WIUX is happy to share with you the first edition of our Living Room Sessions. Every other week we record and interview local bands in the living room of our station house.
Dietrich Jon is the first band we recorded. Made up of Diederik van Wassenaer, Connor Grimm, Peter Doyle, Austin Davis and Mark Edlin, Dietrich Jon has made a name for themselves playing in countless basements across Bloomington, at the Bishop and at Culture Shock last year. What we're trying to say is, unless you're a freshman or have been living under a rock, you've almost definitely heard them play.
In October, they'll play a showcase at CMJ Music Marathon. After their set, I got a chance to talk to Diederik, Austin and Mark about CMJ, Bloomington, making music and more.
"Sometime" - Dietrich Jon
I want to be a Midwestern band
Q: How did you get in contact with CMJ?
A: I applied through sonic bids, I didn’t think we got in so I didn’t tell them. But the skip two months later to August when I got an email saying we got an official showcase, and everyone was like that’s great so what…we’re going to New York?
Q: Favorite place to play in Bloomington?
A: House shows for sure. First of all, Bloomington is set up in a way that is incredibly good for house shows. There’s a ton of space in between houses in the south side, everything is walkable, there’s nothing a mile away. Bloomington has one of the longest house show traditions in the country. The music scene now is all from the punk scene in the 2000s, it’s really just a crazy continuation. We’ve come across bands that come to Bloomington specifically for the house shows because the energy is awesome. The sound is eh but the energy is incredible. It’s a good place to test new music as well. And the internet as made it more legitimate. Venues are becoming obsolete, it’s more about the bands now. Social media brings people out, the come for the music.
Q: Where’s your favorite place to get a sandwich in Bloomington?
A: Bfoods, Rush Hour, Dagwoods
Q: What is your favorite unique part of Bloomington?
A: The quarries, the people that you interact with that you usually wouldn’t talk to. I wouldn’t ever of talked to an anarchist in Indianapolis. The zoom flume, it’s a giant abandoned waterslide. The music scene.
Q: If you could perform on stage with any three musicians, dead or alive who would they be?
A: James Brown, Frank Zappa, Thom Yorke
Q: Any plans for new music?
A: We’re headed to the studio this Sunday to record hopefully half of our first full-length. Hopefully it will be done by the end of this year in terms of mixing. And if everything goes according to plan, hopefully it will be out by late spring. Let’s say the first week of May. And then we’re gonna on tour for like two years. And then we’re gonna run for president.
Q: Who’s going to be the next President?
A: Bernie Sanders, for sure. To be real, Bernie is the real deal.
"Independence Day" - Dietrich Jon
Mix/Master/Editing done by Brian Berger and WIUX Engineering Committee
