Brian Dunne – Brain Dunne

09-03-2022

Raised in New York State, Dunne was drawn to music with a singular devotion from an early age. He picked up the guitar first, later adding piano and voice to his repertoire as he fell in love with kind of songwriters who paired muscular rock and roll with raw, literate self-examination. "There was a video rental store in town with a music documentary section, and as a kid, every week I'd go and rent the same live Springsteen VHS," says Dunne. "My dad worked in a factory and my mom was a secretary, and I remember watching Bruce and thinking that music looked like a more fun way to make a living. I decided then and there that I was going to be a songwriter, and I never left room for anything else." In 2007, Dunne headed to Boston for college, where he first met Sarlo, and shortly after graduation, he relocated to Brooklyn to pursue music full time. "I thought things would take off quickly in New York, but instead I fell flat on my face," he laughs. "I had one of the hardest years of my life just trying to pay the rent, and I realized that if I was going to make any money, I had to hit the road." And so Dunne began crisscrossing the country on tour, performing hundreds of shows a year and building up a dedicated fanbase the old fashioned way. He released a pair of acclaimed albums, 2015's "Songs From The Hive" and 2017's "Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements", that garnered frequent airplay on SiriusXM and helped land him dates with everyone from Cat Power and Dylan LeBlanc to Rosanne Cash and Lee Ann Womack alongside high profile spots on Cayamo and NPR's Mountain Stage. Dunne kept in touch with Sarlo all the while, and in 2016, when he began writing the songs that would become 'Selling Things,' he shared a batch of early demos that prompted the breakout producer to invite him to LA to record. The songs were bolder and more direct than anything in Dunne's catalog, drawn from a trying year in which he found himself wrestling with mental health and an existential crisis. "I wasn't sure what was going on with me," reflects Dunne. "I started to spiral due to what I later learned was obsessive compulsive disorder, but at the time, I was undiagnosed and medicating myself with booze and drugs. It got pretty gnarly, and for a while, I thought I was genuinely losing my mind." Dunne saw his inner turmoil reflected in the world around him that year, as the divisiveness of a bitter election cycle gave way to a sustained period of political and social unrest. In some ways, it added insult to injury, but in others, it made him feel less alone as he came to terms with his diagnosis. "I had to learn to accept that I wasn't in control of everything," says Dunne, "and I saw that become abundantly clear to a lot of other people in November of 2016. As disappointing as it was, there was an odd comfort in knowing that other people were going through similar reckonings. Everybody was coming to terms all at once with the possibility that our ideas about ourselves and our country might not be real." The American Brian Dunne gained fame last year with the sensitive, penetrating song 'New Tattoo', which is about loneliness, making mistakes and unintentionally missing opportunities. The text is pure and drawn from life. Pure are also the songs on his new album released on Danny Vera's new label. It is a compilation of previous albums such as "Selling Things" (2020). Dunne is honest about difficult moments in his own life and that of those around him. He does not shy away from difficult subjects such as loneliness and depression. There are also uptempo tracks on it. Sometimes Brian opts for a rock sound with, for example, a harmonica that accentuates the bluesy feel. Dunne is not innovative, but his songs are powerful in their simplicity and sound lived through. Brian knows how to touch his listeners. Brian Dunne's "Brian Dunne" is the very first release on the new label PMD Records. PMD (Pressure Makes Diamonds) is a collaboration between Excelsior Recordings and Danny Vera. "Together with my label Excelsior Recordings I can help to release music from artists we believe in together. Who deserve to be heard. That is why we are starting PMD, Pressure Makes Diamonds." Now it's time. The first artist to release music through PMD is Brian Dunne. Speaking songs, a voice that makes sense in terms of emotional expressiveness and a good head. This is how Danny Vera characterizes the American singer-songwriter Brian Dunne. Songs at the interface of personal and political. Narrative songs also in which the singer, who sometimes recalls a cross between Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne, does not spare himself. Sometimes a Dutch musician is in the news because he or she is causing a furore in the United States. Brian Dunne, from New York, takes the opposite route. His song 'New Tattoo' got the necessary attention in our country thanks to Danny Vera. Dunne is even the first artist to sign with Vera's new record label PMD Records. Dunne has been working in the US for years, but the big breakthrough is yet to come. Nevertheless, he has already released a few critically acclaimed albums, "Songs From The Hive" (2015), "Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements" (2017) and "Selling Things" (2020). The highlights of it appeared on the compilation album released by PMD Records in December. In 2018 Brian recorded the beautiful 'New Tattoo', which is in the spotlight in the Netherlands thanks to Danny Vera. As a result, Dunne suddenly experiences a kind of Dutch Dream.

1. Taxi 4:10

2. Walk Me Home 5:12

3. New Tattoo 3:32

4. Nothing Matters Anymore 4:03

5. Chasing Down A Ghost 3:40

6. I don't Wanna Lose You Tonight 4:28

7. Harlem River Drive 3:57

8. Don't Give Up On Me 3:59

9. Crazy Heart Of Mine 2:55

10. If You Wanna Stay A While 7:02

11. I hope I Can Make It To The Show 3:54

12. Slow Train 3:38