This month's gigs: July 22 at Exhibit A Brewing

Come catch the Roland High Life on Friday, July 22 at Exhibit A Brewing in Framingham, MA. It’s an outdoor show, and we’re on early at 7pm — so there’s really no excuse not to come out and rock out, right? We’ll even have merch!

But even if you can’t make it, we’ve got some stuff coming in August and September, too. See ya at the show!

We're back, baby! Come see the Roland High Life LIVE!

That’s right — my indie rock band the Roland High Life, which has mostly been a studio-only project for the last long while, is finally doing live shows again!

Our first show back is later this month at the Jungle in Union Square Somerville:

We even got some fancy new merchandise to show off too!

See ya there!

Announcing "Forfocséic, Vol. 2 — Whiskey & Work"

After the success of last year’s pandemic-produced Irish folk album Forfocséic, Vol. 1, I decided to follow it up with — well, more of the same, I guess. Except this time, the production is even richer, and I stuck to a more coherent theme that’s resonant throughout Irish cultural history: whiskey, and workers’ rights.

And so, I present Forfocséic, Vol. 2 — Whiskey & Work, now available everywhere you stream or download music!

Once again, I had some help from some remote friends (including the fantastic fiddle work of the inimitable Jacqui Cheng). Continuing in the tradition of Irish song mashups, I made a wild medley of “The Rare Aul’ Mountain Dew” and “The Hills of Connemara,” which are both about poitín (basically Irish Moonshine / illicit white whiskey) and both kind of follow the same form anyway.

The other fun thing I did this time (aside from the arrangements, which I’m just generally very proud of) is to twist one of the songs here and make it my own. In addition to the conspicuous Red Sox references in “The Leaving of Liverpool,” I also wrote and added a new verse to “Muirsheen Durkin,” turning it from a more generic immigrant song to one specifically about my own family. Not to give too many spoilers away, but the last verse you hear is indeed something that actually happened to an ancestor of mine, after coming to America from the West of Ireland during the Great Hunger.

Anyway — I hope you enjoy it, and I can’t wait to actually (maybe?) do some live St. Paddy’s Day shows next year (finally!).

Recording Roland High Life album #3, Part 1

We started working on the new Roland High Life album this weekend, carrying on the tradition we established from last October. This time, we got together outside of Newport, Rhode Island — and for the first time, we actually had an active, functioning bass player there to contribute to the songwriting process! Jake WM had played one show with the Roland High Life back in the day as a fill-in, and it was probably the best show we ever played; we had wanted him to play on “Another Other Dorset,” but he had some family stuff that come up. We couldn’t have been happier to finally officially welcome him into the band.

We got another 5 songs done this time, and I think that covers it for our existing back catalog of tunes we wrote between the bands’ active eras. That means it’s a good diversity of tunes, but we’re also looking forward to writing with the future in the mind — starting from who we are now, as individuals and a band, and working together to crank out the best stuff for who and where we are in our lives.

I’ll share some samples of the songs we did as soon as I have them!

We out here #newalbum #newmusic #recording #homerecording #homerecordingstudio #diy #punkrock #indierock

12 Likes, 1 Comments - The Roland High Life (@therolandhighlife) on Instagram: "We out here #newalbum #newmusic #recording #homerecording #homerecordingstudio #diy #punkrock..."

🎶 Chris and I cased the neighborhood We found out that everybody sleeps in the middle of the night 🎶 (#timelapse of #drummer @n_correia laying down #drums for @therolandhighlife's #newalbum) #newmusic #punkrock #indierock #recording #homerecording #homerecordingstudio #recordingstudio

8 Likes, 1 Comments - The Roland High Life (@therolandhighlife) on Instagram: "🎶 Chris and I cased the neighborhood We found out that everybody sleeps in the middle of the night..."

A lil' #behindthescenes #music from @therolandhighlife's recent #recording session. #newmusic #indierock #rockandroll

12 Likes, 3 Comments - The Roland High Life (@therolandhighlife) on Instagram: "A lil' #behindthescenes #music from @therolandhighlife's recent #recording session. #newmusic..."

The first actual LIVE Roland High Life show in a decade!

Frands! 1. Not from Wisconsin 2. Mighty Jet Band 3. The Roland High Life #porchfest2019

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And while we’re in the throes of all this Roland High LIfe news — we started playing shows again! Or at least, me and Walker played a solo acoustic show together as part of Ithaca Porch Fest. We’re also getting ready to start recording the next album, so this was a good warm-up, and the reception was such that we very much plan on doing it again. Go team!

