Dessa. Songs new and old sound unbelievable - among the top SXSW sets so far.
March 15th, 2013
January 30th, 2013
OEB’s 5 SXSW Qs – Dessa
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Longtime followers of OEB know our unabashed praise for Doomtree rapper/singer/poet Dessa; a better part of 2011, we followed her career with a close eye as part of “The 12” project. This year, Dessa returns to SXSW with a full band in tow and she digitally chatted with Nate Headden on her upcoming solo record, hustling at SXSW and her favorite food while gigging through Austin. Spoiler alert: it’s cupcakes.
Have you performed solo at SXSW in the past? How are your solo performances different from Doomtree shows?
All of my experience at SXSW has been as a part of Doomtree. The seven of us roll into Austin—usually already a little ragged from a week or two on the road—and then spend a few days earning the perfunctory sunburns, hangovers, and an armful of paper bracelets. This will be the first time that I play SXSW with my own band, a pretty killer quartet of multi-talented vocalists and instrumentalists. Doomtree shows run on adrenaline, camaraderie, and whiskey, whereas my solo shows run on banter, ennui, and whiskey.
What are your future plans for a follow up to Castor, The Twin?
I’m mixing my next record now, which means I’ll be a distracted, anxious stress cadet until it’s in the bag. It will be released later this year on Doomtree Records, sometime when the weather’s warm. I’m intensely proud of it, nervous for it, and eager to see how it will fare when it’s out in the world.
What is a favorite memory of a past SXSW or a performance in Austin?
Doomtree had a great run at SXSW last year; we played several shows a day, hustled hard, and earned our keep. We ended up landing some coverage from VH1, Rolling Stone, and MTV. Austin can sometimes feel like a dice roll—it takes a lot of time and money to get 7 artists to Texas—and last year we came up. Also: cupcakes. There’s a pretty killer cupcake vendor that I’ll definitely be looking out for this year.
Do you have any appearances lined up for SXSW? What are you’re looking to get out of the festival beyond a normal string of shows?
SXSW scheduling is always nuts—with so many clubs, so many artists and so many potential opportunities, everybody tends to wait until the last minute to try and lock in the best possible itinerary. At this point, I know I’ll be playing a showcase and at least one or two day shows. But I imagine we’ll still be scrambling to confirm the details on the drive down to Austin.
Have you had a chance to check out the band list for SXSW? Are there any acts you are looking forward to catching yourself?
The SXSW line-ups is always incredible—from bonafide superstars to talented unknowns. As much as I’d like to, there never seems to be time to check out too many of the shows—the schedule is tough to keep up with as a performer. When I’m at SXSW, I’m on the clock, so I try and fill up my schedule with as much hustling as I can fit into a week. If there’s time on the edges, I’ll try to snag a bourbon, a cupcake and a show.
January 5th, 2013
Dessa – “Doomtree - Little Mercy (Live on KEXP)”
Pairs Well With… Heiruspecs, Pete Philly and Perquisite, Astronautalis
We’ve been huge fans of Dessa at OEB for a few years now, both as a solo artist and as an integral element of the group Doomtree. She was one of our The 12 artists we chose to follow for six months after SXSW 2011. Few artists engage their fan base as well as Dessa and the rest of the Doomtree crew do and it makes the music approachable and forms strong admiration in the hearts of their fans. Dessa separates herself from generic bar filling rappers by approaching her songs as a songwriter and storyteller. Her songs touch on life’s hardships over production from the Doomtree producers or a live band, as heard on her newest solo release, “Castor, The Twin.” Since we’ve posted pretty much every solo video Dessa has released over the last few years, check out a KEXP live performance of “Little Mercy” off of last year’s Doomtree album “No Kings.” Dessa is as powerful a performer live as she is on record, check her out if you’re a fan of the more musical side of hip hop.
2012 review: Dessa is a rapper from Doomtree, who has had success recently touring with a live band made up of Minneapolis musicians playing reworked songs from her last release. She released these reworked tracks with one new track “The Beekeeper” from her follow up to her poetic first album, A Badly Broken Code.
SXSW 2013 Spreadsheet 58:
Some exceptional hip hop acts and a fun throwback R&B group make up this Saturday evening set, easily my favorite hip hop grouping so far. Highlights:
JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound (6) – JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound play driving funk tinged R&B with an obvious influence from soul music’s great singers and Brooks is a strong vocalist and performer. The band’s only drawback is they’re not all that unique among the many throwback R&B groups.
