Gold Dime

Photo by, Paula Court

Meet Gold Dime

“Brother can you spare a dime” is a track by country music superstar Bing Crosby. It is also the name of an older Simpsons episode where Danny Devito voices Homer’s estranged brother. This band is neither of those things. Also, because they are gold they are immediately thousands of times better. Let’s start from the beginning. 2017 Gold DIme stormed on to the scene when they told everyone to “Shut Up” with their terrific single “Shut Up”. Now flash forward some two years later and they have a killer album under their belt. “My House” is the name of the album and it is linked below so you can listen while you read about this lovely loud fierce group of individuals.

Oh, one more thing if you are a person who likes to leave the house every now and then you can catch them on tour at these dates and places:

3/6, Fri - Kingston, NY, Tubby’s
3/12, Thurs - Knoxville, TN, Goat
3/13, Fri - Athens, GA, Bombs Away Collective
3/14, Sat - New Orleans, LA, The Mudlark Theater
3/15, Sun - Denton, TX, Rubber Gloves
3/16, Mon - Dallas, TX, RBC
3/17-3/21 - SxSW
3/22, Sun - Houston, TX, Two Headed Dog
3/23, Mon - Hot Springs, AR, Valley of the Vapors Fest3/24, Tues - Nashville, TN, Proper Sake
3/25, Wed - Atlanta, GA, Drunken Unicorn
3/26, Thurs - Raleigh, NC,  Neptunes
3/27, Fri - Richmond, VA, Poor Boys3/28, Sat - DC, Cool Ranch

HISTORY OF A FAMOUS INVENTION a Mad-lib by, Gold Dime

The first electric SEDAN was invented in 1904 by a ROTUND young man named SPALDING GRAY. He and his brother FRANK OCEAN ran a small LIGHT BULB repair shop, and in their spare time they studied COPS. When they started work on their invention, everyone said, "FUCK HELL! You'll never get it off the HURRICANE." But they built a CYLINDRICAL model out of old FILING CABINETS and a used a FIGURINE. The model worked fine, and in ten minutes it toasted 24 slices of PEARS. It also used of up two gallons of KOMBUCHA an hour, and the top converted into a TEXT. They sold the patent to a PAPERY millionaire for 5,089,678,555 dollars and lived SWIMMINGLY ever after.

Would You Rather

be transported permanently 500 years into the future or 500 years into the past? What would you do?

Little dubious about the future, so likely the past? Although life expectancy 500 years ago was probably 35 years old so I might be dead already. Wondering if I get to maintain the knowledge that I am from the year 2020 in either scenario? Ya know like in Bill and Ted or Back To The Future. Questions and concerns aside, I guess my final answer is the future. The past scares me.

What would I do? ….. uh, commune with the extraterrestrials and hope they don’t laugh at me.

Some questions with Gold Dime

Do you believe the NYC music scene fosters community or competition?

Both. But there are so so many music scenes here. That’s the beauty of NYC. You could switch scenes every five years with total anonymity. And it feels like I’ve lived through so many scenes, of which I’ve been accepted, on the fringe of or observed from a distance. And I can honestly say I only know a sliver of the scenes that go on in NYC.

Back to community and competition… I mean as long as humans are involved there will be community and competition. And I have to admit, I am always surprised and humbled by the community(ies) that surrounds and accepts me/us. I think it’s why I stay in NYC. And I do realize to be a part of any community, you don’t have to like the music of all participants and they don’t have to like yours. You all just have to respect each other and each others’ process. We are all going up against the indifference of the world. And that’s hard. So good job to whoever even tries.

How did Gold Dime come to be?

I guess after my previous band Talk Normal took a break in 2013, I learned guitar in order to better express my ideas to guitarists and ended up writing songs in the process. Most often in the live context I am a drummer and I use my voice. So I brought in folks to play bass, guitar and other. At first I wrote all of the songs out in a very specific way with charted compositions. Currently there is more of a collaborative thing going on between myself, Ian Douglas-Moore (bass/vocals) and new addition Brendan Winick (guitar), although I do have a heavy hand in arrangements, orchestration, chord movement, vibe etc. Note - John Bohannan (guitar & other) is on consigliere status until he’s back from some epic touring.