It's been 10 years since we didn't release the first Roland High Life album →

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Now that the Roland High Life is a real band again, we decided to re-master and release our debut EP, “If You Really Want To Hear About…”

You’ll notice that, while I said re-mastered, I didn’t say re-released. Because we, uhhh, neglected to ever actually release this album, just like we kind of neglected the band for a decade for no good reason; we just kinda got busy, even though we were all still friends, and let it all languish.

But now, it’s finally out there for the world to see. Even though I wrote these songs in college — at the very start of my ADHD treatment, and dealing with all kinds of new sensations — I still think they hold up pretty well. We also had the privilege of recording it all at WERS studios at Emerson College, which meant access to lots of high-end equipment and unlimited time after hours in which to work. (The downside, however, is that we lost the master multitracks, and had to work from the rough mixes we put together. But still.)

I’m not gonna do the same song-by-song breakdown on here; I could, but it feels moot, seeing as I wrote all these songs on the cusp of 21 or so. I’ll save the Behind-the-Music shpiel for our next album.

But I will share this newly-recorded acoustic version of “Squatter Song” that I did over the summer. That’s a song that I originally wrote upon first moving to Boston, freshly diagnosed with ADHD and feeling very depressed and overwhelmed with the state of being a mental ill grownup and having my own apartment. Thus, it felt oddly fitting to play the song again on the eve of Boston’s famous Allston Christmas, as I sat in the empty Boston apartment that I now own as I move back into it as a somewhat-functional adult.

The new Roland High Life album is out today! →

Well folks, it’s been about a decade since we last released or performed any music … but the new 5-song EP from my indie rock band the Roland High Life is now available on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, BandCamp, and everywhere else you might want to find your tunes!

We arranged and recorded all of these songs over a single weekend at a house in Vermont. They weren’t fully written that weekend — me and Walker, my co-front-man for the band, had been working on songs intermittently that we’d share with each other. But we put them all together, arranged them, and recorded the tracks pretty quickly on our own. For a self-produced work in a basement in Vermont, I’m pretty god damn proud of the work that we pulled off, and I’m very much looking forward to what’s next for the band.

I wrote this song about a few people I know in real life who have succumbed to the crippling addiction of fucked up Trumpian conspiracy theories. I think the Americana-blues-punk vibe we landed with here really encapsulates our vision for the future of the band. The song also explicitly references David Graeber’s economic theory on Bullshit Jobs, which I think everyone should read.

This is a Walker jam (aka my best friend, and the other lead singer in the band). He had sent me an acoustic demo of this a few years back, and I think we landed in a pretty rad Jimmy Eat World-esque area in this. It’s a banger for sure, helped along by Chris the Drummer laying down a sick bass line.

I had originally imagined this as more of an AJJ-esque folk punk song; you can find my solo version of it on Spotify as well. It’s a lot more politically direct than our other Roland High Life thus far (even when we have gotten political), but I think we hit on something good here. Walker convinced me to play it like a Springsteen song that my audience already knew, and that’s exactly how we recorded it. I also threw down some mandolin and lap steel guitar on this track, to really mix it up.

This is actually an older Roland High Life song that we never quite recorded right. I’m not sure if this one is perfect, either — maybe a little too slow — but it’s still the best we have so far. It’s a love song to my cherry red Gibson Les Paul Junior, and I definitely accomplished what I set out to do (i.e., writing a song about loving music that’s also overly sexualized in a weird way). I originally wrote this at a time in my life when I was prone to over-complicating songs, but I do think that the look-at-me-i’m-so-clever music theory games that go on in here are still pretty cool.

Another Walker jam, this one started off as more of a Billy Joel knockoff, and Walker wasn’t sure if it would fit with our rock vibe. But Chris, our drummer, said that he’d been listening to lots of Teenage Fan Club lately, and as soon as he said that, I was hit with a Teenage Fan Club-style version of the song in my head. Or at least, that’s what we were going for; the final product is a little more ambient power-pop, and very much us, which makes it even better.

Plus that snare drop right before the second verse is sick.

Premiering a few new Roland High Life songs at Frank Turner's Lost Evenings!

Back in October, my old band the Roland High Life and I reconvened at a house in the woods of Vermont to write and record our first album in 10 years. So far, it sounds pretty great, and I even premiered a few of the new songs at Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings festival in Boston, at the Open Mic event hosted by Derek of the Homeless Gospel Choir. The response from the crowd was fantastic, and I’m looking forward to getting these songs out into the world!

My first real St. Paddy's Day music gig!

