Interview by Meghan Killimade
Tell us about Dirt Pile – who are the members & instrumentation and how did you all come together?
Dirt Pile is a three piece band based out of New London, CT. Our members are Dean on drums, Jeff is our guitarist, and my name is Matt and I do vocals. Dean and I have known each other for several years and have been in a few different bands together. In 2022 we decided we wanted to start a new project so we took to the interwebs to find some new people to work with and through the magic of Craigslist we found Jeff.
You guys have elements of sludge, punk, hardcore & noise - talk about the songs you guys are creating and how you got into this style.
The style and sound we have is just the natural product of us playing together. There’s never been any pressure or intention to be any specific genre or to sound a certain way. The three of us come from different musical backgrounds with some areas of overlap but it’s really the uncommon factors between us being smashed together that makes this project creatively interesting for us. We’ve been able to create a new musical language for ourselves and things come together pretty smoothly.
Having also played in a loud sludge/doom band myself, I’ve found that gigging in a heavy/loud band can at times be challenging– with either the lack of larger venues to support volume levels or lack of heavy/loud music fans etc. Have you found this area to be supportive to what you guys are doing? What are some of the good (or bad) experiences you’ve had playing out in this area?
I think if anything we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the amount of positive responses and support we’ve received thus far both at shows and online. We’re still a really new band so we don’t really expect too much, but the number of really cool people and bands we’ve already gotten to meet and play with has been so awesome and very encouraging. It’s also been cool that because we’re kind of an amalgamation of different sounds we can fit onto shows in multiple scenes and introduce our music to different crowds. As far as show attendance and stuff, it’s always good if more people go to shows and it’s important to encourage people to come out and get into new bands and new types of music but at the same time I think the scenes that do exist in CT are full of cool people and bands who love music and we’re looking forward to playing out as much as we can.
I don’t think we’ve played a venue we haven’t liked but we all agree 33 Golden is our favorite. It’s kind of becoming home base for us. I think it’s where we feel most comfortable.
What is your songwriting process like – do you all bring ideas to the table or are there certain songwriters within the group?
Our process is pretty straightforward. Jeff will usually bring either some riffs or a partially completed song idea. He and Dean will kind of jam on those ideas and figure out the arrangement until it feels like a complete piece. They’ll get a rough instrumental demo of the song recorded and then I’ll use that to write lyrics and vocal parts to. There might be further refinement after that point but that’s pretty much how we do it.
You guys just released a 3 song EP “Harsh Surrealism” in January – tell us about the songs, where it was recorded and where it’s available for purchase?
Harsh Surrealism is our second EP. It was released January 1st of this year. The three songs featured are "Cat Model HD", "Mud", and "Mike Muir’s Forehead". On the musical side of things Jeff gave the following information: "Cat Model" was an experiment to try and connect a series of mismatched riffs into a coherent song. One of the riffs dates back to when he was 16. "Mud" was formed out of an improvisational jam the first time we all met each other and was actually the first song we completed as a band. The main guitar riff in "Mike Muir’s Forehead" is meant to sound like waves crashing. Lyrically the songs are reflecting on struggles with both mental health as well as chronic illness. I use a lot of imagery from dreams that I feel relate in some way to the thoughts or emotions I want to express. The songs were engineered and recorded by Dean at our practice space in late 2023. We recently released a physical version of the EP on CD. The CD also includes our first EP as bonus tracks. You can buy it at our shows or at The Telegraph in New London, CT. You can also stream our music on Bandcamp or whatever your preferred streaming platform might be.
What are some bands/musicians that have influenced you and/or that you listen to for inspiration/motivation?
We all have very different answers for this. Jeff’s favorites include Pere Ubu, Sonic Youth, Dead Kennedys, Joy Division, Black Sabbath, and Flipper. Dean is into stuff like the Melvins, Sleep, and Propagandhi. Some of my favorites are Converge, Coalesce, Ex Void, Hatebreed, Dying Fetus, Madball and Poison the Well.
Any favorite local bands/musicians, venues or businesses you want to shout out?
Definitely! Detcord Noose, Motherwell, Gorge, Slyne and the Family Stoned, Mourn the Light, DUI, Chop7x, and Fafa are all awesome CT bands everyone should check out. Shoutout to everyone at 33 Golden and Cherry Street Station. Also a shoutout to Joaquin and Deadlocked Productions for always having our back! Oh! and Swad Tandoori in New London! Your food is magic!
What’s next for you guys? Any big shows, tours, videos or more new music coming up?
We have two New London shows coming up, both at 33 Golden! The first one is March 9th. We’re really excited about this one because we got to curate the lineup ourselves and bring some really amazing out of state bands to New London. This show features Throw and Miracle Blood who are both from Boston, MA, WAAH from NYC, and Brown Apples from RI. Sounds ranging from metallic hardcore, noise-punk, heavy psyche, sludge, grunge, and more will be represented. If you’re into any type of heavy music this show will have something you’ll enjoy! The second show is April 6th. We’ll be opening for the mighty Clamfight along with Pinto Graham and VRSA. It should definitely be a fun time and we’re looking forward to it!
Anything else you’d like to include or that you wish we’d asked?
Jeff was hoping there would be more questions related to gouging out peoples eyes or something along those lines but it never came up. Sorry Jeff!
FOLLOW
https://www.facebook.com/DIRTPILECT
https://www.instagram.com/dirtpile_ct
https://dirtpilect.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@DIRTPILEMUSIC
CATCH THE SHOW
w/ Jealous Mind / Academy Order / Other Nerve
7pm / $10 / 21+|
Facebook Event Page Sat 3/9 @ 33 Golden - New London
8pm / $10 / 21+
Facebook Event Page
Sat 4/6 @ 33 Golden - New London
w/ Clamfight / VRSA / Pinto Graham
8pm / $10 / 21+
Facebook Event Page
w/ Motherwell / Altar Ov Nex & more
7pm / $10 / 21+
LISTEN