There’s a certain mystical nature to frontman Anthony Green as he expresses the feeling of magic he experiences in Ireland, as guitarist Frank Iero watches one of his closest friends with a bemused fondness, popping in with observations of his own. But, Iero laughs quietly, in a knowing way, as Green’s mind begins to wander, “Ireland has a magical, mystical thing going on. There are fairies here. There’s fucking legit magical shit. Traditional Irish music has some of the craziest storytelling, craziest melodies and songs like he said, there’s songs where the story is linear, you know, and the music here is rich with majesty,” despite warnings to not “talk about ghosts in these old Irish buildings, [because he] might summon something.”

Green’s eloquence and ability to convey his fascination with the magic that lies not only within Ireland, but within music, stretches far beyond what is presented on L.S. Dunes’ newest record, ‘Violet’. And with five of the most powerful minds in post-hardcore at the helm of this newest record – Frank Iero and Travis Stever on guitar, Tim Payne on bass, Tucker Rule on drums and Anthony Green fronting the band – the band’s exploration of genres, sounds and structures pushes the very boundaries their other projects have started, as pioneers of post-hardcore. Honed in on a fine line of post-rock and post-punk, tracks feel environmental and all-encompassing, a swirl of technique that only some of the most innovative minds in the alternative scene can create.

—

—

Eccentric, indomitable, insightful, L.S. Dunes newest venture with ‘Violet’ can be perceived as a vastly different record to their first, ‘Past Lives’, but in truth, contains the same sentiments the band founded themselves on. An exploration of the human consciousness and its relationship with creativity in all of its forms, they push music to its limits, even though to L.S. Dunes, there are none; “There are no rules. Like the fact that there is no right, there is no wrong, it’s just what makes you feel something. Or what sounds good to you. And it’s very subjective, you know? 
The thing that I dig will not be the thing that you dig all this time. And the reason I do it, and the reason that I want to continue to make stuff is because I need to for my own soul and it’s for nothing else. It’s not a tangible thing,” Iero begins. Whether that creativity springs from something tangible or just sensational, it creates a kind of magic, “It’s like you breathe, you walk, you make things, you make songs,” Green hums in agreement. 

Sitting in a dimly lit room at the top of the 3Olympia in Ireland’s capital, Anthony Green and Frank Iero huddle closely, starting off quickly with proclamations of adoration for the country sprinkled amidst the buzz of their first night on tour. Opening for Rise Against on their UK and EU tour, the tour kicked off in Ireland, allowing for Green and Iero to explore the day before, Green’s mind was occupied by the sorcerous atmosphere of the country. And the fact that Green was able to tap into a part of Ireland many people fail to acknowledge, it’s easy to see how ‘Violet’ formed in the way it did, “There’s so much magic in music when it comes to connecting, what draws you out of your comfort zone, and what happens when you’re in a moment in the flow state.”

Through a flow-state that allows for the sorcery  spilling out and morphing into the shape of what is now, ‘Violet’, there are specks of mystery, skepticism, query, and hope perceived throughout the entirety of the record. Fascinating in the way that the instrumentals quite literally convey and encapsulate the essence of how the lyrics make one feel, Green can only describe the experience of writing the record as “touchdown after touchdown – I don’t know sports – but from the very first second I started working on the record… It’s like a joy every time. It’s like when you write something and you’re like, ‘I fucking nailed it, I fucking nailed it! I can’t wait for my parents to read this! I want everybody I went to school with to see this!’ That’s how I felt literally every day leaving the studio, even when something wasn’t hundred percent there, I knew that this group was going to make it better than it could ever have been if I didn’t have this.”

—

—

Green elaborates, “As an artist, as somebody who loves making stuff, there’s only so much I can do when I’m like in my own head, and I can make a cool, whatever, but when you get somebody around you who’s really good and they’re playing, you’re inspired to do more than what you would do on your own… You have four people around you who are inspiring you, who are great, who you admire – so, your output is going to match differently than you just sitting in your room imagining things. And for me, I’ve been searching my whole life for different people to make music with. 
And I’ve had the opportunity to make music with so many great artists, but this situation was one of those fall in love at first sight types.”