I’ve always had it in my mind that I would end up singing Irish songs at pubs on the weekend, coming full circle from the way that I grew up. I just … never did anything to pursue that goal. Until finally, the fine folks at Liquid State Brewing — one of my favorite places in Ithaca, New York — asked me to perform on St. Patrick’s Day.

Who knew that people would actually pay me to sing my favorite Irish Rebel Songs and Pogues tunes while I drink their beer? Being a grown-up is great!

It was a great show, and I’m very much looking forward to doing it again next year.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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You can now listen to my new solo album "5 Years on the B-Side" in all fine digital music stores!…well mostly.

Back in December, I started recording a solo album at home, compiling a bunch of songs that I had written over the 5 years I lived at the B-Side Brewery. Some of them have been heard intermittently by friends and at open mic nights, and through various online demos over the years — but I think I’ve just about locked in on the definitive versions of most of them, anyway. And now they’re available to listen to on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, BandCamp, SoundCloud, and more! (like seriously: does anyone really use Napster anymore?)

5 Years on the B-Side by Thom Dunn, released 01 April 2018 1. My Life as a Weapon (Song for Hawkeye from the Avengers) 2. I Take Your Love For Granted 3. Pillowman (Acoustic) 4. Don't Break a Window 5. Your Love Won't Save Me 6. Film Noir 7.

Most of these recordings fall in a spectrum of acoustic-folk-electro-indie-punk, more out of necessity than anything else (you don’t really wanna groove to that built-in Logic Pro auto drummer, do ya?). Oh, and of course, because it’s me, you’re mostly dealing with tunes about comic books, politics, and mental health. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A playlist featuring Thom Dunn

Oh, also: the photos I’m using for the album art, et cetera, are all courtesy of the wonderful, inimitable, and multi-talented Conor Olmstead.

(PS: I am still adding songs to the album every now and then, so if you want the best bargain, buy the pay-what-you-want download on BandCamp, where you should continue getting every new song as I post it. That’s the “mostly” caveat of that there headline, see?)

New Album Preview! Hooray!

I've been putting this off for far too long, but I'm finally making headway on a new full-length solo album of songs I've been working on, tentatively titled "Five Years on the B-Side." If all goes well, it'll be out sometime in the early spring, and I might even do a few live shows around the Northeast to support it!

In the meantime, here are a few rough draft demos to give you an idea of what to expect. (just, ya know, keep in mind that they're sketches of the final arrangements, to help me figure out production things myself, which is why they're kinda messy and why they'll also disappear when recording is complete)

Happy 20th Birthday, Buffy! Here's a new birthday song:

Here's a little tune I wrote about that really unhealthy relationship you had with that vampire guy:

Don't Break A Window

"a protest song is defined as a song they don't play on the radio."

(hey guess what this one's about)

Whatever you do, just make sure that you don’t break a window
‘Cause when your outrage smashes the glass, it lets them know how the wind blows
Not the black kids who died for the march,
Or the women and trans folk who want control of their own parts
It’s the shattered shards of pane they look through,
that’s where the real problem starts.

You can take to the streets just as long as you don’t punch a nazi
Exercising rights is like the gays: it’s fine as long as no one has to see
a way of life that doesn’t fit
into the narrow view controlling it
reality’s a one-way road you can’t just quit

It won’t go away
when the man upstairs says that “everything is great”
change won’t wait
for an open space in your Outlook calendar
Lives mean more than people’s property

Do I have your attention now that I’m condoning violence?
Well it’s funny how that works, and you should know, ‘cause you’re the one who came up with it
Make a profit while you’re promising rights
Keeping order never works when they’re fighting to survive
Justice only comes when we rage against the dying light

Now don’t get me wrong, I still believe that non-violence should work
But when the rules of the game have changed, things are bound to get worse.
Now that our truths are free of fact
Well, how else are the people supposed to react?
You can’t expect them all to keep the peace when you broke your part of the pact

We’ve heard say
that justice and truth are the American way
Things don’t change
at a convenient time for your Outlook calendar
Time is right to do what we’re gonna do
okay well technically the time that was right is now way overdue
But it all has to start with those same self-evident truths.

---

The inauguration of Donald Trump felt like a nightmare. The Women's March across the country was amazing. Here's a much more hopeful look at that inspiring day:

The Ballad of Bad Hombre Man & Queen Nasty Woman

He rode out at dawn
And he headed west:
The Bad Hombre Man
from the Yuge Land of Best

But when he arrived
she was already there:
The Queen Nasty Woman
mounted on her white mare.

They both drew their guns
packed with bullets of words.
Hers were sharp, smart, and clear;
His: the best that he'd heard.

