Fanclub is a semi-regular recommendation series where I talk to Normal People about the Things They Like.
Dante Sudilovsky (he/him) - San Francisco, CA
I know Dante because he went to college with Abbie From Mars.
Instagram
JMC: What have you been listening to lately?
DS: Been really digging Market's new album. It's very gloomy white-boy-needs-therapy-core, so right up my alley. Winged Wheel's debut album "No Island" has become my running playlist, despite the fact that it's not really a great running album. Lots of interesting dissonance and just the right amount of experimentation, however. Oh, and let's not forget about Everyone Asked About You. They're getting rereleased on Numero group, and the cleaned up/remastered 'It's days like this...' has been making me miss Her. I've also been revisiting Women's always-great second album "Public Strain". According to my Last.FM I've been listening to astrel k's "Flickering i" album. Don't know much about the dude other than he sounds British and makes some nice art rock sounds. Finally, Hood. One of my favorite bands of all time, their 1998 album "The Cycle of Days and Seasons", is the quintessential fall album for me... September brings the autumn dawn... So true...
JMC: You say live music in the Bay Area has been disappointing. What is disappointing about it?
DS: I think my disappointment stems from the scale of the music scene here. It’s simply much smaller than NYC or Philly. There’s fewer bands, fewer venues, and fewer touring bands coming through. I have to recalibrate my expectations of live music. Going to a show is not a 2-3 time a week thing here. It’s every 2 or 3 weeks. It just feels less alive here.
JMC: Do you think if you didn’t have the stress of starting new career and moving across the country you’d still feel that way?
DS: No! Not at all. I do truly believe there is great music/art being made here, especially in Oakland, but my perception of the whole place is colored by the realities of my everyday and being disconnected from the scene. Finding it just requires more effort than hopping on a subway. It requires knowing the right people and living in the right place. I’m learning to be more patient.
JMC: Do you ever feel like your apex of caring is behind you?
DS: Perhaps. Since I’ve been on hiatus from my radio show, music in general has become less a part of my life. What is filling that void now, I’m not sure. Maybe my everlasting search for decent affordable housing and groceries? I fear that I’m becoming that which those who do care all fear: an adult. I think it can be brought back into focus, but my life now just doesn’t have as many open doors through which to connect to art as in NYC.
JMC: Have you made any new friends since moving?
DS: Work in progress. I’ve made one very good friend (shoutout to Holly) since I’ve moved here. I’ve been talking to my neighbors the last couple of days and mindlessly swiping on dating apps. But this is another part of my life where I’m learning to be patient. It takes a very long time to make friends when you move to a new place by yourself. Finding the right people is worth the effort and worth the time but it’s something that does take longer than anyone wants
JMC: What is something you've been hearing a lot about but haven't fully made your mind up about yet?
DS: Hahah man I wish I was hearing a lot about anything at all. The only thing I hear about a lot here is psychedelic shamanistic ritual healing, fires, homelessness, and tech money. Music has become extremely internal for me here in the Bay. Rarely share and rarely shared.
JMC: What do you do all day for money?
DS: Emails, spreadsheets, blah blah blah for a Berkeley-based organization working on greening schoolyards. Looking for something that matters, maybe some day...
JMC: What do you think matters if not greening schoolyards?
DS: Meaning is complicated. Ugh. Personal fulfillment sometimes is enough, and all that we can really strive to achieve. Nine-to-five is going to be a hard gap to fill realistically for me. The jobs I would find truly meaningful are few, far between, and disappearing fast. I would love to live a life engaging with the things I’m deeply passionate about, like music/radio/watch repair, but for now I think the only thing that can realistically matter for me is filling my life with great people. What else is there really in this twilight, terminal world?... It would be perhaps my life dream to work at WFMU.
JMC: Oh damn you can repair watches?
DS: Yes! Been repairing watches since I was sixteen. I’m hoping to start apprenticing with a watchmaker in San Francisco.
JMC: Hell yeah. Okay, that’s it!
DS: Awesome. Sorry my answers were somewhat bleak. Haha.