Max Burgundy (8) – Max Burgundy’s lyrics pull no punches as he vividly describes his life experiences and social and political points of view. He raps over minimal jazzy beats and provides levity through pop culture references.
The Chicharones (7) – The Chicharones formed at SXSW in 2001 and have played the conference every year since. The group is made up of rapid fire rapper Sleep from the group Oldominion and hilarious solo singer and rapper Josh Martinez.
Children of the Night (6) – Children of the Night are a rap group from Queens that trade witty bars back and forth effortlessly over clean poppy beats. Check out their solid Queens…Revisited album.
DaVinci (5) – San Francisco rapper DaVinci spits evocative lyrics over Cali boom bap beats with a clear monotone delivery and a refreshing lack of lyrical gimmicks.
Dessa (10) – Dessa is the lone female in the Minneapolis power house rap group Doomtree who has gone from the group’s drop of estrogen to one of the most interesting solo artists in hip hop. She has established herself as a standout through her solo and group releases to date as a fiercely idealistic songwriter with a unique style in a group full of talented inimitable artists.
February 27th, 2012
SXSW 2012 Spreadsheet 99:
A quick hip hop set featuring all the members of Doomtree who were posted separately to the SXSW schedule. Since we’ve already covered Doomtree I’m going to highlight a few new releases and an old favorite track. Reviewing Doomtree artist’s individually has been a pretty expensive undertaking, I now own at least one album from each member. Get educated, and your wallet…
Cecil Otter (7): Cecil Otter is one of the rappers in the Doomtree hip hop group. He’s a strong storyteller and is working on Porcelain Revolver, a follow up to his excellent self produced solo album Rebel Yellow.
Dessa (9): Dessa is also a rapper from Doomtree, who has had success recently touring with a live band made up of Minneapolis musicians playing reworked songs from her last release. She released these reworked tracks with one new track “The Beekeeper” from her follow up to her poetic first album, A Badly Broken Code.
Lazerbeak (8): Lazerbeak is one of the producers for Doomtree and recently released the fantastic album of beats, Lava Bangers, which you can check out and buy on Bandcamp.
Mike Mictlan (7): Mike Mictlan raps through a tough snarl and is the rapper’s rapper in the group, he’s a sharp freestyler and his aggressive flow pairs well with some of the more laid back members flow. He released the track Cogs + Flywheels last year so hopefully a new Mictlan solo album will come out now that No Kings has been released.
Paper Tiger (7): Paper Tiger is the live DJ and one of the producers for Doomtree. He’s also responsible for much of the unique style Doomtree uses in their promotion and products. His Made Like Us album snuck by me when it released initially but is one of the albums I had to pickup in reviewing.
P.O.S (9): P.O.S is one of the rappers in Doomtree and raps emotional lyrics over punk influenced tracks on his solo work.
Sims (8): When Doomtree came through Denton I left the show with the No Kings vinyl and added Sims’ Bad Time Zoo based on his intensity and the lyrical strength of his solo tracks.
November 10th, 2011
The Last Word from Dessa
We’ve reached out to the artists we followed as part of “The 12” to have the last word on our project. We asked for words, a video or something out of left field. Dessa shared the note below on the exciting last six months and life on the road.
The Last 6.
Six months ago, I went on my first headlining tour. I brought along a trio of live musicians to serve as my backing band—also a first. I served as tour manager, spending most of our drives in the passenger seat calling promoters to advance the shows, Pricelining hotel rooms, devising a slapdash schedule, and trying to maintain some precarious semblance of professionalism.
On the whole, the band (Sean McPherson, Dustin Kiel, and Joey Van Phillips) was very well received. Critics and show-goers liked the big dynamic changes, from the moments pin-drop moments when Sean soloed on his stand-up bass to the big crescendoes when Joey beat the shit out of his drum kit. And I scored double: I got the brilliant arrangements of the Doomtree producers and the brilliant musicianship of a live group, capable of reading and engaging the crowd.
I’m writing now from the passenger seat of the same van, on my second headlining tour. This time we’re headed east. Materially, not much has changed: the five of us in the touring party spent last night in a shared hotel room, air beds occupying much of the floor space. We’re playing small rooms, and I’m still calling the promoters before the shows to figure out where we can park and how I can get us all fed. But it feels different. On our last run, we proved that the band format could work—and there were a lot of skeptics. The folks who book shows, who have real skin in the game, were concerned that we couldn’t draw as a live group playing in rooms that could accommodate our set up. But listeners from around the country came, gave us our audition, and helped us prove that we could succeed in a new arena. This wouldn’t have been impossible without grassroots support from fans, bloggers, and friends calling far-away friends to help spread news of the tour. In this industry there’s a lot of pressure for artists to stay the course or to make distinct transitions. But for an artist who wants to try and expand, it can feel like a tough sell. The support of the listeners who come to our shows, who buy instead of download, who play our music in their dorm rooms, cubicles, and cars—it’s their support that allows us to take risks as artists, beholden to one, and answering only to our own standards of excellence. Thank you. Looking forward the next 6.