Now I’ll clarify
this for those unaware:
Yes, she’s fine with guns
When they’re not everywhere.

Now back to their duel
in that desert, noon high.
Where Queen Nasty Woman
brought Bad Hombre to die.

For when she took aim
with her practice and plans
she sniped his small gun
from his small grabby hands

To that Bad Hombre Man
from the Best Land of Yuge,
It had never occurred
he could possibly lose

But he slipped from his saddle
and fell flat in the dirt
He was frantic to find
some new way he could hurt

that there Queen Nasty Woman
mounted high on her steed
laying traps all around
everywhere he might lead

Leaving Bad Hombre Man
with no pussy to grab
For the sword ‘tween his legs
was all he knew how to stab

And so Queen Nasty Woman
Turned her mare and she rode
towards that house, White and fair
to once more be her home

"My Life As A Weapon" is your new favorite song about my favorite Avenger.

As anyone who's met me would probably expect, I'm super pumped about CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. So to celebrate, here's a song I recently wrote about Clint Barton, the powerless, purple-wearing, bow-and-arrow-loving badass known as Hawkeye. (Specifically, it's about the comic book version of Hawkeye, with allusions to his relationship with Kate Bishop and his life growing up in the carnival and his death and resurrection at the hands of Wanda Maximoff but...let's not get so bogged down in continuity, yeah?)

LYRICS

This looks bad
You can blame that on my dear ol' deadbeat dad
But I'm not mad
Until the arrow that I've notched becomes my last

One more shot to break
this carny from his cage
where a low-life can escape
to save the day

So I'll stay on target
Because that's all I know how to do
Just as long as I'm next to you

And I know that this looks bad
But the quivering is all I've ever had
Like some Nomad
Or a Ronin dressed in black to hide the past

Draw the bow back, breathe
One moment of control
Because once it flies
You never know

So I'll stay on target
Because that's all I know how to do
Stay on target
While I'm fighting my way through
Stay on target
Just as long as I'm next to you

"Not like this."
When the silence stings
My sight's my only bliss
But I won't miss
Because I'm going out in style
with my greatest hits

I'm no Giant Man
But I won't give up the fight
Until my violet violence
Takes its flight

I'm in a play called "We're Gonna Die!" and it's awesome so you should come see it.

It's a new play by Young Jean Lee, and we're actually the first production besides the world premiere, which she starred in herself. I play bass in the show, which is cool because (a) it's not a stringed thing I usually play, and I've had fun diving into it more, and (b) the band is a pretty central part of the show in a way that most "pit bands" are not, even though we're not necessarily "acting" either.

I've been describing it to my friends as a "delightful funny rock n' roll cabaret about death and suffering," which is to say, it goes to some pretty dark places, but it's also fun and entertaining and insightful and moving and totally worth seeing (not just because I'm in it — although obviously, that helps).

WGBH's Arts Editor Jared Bowen agrees:

And, well, so does the audience:

The show runs at Oberon in Harvard Square through April 29, followed by some "tour dates" in May throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

A musical memorial to Mama Cooter

This is the last text that I ever sent to Layne.

We had that creepy Campari clown hanging in our apartment junior year of college. Not because any of us drank Campari then (I do now), but because we found it in the trash on Beacon Hill and it had a frame, so we figured, why not? 

But Layne hated it. That clown creeped her the hell out. Still, she let it stay, and it became a running joke with us.

I don't know if she ever saw that text of her hated clown painting, or if she had already died from complications with diabetes by the time I sent it.

Here's a song I wrote when we were living together in 2007, and she was hospitalized for the same thing.

It's called "Electric Lights."

The selfish unawareness of
a window painted blue
electric lights that won't reflect,
but sound so clearly overdue

It permeates the smell of
sanitation and
of jaundice under skin that

has been peeled away
by saline soldiers,
crawling on their knees
across a bridge of gather lives;
maybe this time

she'll sound so much better
in this sweater than this dress
that leaves her back exposed
so all the coldest air can make a nest

All the stabbing
All the dripping
All the fevers and the cries
And poorly picked out tiles on the wall
have watched a million maidens die
underneath electric lights

She's so mixed up
like metaphors
it's better for her.
So when all
the shallow echoes fall
and settle in her cheeks
she's still demanding
all that I can V.

What's more romantic than spending Valentine's Day hearing me perform bad songs I wrote as a teen?

That's right, I'm doing another round of performances for the Boston Chapter of Mortified, showcasing the worst of the worst romantic songs I ever tried to write as an angsty/horny teen.

This year, we're doing 3 different shows — but fair warning, they're all selling out pretty fast!