With the band originating from their respective, but separate, states of the US amongst the pandemic, the band found a rhythm with starting ideas alone for ‘Past Lives’. But now, with the new record, new paths were foraged both physically and sonically. They “lived in a house down the street from the studio and did the record that way,” Iero explains. Far from what would be considered normal for L.S. Dunes due to “everybody [having] families and other obligations,” and previously made obligations to bands like Thursday, Coheed & Cambria, My Chemical Romance alongside previous excursions with Saosin and Circa Survive. Considering L.S. Dunes only to be a labour of love and dedication is disservice to the mountains they must move in order to find each other in the valley – “And at some point, you’ve got to see a doctor, too.” Forget the dentist, “You got a branch in Vienna?” Iero jests. 

“There’s shit that is happening right now ‘cause I don’t got the fucking time!” Iero exclaims.

—

—

In all seriousness, it “certainly makes this cool thing though – when we do get together, it is kind of like seeing that friend that you don’t get to see very much, but you only have a good time with.” While their friendship is first and foremost, and without it, the band would have never formed, or been as internally successful as it is, they collectively understood that making their first record and doing their first shows was them testing the waters of being a band. “Not just can [we] hang together and make each other comfortable and all that stuff, but like can [we] work out a creative difference? Can [we] compromise on a creative difference so that [we] make it even better than the desired effect from either party? 
Can you live with each other, in close quarters, making music together? All that stuff is the stuff that will make a band like able to make good music.”

Falling in love with the inner workings of the band and the environment it gives each artist in the group – and having it work as harmoniously as it has – allows for the band to blossom and bloom in a way that may not have been possible if pursued any sooner than it had been. When considering the formation of the band its occurrence, Iero wondered aloud whether or not the group could be what it is, had it formed 10, 15 years ago, “I think everything happens for a reason in a certain part of life. I truly feel like the universe kind of tells you where you need to be if you listen to the signs.” And when the signs arrived in the form of voice memos and texts being exchanged in group chats during COVID, they jumped on it. However, it wasn’t without consideration of who they were as individuals and artists, “I know for myself that I could not have handled this type of relationship with people, I don’t think I was ready to be as open as I needed to be in my life until the moment that it made itself available to me. The version of myself that I’m able to move into now at this stage of my life, is because of this band. I don’t know if I could have handled the type of internal pressure,” Green admits.

Screaming about that pressure on ‘I Can See It Now…’ on the newest instalment of L.S. Dunes’ discography, the new album’s ten tracks push and pull, break and crash, sprawling over different sounds and techniques as questions as to our role as people in our environment, the inner workings of human, and questioning the nature of hope, and the magic that lies within freeing yourself from something that doesn’t necessarily serve you swirl in the air: “The idea of being let down by hope, that’s really your preconception and what your expectations are of that. That’s like having a conversation with yourself before you have it. It’s a dangerous game.” Yet Green coincides with Iero that he believes he “found a sense of hope” while “working with the band on Past Lives. Ultimately, the lingering themes of hope that thread through the record showcase a natural occurrence for Green, “I think that just naturally came out because this band makes me feel hopeful.” 

Despite the “inevitable” stress that comes along “when trying to make anything,” which Green considers to be a good kind of stress and pressure – because it means that you see it as “important, and that it means something to you” – the band’s ability to turn inward and reflect was because they were in an environment that made them feel safe. “We put each other first and I think that that helps create an atmosphere where we feel safe, like we’re not gonna work ourselves into the ground for, you know, what? A chance at the big time?” Green jokes.

—

—

While some may – somewhat dismissively – call it a passion project due to its members’ notoriety, it’s more than that. Passion project implies that it’s to the side, only really worked on when convenient. However, nothing about L.S. Dunes and their lives are convenient. That drive, that desire to create a project that is more than just something they work on occasion. No, this project is each member at their most authentic, at their truest ‘creative spirit’: “Much to other people’s chagrin, like labels and managements and all that stuff, like – if it doesn’t feel natural to us, we don’t fucking do it,” Iero shrugs with a bit of a chuckle. “It’s sort of like you have to be selfish so that you can be selfless, you know?” Green adds. 