Dessa is on tour now, dates below.
November 11. Philadelphia. Tin Angel. Tickets.
November 12. NYC. Joe’s Pub. Tickets.
November 14. Cambridge, MA. Middle East. Tickets.
November 16. Cleveland. Beachland Tavern. Tickets.
November 17. Detroit. Magic Stick Lounge. Tickets
November 18. Chicago. Apple Store Lincoln Park. Free
November 20. Mankato, MN. Verizon Wireless Center Ballroom. Tickets.
My Final Thoughts – Dessa
The six months since we began The 12 project has been a great time to capture Dessa’s rise as a solo artist. Her first tour, as you’ll see from her letter, was so successful the band is hitting the road again, now in support of the album Castor, The Twin. Castor is made up of a reworking of existing songs and has one new offering, The Beekeeper. The risk in reworking songs is not bringing anything new and having fans feel cheated; this is not the case with Castor. The band breathes new life into the older songs and makes each a new experience. The growth of solo acts enlisting bands as they mature and prosper is an exciting trend in the evolution of hip hop. While the Roots set the standard, it is exciting to see independent artists like Dessa and others expand their sound to include instruments not usually found on stage at a hip hop show.
On a personal note Dessa’s music and career are an inspiration, her focus and development is evident in every new offering. The writing of her potential has been on the wall since the False Hopes EP but the last two years have really been a watershed moment for the lone female member of Doomtree. Coming off of the proper freshman album A Badly Broken Code and with the release of Castor, The Twin fans have had the opportunity to see a transformation from wordsmith rapper into a legitimate musical force. While Dessa’s recorded work is great, her presence on stage and heartfelt delivery show that she is improving as a performer as much as she is as a musician. Her sets at last year’s SXSW, both solo and with the Doomtree collective, at Flamingo Cantina made for an amazing night.
I was certainly a fan prior to SXSW and watching her progress over the last year has made Dessa one of my favorite musicians working today. Her success and the success of Doomtree is no fluke, these guys are one of the best independent labels out there. They seem to have perfected being both a business and artists. Their work on reaching out online is evident, and they make it very easy to become an informed fan. Doomtree has absolutely embraced available technologies for getting their music out there, be it bandcamp, Soundcloud, through Doomtree.net, and through more traditional channels. “No Kings” out November 22, 2011, is already generating buzz and by all indications appears to be one of the top hip hop releases of 2011. It’s rare to see such talented artists be such a tight unit, especially in hip hop.
As we prepare for this year’s SXSW I can only hope to find another artist whose music and passion push me to share their work with Operation Every Band’s readers the way Dessa’s has. Thank you to her and to the readers who have followed Operation Every Band’s The 12.
October 4th, 2011
Dessa: new album ‘Castor, The Twin’
Check out the new album below and you can purchase ‘Castor, The Twin’ on iTunes to help Dessa get on the charts!, stream and buy from Bandcamp, or directly from Doomtree.net.
Note: Castor, the Twin is a re-instrumentation of songs from “False Hopes” and “A Badly Broken Code.” “The Beekeeper” is the only new song and is the first song from Dessa’s upcoming album, due out in 2012. (thanks Matt)
Stream the album:
(Source: doomtree.net)
August 19th, 2011
“The 12” Leads Daytrotter “Top Sessions”
As of this morning, two of the top three sessions on Daytrotter are held down by artists we’re following as part of “The 12”. The Civil Wars and James Vincent McMorrow’s sets were both added to the site in the last two weeks and have been popular downloads ever since. The takes are intimate and raw from both acts, a trend among bands that record in Sean Moeller’s Rock Island, Illinois barn/studio. The sets feature some nice unreleased tracks as well, capturing The Civil Wars’ “Disarm” cover and “Oh Henry” as well as McMorrow B-Sides “Red Dust” and “We Are Ghosts”. Daytrotter has recorded hundreds of sessions over the last five years, now posting at least one new session everyday. The site’s focus on new and unique musical content to the online listening landscape has set the benchmark for any new music blog or service. Not only that, but they also provide a great forum for independent artists to display their songs to a wider international audience. To prove their reach, Daytrotter has recorded sessions with an astonishing nine of the artists in “The 12”, from hip hop artist Dessa to the fuzz-rockers Yuck to the orchestral folk of Lost in the Trees. We’ve compiled all of “The 12” Daytrotter sessions below (see more by click on the “Read More” button), which are freely downloadable directly from Daytrotter’s website.
