On the Monday before Thanksgiving, I decided to head out to Zebulon for a free show that featured Dutch Interior. I will admit that I had never heard of this 6 piece band (Hayden Barton, Shane Barton, Noah Kurtz, Jack Nugent, Conner Reeves, Davis Stewart) and had no clue about their music genre. It was a situation where I wanted to catch some random bands and so off I went. For their set, the venue was packed deep with fans. That, of course, just made me realize once again that no matter how often I head out to catch live music, there are always Los Angeles bands out there that have a devoted following and are not on my radar. If this band had just started performing, I would just think I was one of the first people to find a hidden gem, but this band has been putting out music since 2021.
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| Dutch Interior at Zebulon |
I decided to do a little research on this band prior to this post-Thanksgiving write-up. Four of the band members (ex. Hayden Barton and Conner Reeves) were previous in a band call Skin Mag that ended their run in 2020. I will admit I had never heard of that band either -- my research does indicate that Buzzbands was on top of both of these bands. I guess it shows that I need to pay closer attention to the blogsite where I used to do my photo-journalism and then bands wouldn't slip pass me.
Per a first person Flaunt article written by Jack Nugent, four of the former Skin Mag band members founded Dutch Interior on the following concepts, "no computers, one song per session, simple topics, eight tracks only; keep the mistakes." That explains their Americana rock folk fusion of music that thrilled the Zebulon crowd.
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| Dutch Interior at Zebulon |
Though the band mentioned they'd spent the month of November on tour and were happy to be home playing Zebulon, I did notice that since March they've done extensive touring across the United States and Europe.
For a free set, the band went all out for the hometown crowd by playing a set that was around 1 hour and 15 minutes. They even played a song that was listed as a question mark on their setlist: "My Eyes Hurt Really Bad." You did get the sense that they really wanted to play the song and just wanted some encouragement from the crowd. One could describe the moment as a mid-set encore. It was an honest moment; however, as the band was not fully prepared to play the song. When the song just didn't start off to the band's liking, Conner Reeves cut the song short and then went looking for a harmonica that was stored at the DJ booth of the venue.
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| Dutch Interior at Zebulon |
What I noticed: there was a short film that played on the movie screen that was behind the stage. For a portion of the film, someone was showing off their collection of kid movies that included Big Hero 6, Penguins the Movie, and Night at the Museum.
The recording for "Ecig" clocks in at a touch over 6 minutes and has a guitar string breaking instrumental moments. Their final song of the night "Oscar, Please?" had a guitar orchestral final that built up towards an ending that turned to silence.
The band did attract a drunk heckler that led one member of the band to finally ask, "Who are you?" During the more country moments of their set, a handful of fans took the opportunity to do their two step dancing. And there were calls for the cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird." Have I ever witness a Los Angeles band honor that request by playing the 9 minute song? Ha ha, no. Also, four of the band members took turns on lead vocals and a fifth did briefly take lead vocals on part of a song (I'm not going to say five members of the band took lead vocals, because the fifth member of the band's turn on lead vocals were really really brief).
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| Dutch Interior at Zebulon |
Now I know that they recently released their third album Moneyball, but for the song spotlight, let's go with "I'll Be Damned" from their sophomore album Blinded By Fame. Per Spotify, it is their biggest hit to date and is also the song that I noticed had those in the audience singing along and nodding. It is a song that rejects religion. It doesn't so much go at it from the traditional angle of asking why Christians don't act like Christians, but more from a philosophical view.
They say the end is coming soon
But again it's only noon
And none of us have really much to lose
Setlist: Canada, Sandcastle Molds, Wood Knot, I'll Be Damned, Fourth Street, My Eyes Hurt Really Bad, It's Smokey Outside and I'm Afraid, Light of Becoming, Ecig, Beekeeping, Horse, Sweet Time, Cannibal Song, Oscar, Please?
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