The authenticity found within L.S. Dunes is evident as members look both to their foundations and what that can be transformed into, pushing themselves beyond who they are at their roots. “I think it’s hard sometimes to get away from the things that are innate to you as an artist, you know? There’re certain places where you will naturally go to or things that you shine within. Whether it’s a riff here, or a melody shift or even like a mannerism within your vocals. We’re all an amalgamation of different ticks that we’ve picked up along away from different people, right?” Iero explains. “You’re gonna have a word that you like to use or a chord change that you like to use. So that stuff, I think keeps you grounded to where you came from, but I think the progression forward is to be aware of that stuff and also try to push yourself outside of those boundaries and push yourself into a place that you don’t feel as comfortable.”

And when you challenge yourself and push your boundaries successfully, it can transform you as an artist. Anthony Green is a glowing example of that, “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt further away from where my roots are than anything ever, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I never want to go back to that… I didn’t have a really good relationship with the creative spirit, and it felt like everything I made was almost in spite of my shitty relationship with my creative spirit and with my own self and my body and my ability to connect with my band. So, I feel like this is all new for me.”

A new start, questioning all that has been and all that is, turning pages on times they no longer felt connected to, ‘Violet’ bleeds with deep internal reflections and explorations as they change and morph as a sunrise would, turning the sky violet. And the success of this record to them won’t come from how the record is received by critics, but rather from themselves: “Our victory and our trophy comes when we like the record. Whatever happens after it comes out, kind of just happens – it has nothing to do with us. Like we can make a good record that we like and then be happy to put that out there and that’s where we end,” Green elaborates. Because at the end of the day, Iero acknowledges the “weird connotation with the way that certain people interpret [success].” And he’s right – success has been quantified instead of qualitative. Instead of a release being successful because it was an objectively good record, the quantity in which the record is awarded and perceived by others determines its success.

—

—

Instead, the core of why ‘Violet’ is objectively successful in their terms is because of who the group are at their core, and the creative environment that manifests from their personal identities and reflections: “Our victory and our trophy comes when we like the record. Whatever happens after it comes out, kind of just happens – it has nothing to do with us. Like we can make a good record that we like and then be happy to put that out there and that’s where we end,” Green elaborates.

And the fact that the project is able to be created without restraints, the art truly the only focus, Green and Iero acknowledge their position in the creativity community, “It’s not often that people get the luxury of being able to make something with people who aren’t sweating on you to pay their bills. Like, even if it’s just the tiniest bit of quantum level sweat. When somebody just is like, ‘hey, you do your thing so good. I just love you and I want you to do your best and it’s always you’re happy, we’re gonna be happy, and we’re gonna make a steam roller out of this.’ This is an art project, like that’s such a gift. As an artist it’s made me better, and it’s made me able to work with people better and I think it makes my mission of just wanting to make good music with my friends stronger.”

“To be in a situation where that’s not why we do this – like we would actually probably make more money if we didn’t do this band,” Iero all but shouts in amusement.

A situation so untainted gave way to an objectively good record that tests the boundaries L.S. Dunes view as nonexistent – ‘Violet’ is a testament to the strength and courage of the human spirit in pursuit of creativity and connection, and the magic that is inherently created from such a love for what they do. Indeed, with combined experience of decades in the industry, one would expect a polished piece of work from five post-hardcore pioneers. However, no one can expect the band to reveal themselves and expose their minds and souls to the level of humanity and authenticity this record encapsulates. Untarnished of any restrictions, ‘Violet’ is L.S. Dunes at their most curious, genuine selves. 

—

—

‘Violet’ is out now. For all L.S. Dunes live information visit their site.

Words: Isabella Ambrosio
Photography: Shervin Laine

—