Birds of a Feather, Disarm (Smashing Pumpkins), C’est La Mort, Oh Henry
8/1/11 – James Vincent McMorrow
This Old Dark Machine, Follow You Down to the Red Oak Tree, Red Dust, We Are Ghosts
August 16th, 2011
Dessa Announces a New Project, ‘Castor, The Twin’ to be Released Oct. 4th
So Dessa sent out a ‘secret’ announcement Monday to the Doomtree mailing list and we’ve been itching to share it here on Operationeveryband.com but waited until the information went public on Doomtree.net. Why? Because we are part of the “airtight superforce of true believers, who would resort to the cyanide capsules in the linings of their jackets rather than share exclusive content.”* You can join this superforce by visiting http://www.doomtree.net and going to the bottom right corner of the site.
The announcement below posted today on Doomtree.net…
TUESDAYS WITH DESSA.
POSTED BY DESSA ON AUGUST 16, 2011
Well helloooo there! This is Dessa writing to bid you a very Good Morning!
Okay, first things first: Lazerbeak is just fine. He is safe and he is comfortable and he is breathing easily through the tape. And now I am here. To hijack his blog.
Welcome to Tuesdays with Lazerbeak Dessa.
Today I am announcing the details of my new project, Castor, The Twin. Those of you who subscribe to the Doomtree mailing list received this news yesterday. (And, on the whole, you were pretty good keepers of secrets. #cyanide.) From here on out, Doomtree will be sharing news and music with the mailing list before we take it to the wider world. If you’re inclined, you can sign up at the bottom right-hand corner of the (Doomtree.net) page.
Now, without further ado:
Castor, The Twin drops on October 4th, with a release show on October 28th. There are 11 tracks: 10 are ambitious rearrangements of previously released songs, the other is an advance single from my next full-length project.
Those of you who’ve attended a live show in the past year know that I’ve been performing with a pretty killer live trio. Sean McPherson plays bass, Dustin Kiel plays keys and guitar, and Joey Van Phillips plays drums. Whenever we can, we corral Aby Wolf to sing too. The album owes a lot to the musicianship and imaginations of these performers. We recorded the project exclusively with live players–no programmed stuff this time around–and it leans towards a classical sound. The instrumentation involves stand-up bass, grand piano, timpani, vibraphone, mandolin, and viola.
The album title references the twin brothers Castor and Pollux of Roman mythology (the pair of bright stars in the Gemini constellation). Pollux was part god, a fighter with metal hands. Castor was the mortal of the pair, but the two were inseparable. I was drawn to Castor and Pollux because I liked the idea that each song on the album was the human twin of the more aggressive compositions that had been released on other projects.
Every Doomtree album is something of a collaborative effort, but special thanks are owed this time around to the producers who allowed me to reinterpret their arrangements: Paper Tiger, Marshall Larada, Lazerbeak and Cecil Otter.
You can listen to the Castor version of “Palace,” originally produced by Paper Tiger, HERE.
We’ll be announcing the pre-order for record soon. If you invest $13 in a ROTH account now, you should have the $10 you need by next week.
In the meantime, I’ll be performing my last show of the summer this Saturday at the West Bank Music Festival. It’s an outdoor street fair on Cedar Avenue–reminiscent of the Cedarfest from the days of yore. You can check out the full line up HERE, though I think I’ll take stage at 8:30 as opposed to the 9 pm listed.
Many thanks for your for your time and attention.
Be assured that Lazerbeak will return in his full glory next Tuesday.
-Dessica.
This album sounds like it will be a cool release and we at OEB are looking forward to it as well as the full length of all new material set to drop next year. The album art is above and the tracklist is:
1. 551
2. Kites
3. Mineshaft
4. The Chaconne
5. Into The Spin
6. Dixon’s Girl
7. The Crow
8. Alibi
9. Palace
10. Mineshaft 2
11. The Beekeeper
“The Beekeeper” will be the first single off of Dessa’s 2012 full length album.
*Join the mailing list…
