Doomtree » Dessa

Thank You

Dessa — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:46:30 +0000

Well, it’s the middle of the night, and my album is slated for official release tomorrow. My impulse is to write a long, lyrical ‘thank you’ note, but my other impulse is the pass the eff out. Splitting the difference:

Hey Lazerbeak? Thanks. You and Ander have put so many hours into this thing. I owe you one, man. And you’re next.

MK Larada, you’re ridiculous. The album art elevates the entire project.

Hey Lupe Fiasco['s intern], thanks. I got a little mention on your blog today, and that means a lot. Cause I’m a fan.

People who’ve purchased the album: Thank You. When I did my live broadcast last week, no one leaked the password. No one. If you’re not running an independent record label in your free time, I can’t impress upon you how rare that it is in hip hop–in popular music in general. It’s almost impossible to attracting a listenership who’s willing to buy music, let alone who’s willing to play by the rules to be part of a larger idea, to make a bigger plan possible. Thanks.

-Dess.

Video Premiere

Dessa — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:17:11 +0000

The Current was kind enough to post a video for one of my new Boy Soprano songs. You can check it out here. For those of you who preordered, see you tonight.

-Dess

(Pre) Sales Figures–Update

Dessa — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:38:45 +0000

Moments ago, I received the updated sales figures for my new album, A Badly Broken Code. The bean counters at Doomtree’s HQ just submitted their final tally via certified airmail. They’ve clicked off their desk-lamps, leaned back in their chairs, and are now smoking in the semi-darkness of another endless dusk on the island where the Doomtree Main Office is headquartered.

With no small measure of pride, I am here to announce that the pre-sale numbers have almost reached the goal that I set back in mid-December. The Excel spreadsheet at left substantiates that fact.

Many thanks to those who’ve helped make this dream (almost) possible. For those of you who’ve considered making that big click, I’ll sternly remind you that the opportunity ends soon…the presale window closes in just a few days.

Promotionally yours,
Dessa.

Pre-order-ers

Dessa — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:56:11 +0000

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered my new album, A Badly Broken Code. I know that 2009 wasn’t flush for most folks, and there are a lot of other ways to spend $12.99.

Now, down to details. I’ve just sent off an email to Ander Other, our trusty intern, about the live broadcast that’s associated with the pre-order. Here’s the deal: on the evening of Tuesday, January 12th, Jeremy Messersmith, Aby Wolf, and I will get together in Paper Tiger’s basement. We’ll arrange and rehearse vocal harmonies for our upcoming performance at my CD release show. We’ll stream this session on a password-protected site. We’ll email the necessary password to everyone who pre-orders the album.

Now I don’t expect you to believe that I am impartial, but I do hope to be believed when I report that both Aby and Jeremy have some very special voices. I know because I’d trade with either of them in a heartbeat. Aby’s got a clear soprano that she maneuvers effortlessly…on a good day, Aby really is nothing short of stunning. During several practices, I’ve forgotten to sing–forgotten completely–because I’ve been distracted how beautiful she sounded. If she’s ask very, very nicely, on the 12th she may be compelled to do Snow White.

I met Jeremy almost by chance, but was immediately taken by the writerly quality of his lyrics and by his pitch, which never seems to waver. His song ‘Scientist’ (playable here) features some of the best lyrics I’ve heard in many years: honest, brilliant, plain.

If you’d like to listen in, and even submit questions or comments, we’d love to have you. For the next few days, you can pre-order the disc here: clique.

-Dessa.

Video and the Radio Star: A Delicate Ceasefire

Dessa — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:10:03 +0000

Last night, we finished filming for my second music video. We shot in the woods of Fort Snelling, flood lights trained on a bend of desolate road.

Directed by Todd Cobery. Shot by Bo Hakala. Cameraphone image snapped by My Roommate (Thanks Jaclyn).

This Is It.

Dessa — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:51:32 +0000

Well, this is it. I’ve spent the last few years writing and recording to try and produce an album I’m proud of. I came up with a collection of 15 tracks titled A Badly Broken Code. Doomtree has spent infinite hours, and most of our finite dollars, to support this album. For the first time in our history we’re in a position to really take our music and our business to a national level. This morning Ander, our gifted 20-year-old intern, launched the pre-order on our site.

While Ander was programming at his desk, I reported to the set of my first, real music video. Britni, the Art Director, picked me up just after 7 a.m. I don’t see a lot of sunrises, but I caught one this morning as we arrived at a rented house in Saint Paul. Inside I scanned the full rooms for Maria, the director and my friend. She looked busy, in cuffed jeans and Converse, talking with two other women standing around a monitor.

I greeted Crist, the make-up artist. Then I ducked into the mudroom, determined to stay out of everyone’s way until Maria called for me. From the doorway, I watched twenty people haul gear, drink coffee, check watches, talk shop, tease each other, hoist lights, try and fail to lift a piano, and show baby pictures. I saw a few people whose names knew and a few others with familiar faces. The rest were strangers.

