Welcome back to Text Message Interviews! This month we feature the lush dreamscapes of Shana Falana, on tour from New York in support of her 2nd full-length, Here Comes the Wave.
DUM DUM’s Editor-in-Chief Taleen Kali texted with Shana all week long during her epic coast-to-coast tour drive. They talked about next-level touring as a veteran of the DIY scene, swapped selfies and shared reactions as Shana drove through middle America in the week after the election. Check out our DUM showcase at Ham & Eggs TONIGHT where Shana Falana will be joined by Taleen Kali as well as The Tissues. It all starts at 8:30pm and the whole fam will be there so come on, RSVP and #getDUM!
Taleen Kali of DUM DUM Zine (DD): How is tour going???
We’re great, touring in a brand new van (rental)!
SF: So glad it went well!!! What the heck you mean drums with the cat!?
DD: My drummer’s name is cat! We finally had her drums set up right next to me but also facing audience it was sooo fun
My imagination just got wild
DD: Ahah! Can you send me 3 photos that are currently inspiring you?
SF:
static images I’ve been loving the static glitch art these dayz
this is one of the artwalls i painted at Mike’s venue BSP where we live in Kingston NY
this is “new world” according to Dolores Cannon
DD: Hell yes so much dum color!
SF: Cool! Yea the glass museum. We love getting to museums on tour good quiet-mellow way to pass the time in a town we don’t know anyone… highly recommend the Chrysler museum in Norfolk VA and it always free!
DD: Tell me everything about the song “Cool Kids” and that amazing t-shirt I keep seeing all over the Internet. I love the positive messages in “in terms of “follow your bliss” and “stay true to yourself.” It’s refreshing since most music is so dark and emo.
What prompted that positive choice?
SF: With “Cool Kids” my intentions are to acknowledge what I already see happening…. kids coming out of their shells, people letting themselves dream big and follow a more creative career path…there’s more room now for everyone to be weird, be a nerd, struggle with social awkwardness but still get out to shows. I’m so inspired by the courage people have to expose their true self and not want to fit in, not want to look the same as their friends, feel like they will be safe dressing in drag at a straight bar.
I was the kid at school with bright ’80s clothes and side ponytails and I really got made fun of, I have always been uncool, afraid of the pretty, skinny, tan, straight looking cool kids. I really had to go out and find ‘my people’ and it took a while! But if you know what I’m talking about, and you’ve finally found “your people” then you know how special it is, that instant love and connection, you feel like you’re part of a team and together we can go do anything, and we did!
SF: We ran DIY scenes in San Francisco in the early to late ’90s. We brought a lot of people together, my group was filled with every type of person, burning man types, jocks, punks, skateboarders, nerdy girls, people that were straight edge people that weren’t, everyone, we created a huge family (called the Castle Kids), we would throw parties and shows and supported eachothers events no matter what. We roamed around as a large group, it was in that world that I learned what a supportive community was.
“Follow your bliss” was my path which eventually let me to get sober too almost 7 years ago this December. There’s no right or wrong, good and bad, there’s just experience and if you can, experience life as blissfully as you can.
DD: Castle Kids sounds like the most amazing community scene. Is it still around? What years was this?
SF: ’94-present
Some of them might come to our show 🙂
DD: I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to book a tour in the ’90s
Zines were big that’s another way we found ppl with addresses
You’d mail bookers your music send them a package
DD: Hell yeah of course zines would save the day…
Let’s play a selfie game! Send me a selfie and I’ll send one back
SF:
SF: Aw BEAUTY!
DD: We’re gonna be best friends by the time we meet IRL
SF: I know babes this is a sweet connection
DD: Top 5 tour snacks: GO!
DD:
Black & white
Black & white
Black & white
Black & white
Black & white
It’s been a rough few days with the election results. How are you holding up going through all this on the road?
I’ve also been really paranoid and profiling every car on the road
Lots of ‘merica people here, but this is how it’s always been
If you’ve ever toured the U.S. you KNOW how racist and conservative it is
So we’re just bonding where we can and feeling disconnected and paranoid per usual haha
DD: Wow thanks for sharing your deep experiences with me. That is quite intense. I have to admit I have been sticking to safe spaces too. Stay safe, stick together!
What are YOUR top 5 colors?
Rainbow is my fav color and gold is my fav metallic
We had momentum still from our last release and I had written “Cool Kids” and that song needed to pop out, so I created an album to release that one song!! (out of songs I wrote forever ago, like all my music)
I feel good releasing its such a trip once it’s out and getting press and feedback and cool kids is really taking off so I’m so happy I did it!
SF: I feel like the 2nd album is heavier and has longer songs which I love. The first one is much more soaring and this record is more dark pop and psychedelic.
DD: What do you think has been the biggest challenge for a band, DIY or otherwise, during your experience in the music scene?
SF: Most challenging is keeping my positive dreamy mind enjoying the process of building a music career, it’s got to be all about the process bc everything takes so long and requires so much work, the rewards come slow so you need to love all of it otherwise you’ll be depressed, or at least I will, I put everything into my career and I just want it all to work out, so that’s the most challenging thing, growing patience and keeping your joy even though there are millions of others trying to do the same thing!
DD: Finally, we ask this question to all Dummies we interview for the zine: What keeps you inspired and astonished as a creator?
SF: I’m astonished at the kindness of strangers, I’m astonished that we do all that we do to create a thriving community for artists and musicians, I’m astonished that we find each other and take care of each other, I’m astonished that people have the energy to go see live music at night after their busy days at work, I want to keep creating music to contribute joy to the music world I want to keep creating a live experience that takes you out of your body and transforms you to another universe
Music is my favorite drug ❤️
RSVP and Get DUM at our event tonight!
