Interview: The Dutchess and the Duke

The Dutchess and the Duke are one of the best young bands around these days. They've followed up the excellent She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke with the even better Sunrise/Sunset. I was lucky enough to get the chance to introduce the Duke himself, Jesse Lortz. Here's what he had to say.

How is Sunrise/Sunset different to your quasi-self-titled debut? Do you feel that you have honed your craft?
We did a month long tour playing acoustically with no vocal microphones or anything to hide behind or separate us from our audience, and I think that made us alot more confident with eachother and our songs.

You've supported Fleet Foxes in the past, but now you're having more and more headline shows. Are there any acts that you'd love to have support you, or that you'd love to support?

We would love to do a Dutchess and the Duke / Gris Gris tour. But for now we'll just have to settle for having half that band with us onstage. We would tour again with Fleet Foxes in a heartbeat. When we went on that tour we had literally played 4 or 5 shows, and I dont think we appreciated or took advantage of it as much as we maybe should have.

Pitchfork gave your first album an 8.2, getting something like this must be a real boost to the band. Do you feel that things like this have helped you gain a wider audience?

Definitely. This is our first experience in being in a band with any sort of label behind it. So seeing how the machinery of the music industry works has been pretty interesting.

Are there any reviews that really hit home? Do you concern yourselves much with what is said about your records and shows online?
We read it and its interesting, but for the most part it doesn't really matter much. I like reading reviews that say our record is difficult to listen to, because that means it is doing it's job. It's making people react. And not to just noise or offensive lyrics. They are reacting to the way our songs make them feel about their own lives.

So have you ever got any really bad reviews that made you want to write a strongly worded letter to the editor?
Why bother? then they just know they have gotten under your skin.

Your album also featured on some Best of 2008 lists, and no doubt the new one will appear on many more next month, do you pay any attention to these?
If it helps sell some records, sure! And its nice to be appreciated.

The 00s are coming to an end, do you have a standout indispensible naughties album, one that if a gun was pointed to your head, that you could say "this is the best album of the decade"?
No!

Jesse, you have a beard, and in this month's Q Magazine, they categorised their best albums of the year in "With" and "Without Beards" categories. How integral are beards to indie folk?
Beards are about an unwillingness to shave. Folkies are lazy? I dont know. I have better things to do that shave.

Every band has a different approach to songwriting, what's yours?
I keep track of melodies on my cell phone. Something will come to me on the bus or walking around or something. Then when its time to do a record, I listen to them and add the rest of the parts. I then make demos on an 8 track in my garage while chain smoking and drinking tons of coffee until 3 or 4 in the morning. Then we go record and I give Kimberly her lyrics. She learns the song through a pass or two and then we record it. Done!

You guys grew up together. Do you find sometimes you're like an old married couple? Or Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon?
No, we keep it fresh by seeing other people.

Live shows take up a lot of artists' time these days, do you find it tiring? Especially being away from your families and significant others? Or do they ever travel along with you?
Fuck no!

Any plans to record new material in the near future? Perhaps an EP on the horizon? Or are you going to tour and take a break before anything new?
We will when we have to. I am working on a side project right now that I am gonna record with Greg from Gris Gris in the spring hopefully. We are touring the S/S record at least until March and possibly beyond that. Doing 3 two week tours regionally in the states. Then we will hopefully do the third album.

So hopefully we'll have two records from Jesse next year. 2010 is going to be great!

Album News: The Dutchess and the Duke - Sunrise/Sunset

The Duke himself announced that “This record was written for the studio. This record was written for Greg Ashley to record. In that sense, it was really good because we had a line to measure by: we know what we can do here.”

If this is the case, I cannot wait to hear it. Sunrise/Sunset is the name of The Dutchess and the Duke's follow-up to the wonderful She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke (all sic).

Not much info as of now, but the album is ten tracks long and will be released on October 6th.

Watch 'Scorpio', which may or may not end up on the album:

Album Reviews: 16 July 2008

I like talking about music. If you've ever been out with me on a night out, you'll definitely know this. Don't let Graham and me near each other, or we'll just spend the evening talking about music. Thus, I'm adding a new feature to the blog where I sum up the latest releases. Not every album mind, just every one that appears on Metacritic, as well as some other notable Irish and international releases. I'll also be reviewing some non-notable ones too.

Don't expect huge long reviews. Just a few lines. I do have a job I'm meant to be doing! So, without further ado...

New on Metacritic: 14 July 2008


The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

As featured in a recent Upcoming Brilliance, the Hold Steady's fourth album is probably the one that will see them move on to even bigger venues. You may have seen them at the Academy this year, but after Stay Positive, expect them to move up to the Ambassador, but probably not The 02 Point Depot quite yet! The album itself is glorified excellence, and 'Constructive Summer' should be the song of the summer. Highlights include 'Yeah Sapphire', 'Sequestered in Memphis', and the title track 'Stay Positive'.

John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Love and Freedom

Good friend of mine (and maybe perhaps furture blog collaborator) Chris absolutely loves this record. He claims it's the best album Mellencamp has put out since Scarecrow, and although that's not a huge triumph in itself, it is a great addition to his extensive catalogue. The album has a "dark bluesy feel" (Chris's words, not mine), and is a "pleasant surprise".

Nas - Untitled

Untitled or Nas or whatever you want to call it is a much better title than the unsettling Nigger that Nas had proposed. Like Mellencamp, this is his best in years, since 2001's Stillmatic. 'Queens Get The Money', 'Make the World Go Round' and 'Fried Chicken' are all standouts. And he even namechecks Barack Obama on 'Black President'. Hell yeah.

Wire - Object 47

Another oldschool artist releases a return to glory. Seems to be a trend this week, eh? It's short, punchy, and not really my thing at all. But for fans of the band, it's meant to be a great album (minus the singer, of course), and is sure to please those of you who never left their punk years behind.

Other Releases This Week

The Dutchess & the Duke - She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke

An album that's getting a lot of love at a forum I use (ufck.org if you must know!), this improperly spelled band, with their improperly spelled album are a great new folk-rock act. It's dark, menacing, brooding, and pretty damn good. If it weren't for The Hold Steady, this would definitely be the best album this week. It's like a dirtier Rolling Stones. That can never be a bad thing!

Carla Bruni - Comme Si De Rien N'Etait/As If Anything Happens

The French President's wife might be in Ireland this week as her husband visits to try and convince us to vote again on the Lisbon Treaty - and this time the right way, or something. His new wife, former model Carla Bruni will probbaly not be making a quest appearance at Whelan's at the weekend. This, her third album shows her to be a great performer as well as a great wife! It's an album of baroque pop, that'll probably do well in France and her native Italy, but end up in the bargain bins over here. Here previous record No Promises is still on my iPod, and gets played now and then. Usually when I see her photo in the papers though! Publicity worked for Geri Halliwell, why not her?