If you live in New York City, one month of your rent is probably more than the budget for this entire video. So who are all of these talented strangers in this house working so hard? Come to think of it, who owns this effing house? I saw the wedding pictures on the piano, they seem like a happy, sensible couple–so why let twenty people shoot a rap video in your lovely home?

At the risk of becoming unsalvageably sentimental: art can be an irrepressible force. An appetite for it moves us to act against our other interests: we go broke, sleepless, and grey for it. We memorize wine lists for it. We answer other people’s phones all day to make art at night.

Ander moved to Minnesota from California, leaving his mom and sister, to work for Doomtree. For absolutely free.

Britni, the Art Director who picked me up this morning, has been working on her feature for two years. She’s designing sound while simultaneously trying to raise money to support a film she doesn’t expect to turn a profit. Ever.

I don’t think Maria budgeted one cent to compensate herself for this video. In fact, I’m pretty sure that she’s breaking her own dinner plates in the scene we’re filming tomorrow.

I’m 28 years old. I’ve got a good job teaching music. It pays the bills and and my bartab at The Leaning Tower–the neighborhood dive. I’m don’t imagine that I’m making any epic sacrifices. Nonetheless, it’s powerful to see so many people behave in ways that confound economists. So many artists give up so much of their time, their money, and their peace of mind to do what they do independently.

These same artists benefit from working independently, or with carefully chosen partners, because they’re not beholden to anyone. For example, as an independent touring musician, I sleep on floors more often than I do in hotel beds. That’s a little harder as I near thirty. But, I can say ‘No’ to anyone. That’s important in this business. If you’re a photographer who would like me to lose twenty pounds before the next shoot, I can say, “Fuck you very much.” And I don’t have the kind of manager who’s going to tell me to apologize, get him that twenty percent, and switch to celery juice for breakfast. And if you’d like me to sing on song that says ‘faggot’ in it, I’m not interested. And if you don’t believe in my art…well, you don’t have to. That’s what Doomtree’s for.

I’m lucky enough to work with a collective of pretty fierce music-makers. I can’t think of another 8 guys I’d rather spend my nights and early mornings with. We drive each other to be better artists, we sometimes drive each other crazy, and once in a while we get to drive each other around the country in a white van with blown speakers.

So, that’s the honest story of it. It’s a hard year, if you can’t buy music this time around, I hope you’re warm and safe. If you can buy music this year, and you like what we do, I hope you’ll consider supporting us. The pre-order link is up at www.doomtree.net. Listeners are the only ones who make Doomtree possible, and we’re working hard to prove that we’ve got what it takes to make our music and our model work in the big leagues.

Thanks Minneapolis.

And to everyone else who’s made another city feel like home.

-Dessa.

Earning my Miller Light

Dessa — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:38:24 +0000

Got a little mention on the New York Times site today. Feeling fancy. May just be drinking from a plastic champagne flute this evening.

http://tiny.cc/Pf0Oa

From the vault.

Dessa — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:27:18 +0000

Cleaning up my files today, I found the mixing notes that I made about Doomtree’s 2008 self-titled release. I’m not sure what the first sentence referred to. The second second is the irrepressibly, Puritanical me.

INTRO
The line about POS that shows up at the start of the song may give listeners the wrong impression, in that no other performers are named. Dessa doesn’t like the obscenity starting the thing. She knows that this will not be considered “important” to other members of the crew. She resigns herself to that fact and will burn a separate mix for her mom.

Fact Check.

Dessa — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:05:50 +0000

Oh man. I just got a list of questions from the fact checker at Minnesota Monthly magazine. The fact checking process is pretty standard fare: you talk to a reporter then somebody from that reporter’s office contacts you to make sure that your statements were captured accurately. Nonetheless, some of the questions in this round were pretty stellar.

1. You are 28 years old.

3. You teach The Language of Rap and Spoken Word at the McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul.

8. You use the terms “fresh” and “bangin’”.

9. To capture your energetic personality, the author says you joke around by saying if students text during your class you’ll head-but them.

Yes on all counts.

Birthdays and 12 steppers.

Dessa — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:50:33 +0000

The new Whitney Houston album is out. I’ve heard snippets of it on the radio, but I don’t think I can listen to the record in its entirety. If it’s garbage, it’ll just kill me.

Somehow in the murky years of childhood, my impression of Whitney Houston became inextricably linked to my understanding of my mother. They looked sort of the same (proof below), they sang the same, and they both had big, white, light-house smiles.

So when Whitney was in trouble–and her trouble was in all the tabloids–I had a completely irrational, disproportionate response. My intellectual reaction was, What a sad thing, to see such talent stifled by violence and addiction. My emotional reaction was, Maaaa! Gas up the car! We gotta GO SAVE WHITNEY!.

Now, with Whitney recording again and sober, I’ll think I’ll just wish her well from afar. It’d be too hard to get invested again and then be heartbroken if she fell off the wagon.

In the meantime, in my real life, my mom’s birthday was a couple of months ago. This year, to no one’s great surprise, I’m still broke. So I wrote a song for Ma. [click here to listen--->] Mom Birthday Song

Amazing ladies abound.