Retour sur Habits, l’un des groupes les plus passionnants du moment. Dustin M. Krapes, l’instigateur de ce curieux projet, nous en dit un peu plus.
Tu faisais partie du groupe Halloween Swim Team. Dirais-tu qu’Habits est davantage ton projet personnel ?
Je tire toujours l’inspiration de mes expériences quotidiennes, que ce soit d’une longue promenade pour me vider l’esprit ou d’une simple interaction avec un étranger. Il ya constamment des choses qui se produisent qui, à la fin, pourraient donner naissance à une chanson. De façon plus directe, quelquefois, j’entends une chanson qui m’incite à travailler à quelque chose de mon cru. Parfois, je prends un sample et je commence à construire une boucle autour ou je l’utilise comme point de départ pour des paroles. Ça peut aussi venir d’un livre ou d’un extrait de spectacle. Le titre et les paroles de Just A Ride s’inspirent de la fin d’un spectacle du comédien Bill Hicks. Je me suis aussi beaucoup inspiré d’écrivains comme Robert Anton Wilson, Grant Morrison et Kurt Vonnegut, pour nommer les quelques-uns qui me viennent à l’esprit.
Ce n’est pas très facile d’exprimer avec des mots ton univers musical. Je t’ai défini comme “une version 2.0 du Beck des débuts”...
D’ailleurs, quels artistes écoutes-tu ?
En live, tu joues avec un batteur catcheur et un bassiste taxidermiste. Qu’est-ce que ces deux personnages apportent à ta musique ?
Je leur suis vraiment très reconnaissant. Ils m’aident à réaliser les chansons telles que je les imagine. Quand j’apporte une démo au groupe, elle est presque complétement arrangée et, la plupart du temps, avec un petit peu de place pour que chacun puisse ajouter sa touche personnelle pour le live. Je veux que tout le monde prenne du plaisir en jouant les morceaux. Après avoir été exclu de la fédération de catch professionnel, Dithy Ramb joue de la batterie avec moi depuis un an environ et il apporte vraiment quelque chose à nos concerts. Pareil pour Gabe à la basse. Tant qu’on y est, j’aimerais aussi mentionner que mes amis Bobby Vega et Kyle Souza ont fait partie du groupe la première année. Ils m’ont aidé à lancer le projet et ont joué laplupart des parties de basse et de batterie sur l’album.
Unselves in Arrival est sorti il y a quelques semaines. Quelles sont les prochaines étapes pour Habits ?
Nous venons de revenir d’une tournée aux Etats-Unis et j’ai hâte de jouer au Desert Daze Festival fin avril. Je travaille également sur des remixes et des clips video.
In English, please :
Yes, Habits is more of a solo project. During Halloween Swim Team’s final year together, we were losing interest in the band and I started writing songs on my own. I was using a different process for creating the songs, not really concerning myself with who would play which parts. Eventually, HST ended, and I started Habits. There was a lot more collaboration with the song writing process in HST than there is in Habits. I pretty much write and record demos on my own, then bring them to the band to fine tune things for live sets and recording.
The name came to me when I was listening to a episode of the Radiolab podcast called “Cosmic Habituation.” They discussed the idea of a “habit” in a very fascinating way, and on a cosmic level as the title suggests. As far as sounding “unhabitual,” I definitely try to make the songs sound different from one another, and in general, try not to repeat myself too much. However, I actually notice a lot of patterns or repeated ideas between my songs. I don’t think about it very often, but perhaps having a name like Habits keeps me in check. When it comes down to it, Habits is just a name I chose for the many different ways it could be interpreted.
When I’m chipping away at a loop, if it’s turning into something I like, there usually comes a point where it starts sounding fresh and exciting to me. It begins to feel right. After getting to that point, I like to let the loop play and start imagining what the lyrics might sound like. Once the lyrics are getting laid down, I’m on my way to finishing a song, but I don’t get to that point with every beat I make. I still have a lot sitting around that I hope to eventually turn into full songs.
I don’t read reviews too closely. I just kind of skim through them because I don’t want to cloud my judgement in future song writing with ideas that others are projecting. However, I am thankful that some people have taken the time to review my work… Not that I’m trying to stick to any specific genre, but I usually tell people that we play “electronic post-punk.” For someone who’s never heard Habits, I suppose the Beck comparisons give a general idea of what the music might sound like, so I think that’s fair, and useful. However, there are also plenty of other artists that come to my mind in the same way. I’m not trying to be the “the next” anybody. Part of the reason I started this project was to help myself become comfortable with being myself. I’m only one album into this project and I hope to be carving my own distinct musical niche, whatever it may be.
By the way, which artists do you listen to ?
This could turn into a really long list… Can, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Talking Heads, Kraftwerk, Kanye West, The Mars Volta, TV on the Radio, The Cure, Suicide, Danny Brown, Clinic, Ariel Pink, Liars, Tom Waits… I could go on and on…
You play live with a wrestler and a taxidermist. What more to they bring to your music ?
I’m very grateful for the the musicians I collaborate with. They are gracious enough to help me carry out my vision for songs. When I bring a demo to the band, it’s almost fully arranged, and usually with a bit of room for everyone to add a personal touch for the live show. I want everyone to have fun playing the songs. After being banned from professional wrestling, Dithy Ramb has been playing drums with me for the past year or so, and definitely adds a lot of great touches to our live set. Same with Gabe on bass. While we’re at it, I should mention that my friends Bobby Vega and Kyle Souza played in the band for the first year. They helped me get the project going, and played most of the live drums and bass on the album.
Unselves in Arrival has been released a few weeks ago. What are the next steps for Habits ?
We just got back from a tour across the US and I’m looking forward to playing at Desert Daze Festival in late April. I also have some remixes and music videos that I’m working on.