What is the most dangerous thing to microwave? Why?

Bean soup. Somehow it always blows up and splatters. I do use a cover of course. But then you definitely gotta wash it.

Also Ian (my bandmate) just reminded me about the extreme dangers of microwaving metal. Honestly, I think they need bigger warning signs about this.

Can you describe the creative process behind your video for “My House”?

It started off with the simple tight shot of just following a face being dragged; dragged in a non-violent way. That idea alone felt surreal and intimately absurd; which definitely plays into how the actual song makes me feel. There is also a sequence where I struggle to move/drag a tree; which felt like a good foil to the face literally being dragged. This tree sequence felt comedic and almost desperate, like a determined Buster Keaton suddenly appearing in a David Lynch movie or something.

Chris Mulligan (Famous Swords/Parlor Walls) edited the video and is the reason why editors should be given more credit in the film/video realm, as opposed to the director getting the sole spotlight. Sure I came up with the idea, shot it with Jen Dessinger, and guided it throughout, but Chris had a lot of free reign, shot some of his own footage and sculpted it into a surreal and hypnotic gem. His efforts felt very influenced by Maya Deren’s dreamlike black and white short films.

What are your thoughts on streaming platforms? Have they helped or hindered the industry?

It definitely helped and hindered.

Helped cause ya, as a listener, I like being able to immediately find whatever I want to listen to. It’s so convenient. And my algorithm is pretty decent. Little artists will still have to work hard. But I guess with streaming they do exist on a platform with everyone else and it doesn’t cost anything to get on that shared platform. So maybe that’s a nice equalizer? Like before digital media (that’s downloading and streaming) you had to be tied up with some label or have money to not necessarily make the product, but to distribute the product.

Hindered because the excess and immediacy makes me lazy and feels grose. Hindered also because we all know no one really gets paid. And I do not understand  how we have not legally worked out a way to pay artists/labels a little bit more than fractions of a penny for one stream. I mean wouldn’t a bunch of savvy (and bigger) labels have teamed up by now and got some shared shark of a lawyer? Heh. I mean I say that but I have no idea how it all really works. And of course getting playlisted is everyone’s wildest dream now. Seems a vital part of most artist’s campaigns. Which is fine I guess. And the big big money seems to be in the license and sync world, and no longer in selling individual units of music. So the industry big dogs are probably still doing alright if they recognized this shift early on.

Lastly, I think streaming services should make the the number of streams/listens optional. That’s just my last little wish on this.

If the price was no option what would be the perfect bagel?

Vegan cream cheese, lox, sauerkraut (like the real kind, just cabbage and salt), lightly dressed summer greens, capers, some drips of good olive oil and some splashes of whatever hot sauce is available. The bagel would be an Everything bagel, of course.

Could you write us a Haiku?

I wrote one quickly. I don’t like it yet.

The smells make me gag

The smells make me weep real tears

Real tears that smell sour

How would you place yourself in the lineage of noise rock, and what do you hope to bring to the genre?

Tbh, I don’t feel like this band is “noise rock.” I know I know, no one likes the labels others give them. Someone just described us as “alternately tense, noisy and melodic art punk.” I think I prefer something like this, or just “art rock,” as opposed to “noise rock.”

BUT getting over myself, and to answer your question, perhaps we bring to the genre --  a performative intensity, unapologetic songs that alternate from sensual to abrasive to dreamlike, time signatures that feel mostly like 12/8, exciting drums that highlight the toms, noisy melodic riffs, emotive guitars that often give off “the little engine that could” vibe, cinematically narrative arrangements, wild dynamics, direct noir lyrics with sometimes spoken, sometimes sung vocals that can uplift into choir.  I realize this sounds pretentious but I’m doing my best to be sincere.

For fun, and to clarify where I’m coming from re: “noise rock.” When I think of “noise rock,” I think of 4 guys (they don’t have to be men but the vibe is masculine) - two guitars, bass and drums - doing some hard rock with excess feedback. The arrangements are blockish, everyone plays at the same time and most time signatures are a very straight 4/4. This is a generalization and anyone who identifies as “noise rock,” well I think that’s great. I am not dissing noise rock! Just making the case we are not that.

Where do you normally go after a show, to a party or home to sleep?

Home.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

I have nothing.