. This is mainly because long before it became a Dabster Gentlemen song, it was me sitting in the backyard with my acoustic bass in front of a fire at night. The primary bass melody was a type of chant for me, as I sat thinking through issues, problems and trials. That song will always be special to me.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
While our music is primarily available digitally, I am starting to get caught up in the Vinyl thing, mainly when it comes to old Jazz music. Although I primarily listen digitally on my iPhone, because I can Bluetooth it onto my Alexa, portable speakers, or my car. I like having thousands of hours of music available anywhere, at anytime.
How about this one….Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I personally prefer our listeners to use Spotify, mainly because I can track it and that is typically where I do most of our promotions through. I like Spotify because they have made it so easy for bands to pull up and see everything; down to the city people are listening in. This helps me when I run facebook and other promotions in being able to focus in.
For example: I saw our listener stats went up in Canada last month, so I jumped on Facebook and thanked all of our Canadian listeners. It is pretty unique to be able to do that.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
We primarily use our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/projectmissionbell/?ref=bookmarks) which is generally where we post all news, song information and updates.
We also have a Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWIKtfoBbpPlvHrGxn5_WyA) where we plan to release one of the songs from the album every other month, continuing this throughout the rest of the planned albums.
Anything else before we sign off?
We know our music is a little different, but we ask the listener not to focus on what they expect to happen in a song, instead, allowing themselves to be taken away by what has been shaped. Not to fall into the trap of comparing Dabster Gentlemen to other bands, but truly explore the music with us. Dabster Gentlemen views our music as a canvas; writing what flows from heart and soul. Weaving melodies together “blindfolded,” letting the songs in a sense write themselves, and flow how they choose to flow.
The future plans for the band is to remain in studio only, it would be extremely difficult to perform live as some songs have up to twelve different vocal tracks, and thirty layered instruments, a large amount being percussion; not to mention Dale and I live on different continents.
Another unique thing about Dabster Gentlemen is there is definitely a beginning, middle and end. When we decided to start the project, we agreed on a set number of albums; which will be released yearly each December following the first release in December of 2018. Our joy in creating these albums is an exploration musically as we continue to mix different aspects of genres together while keeping a foundation in a Folk/Jazz origin. Yet we do not want the music to become stale, which is why knowing we have only a set number of albums to explore these themes helps to keep us focused. Although, we have expanded the final number a few times now.
