By David Flick
(via RollingStone.com)
It's a rainy day as I approach Brooks Hall, a dormitory in the Central Area of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I'm headed to interview Luke Dery, rising artist and dramatic figure, who attends this university. As I made my journey from the parking lot to the dorm itself, I began to draw connections between the man himself and the environment that he resides. I walk by roaring construction in almost every square foot, cars that speed over crosswalks without checking if anyone is crossing, and snotty college kids that are unaware of anyone's presence but themselves, and I slowly get a glimpse into the mind of the man I am about to speak too. The campus is rich with emotions and topics of interest that swirl in Dery's head. His creative spring, one could say.
As I reach the main door of the dorm, Dery is there, waiting for my arrival.
"Sorry for the bad weather," he says, and it's clear that he is sincere. He's wearing a pair of black jeans with a grey belt. On the right side of the belt is an autograph from Marky Ramone whom Dery met earlier this year. He's wearing a black button-up shirt which contrasts well with his now long hair.
We take the elevator up to his room. He makes a joke about how slow it is, and I agree. A scrappy notice on the right wall says it's past inspection by almost a year. When we reach his room, I am greeted with the sweet smell of Old Spice and laundry detergent. Apparently he has just taken a load out of the dryer. This cramped living quarters is strewn with clothes and sheets of lyrics, simple sheets of paper scrawled on with black pen. I'm tempted to pick one up just to admire what genius it may contain, but he seems to realize my temptation and warns my against it. Luke Dery is very private about his work.
He sits on his bed and I take a seat at his desk. On it rests his mini Marshall amp, a low budget device he loves to create that raw-sounding, played in your garage sound. Out of his window is a green hill. As I sit admiring the landscape before me, he offers me some Junior Mints. Since he is an avid Seinfeld fan, I dare not decline.
The room itself is a spectacle. It seems that Dery has crafted it to be vastly different than the gloom I saw as I walked here in the rain. He mentions that the campus is usually very beautiful, but the life of spring has not yet fully shown itself.
Before we begin, Dery confronts me.
"Everything I say today, I say once. Never again. It all comes out now or never."
I agree to respect his wishes, and we begin.
DF: You recently picked up guitar. Quite a feat for someone as busy as you. You must be quite talented.
LD: (Laughs) Maybe. I played piano for years when I was little so music just comes easy to me now. I played Trombone in high school, too. (Snickers). I remember hating it when I had to read music. I'm pretty sure for the two years I played in band, I didn't read a single note.
DF: So you were horrible then?
LD: No, no. I just improvised everything. I had an ear for what sounded good, so I went by that. I did a solo once during my Spring concert back in 2009. That was on the Trombone, which is funny to solo with. All the slides and whatnot. Everyone clapped so I figured I must have done well. Some red-headed girl even gave me a standing ovation. No idea who that was. (Laughs)
DF: So you already had two instruments in your pocket. Why learn a third?
LD: Gosh, I don't know. Guitar is just so much more versatile and accessible. Nothing can really match a guitar in that respect. If you carry a guitar around with you, people automatically treat you better than they would normally. Similar to if you drive a nice car.
DF: Why is that?
LD: People are afraid of others who are more talented than them. When they size you up, you've already got the upper hand. Plus, normally when you meet a stranger, they know nothing about you. Showing a guitar automatically gives them food for conversation. They feel like they know you well.
But, back on topic. All the music I love is played with mainly guitar. I wanted to live up to my idols.
LD: Oh gosh, so many. I like to think of my music as something new. I hate music that is derivative. Most of the stuff on the radio is the same crap over and over again. That's not what music is about. It's about being unique. It's about being special. I love bands with dirty sounding records. Riffs life riding a brontosaurus. Just straight up rocking. Proving yourself instead of hiding behind a computer. I'd say my music is a cross between Green Day and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Maybe even some Rolling Stones rawness in there. It's a new sound, honestly. It messes with my head sometimes.
DF: As a person like myself who's never been in the rock world, or even learned an instrument, tell me how your life changed after picking up guitar.
LD: God, so much is different. I think you just have the aura of power that you didn't have before. People look at you differently, mainly because when you play guitar you have to get some sick tattoos, so people are like "Oh look at that guy's tattoos." The judgment is brutal in the music world though. I can't tell you how many times people have screamed out "You suck!" or "Put that tuneless piece of crap away!" while I'm playing. Kids just hate rock music so much that they trash anyone who plays it. If anything, rock is back where it was when it first was born. Barely clinging for life. I've changed internally for sure. It's almost like you're carrying the weight of that guitar with you everywhere you go.
DF: Is that a heavy weight?
LD: It is if it's a Gibson. (Laughs)
DF: Any hints about material you're working with now.
LD: Well like I said before, it's like a new sound. I think it's one of the most creative periods of my career so far. It's a big sound, but at the same time it isn't. At this point I'm just trying to do my best on each song and see where it all takes me.
DF: Any clues on some of the material?
LD: (Laughs) You wish. But beautiful things don't need attention. (Smiles)
DF: (Laughs). Well anyway, how is college life?
LD: Rough. It's so hard to balance everything, you know. Back in the day, people had it so easy. You didn't even have to go to college 80 yrs ago. I think the main issue in life is that there's one path that you can take, and that's the college path. Everything is so controlled. That's why I'm so lucky to have this music thing going for me. It lets me express myself and make money without following this internalized system. But college... it's like a cluster of ignorance and pretentiousness, and I'm definitely part of it.
DF: I know that this is a touchy subject, but tell me a bit about your addiction.
LD: (Pauses). Guess I should. God, I got hooked on soda. Root Beer mainly, but it got to a point where I'd take anything to get through the day. I'd wake up at 10am and pound a half-filled Root Beer leftover from the night before. I needed it to keep me energized. But it got out of hand. I'd be with my friends, all hanging out drinking Root Beer, and everyone would quit after a few rounds. They'd all look at me as I kept going. I was out of control.
DF: Any negative affects of that kind of behavior?
LD: Lots of cavities. Two to be exact. And it sucked because I pride myself on my dental hygiene. I put a lot of effort into keeping my oral health, and I just blew it.
DF: Any plans for recovery?
LD: Detoxing with tap water, probably.
DF: How was your bird-watching trip in Sweden? Did you see any birds?
LD: No
DF: Shame. Well you know where the final question is headed...
LD: (Laughs) Yeah, my "mid-teen" crisis.
DF: Tell me about it.
LD: Well it's rough, you know. Buried in between all this work and happiness is a very fragile figure. Everyone is soft on the inside. I think people my age are all searching for something, and it scares us. When you feel like something is missing, you can't relax. It's not human nature. And no one feeling this way really knows what's missing, which makes it worse. You're on a hunt with no map and no idea what you're shooting at. For me, I needed to burn down the house to figure out where I lost my mind. I needed to deconstruct myself so I could find the missing cog in the machine. But even after that, there's still a gap. It's a really sad truth about human existence. Every has this gap inside them. You see kids everywhere becoming adults with no idea of who they are or what they want. They just jump from one thing to the other. There's no self-reflection...no backbone...no one gave them those things. Everyone is afraid of who they are. Reality scares me, I guess.
DF: Any advice for people younger than you going through life with those same questions?
LD: Look, I always say you just have to live in the moment. You never know what the future is going to bring. I mean, I don't have any clue what the heck I'm doing. I don't know where I'm going. I never do! But the important thing is...well...to sometimes think about the future, but stay in the moment at the same time. It's about creating memories. When you look back from your death bed, what do you want to remember?
DF: So what's next?
LD: (Laughs). Life.
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