Not too long ago, I was provided the most amazing opportunity of covering Summerfest in Milwaukee—three weekends packed with music. One of the bands I was able to discover and witness for the first time was Return to Dust — I got to participate in an online press conference over Zoom not too long after which was super cool. Return to Dust is a four-piece rock band from Los Angeles and they are a treat to see live. Despite my tech issues, it was a fun extra little tidbit of time with this band. There were at least a couple dozen other participants representing their outlets over this Zoom call, and getting to hear all sorts of different questions asked during this short hour was a new and exciting experience. I truly feel blessed to have found The Concert Chronicles, as this year has brought so many new opportunities and memorable moments.

A question that really stood out to me was asked by Rebecca from Banded, and she asked: What can fans expect from your live shows that they won’t get from streaming? The reason this one resonated with me so much is because there is something to be said about the difference between listening to a recording and being able to physically witness a band perform live. For the general standard, most artists are about what you can expect to sound like at a live show, but there are other aspects that you wouldn’t get from listening to a song in your headphones. Being able to view a show live gives more meaning — you get to see the band jump around stage, interact with each other or the crowd, and the visuals they use on stage immerse you in their sonic landscape. My personal favorite part of live shows is really being able to feel that sound beating in my chest; my heart is being driven with the adrenaline that pairs from the live experiences. 

I think guitarist Sebastian Gonzalez pretty much summed up exactly how I feel about that question, reiterating how it’s REAL music with an enhanced feeling. You might experience the same emotions while listening to it on a streaming platform, but there is so much more to music than just listening. 

Watching a live performance can be different because it does not always align with studio versions. Artists can enhance and change how they perform it live versus the recording in a studio. 

I was very awkward in asking my question due to technical difficulties, but I always love learning about the behind the scenes, so my two-part question was: What does the creative process look like? And who does the songwriting?

Bassist Graham Stanush and guitarist Matty Bielawski work together to create a majority of the band’s songwriting. Like a lot of artists, there is no defined method to it. Graham mentioned that sometimes one of them will write a whole song or it’ll start with a riff that leads to the whole demo. 

One time they wrote parts to a song, tracked the whole thing, and then wrote the lyrics to the second verse later. I think the whole idea of knowing how bands work to create their art is such an interesting and inspiring process, because knowing how differently everyone goes through the same process means there is NO RIGHT WAY. You can do it however works best for you to create something amazing, and you do not need to listen to those negative voices in your head. 

Graham reiterated that there are so many ways they’ve made their songs, but they want to make sure it stays loose and exciting. There are no parameters to it. They want to get their song to where it needs to go. 

Matty added that they want to try all the different ways to make a song together. 

This was all a perfect response, and I want to thank them for allowing me to ask my question, even with my inability to use Zoom, ha.

Overall, this entire conference was super informative and interesting to hear the band discuss their music, their processes, and overall experiences they’ve had as a band that is currently touring— especially the fun tidbit about how Graham may or may not scat a bit during their songs.

Ally Hall, the PR representative and host of the conference, asked a question regarding the album cover art for their upcoming EP — it’s release date is August 1. Cover art is never something Return to Dust thoroughly expect to create because the imagery doesn’t always match the sound, but yet it does, and, for the band, they embrace spontaneity in the process. The finalized image was an outtake and created by an incredible photographer. There was a vision, but it’s not something that’s always pieceable in words, so they messed around and took a lot of shots — it happened with a sense of impromptu magic. They created imagery with the themes in mind and it came to life. 

Art is not something that’s ever done right from the start. The ideas and visions are not always doable, but when you see the intention come to life, you just know it. 

This was such a great question to be able to hear and learn about before the EP officially comes out — I’m super excited for its release. So many other cool questions were asked that immersed us in the world of Return to Dust and their upcoming EP, Speak Like The Dead, but for now, I’m going to wrap up this review.

Return to Dust just concluded a tour with Billy Corgan and the Machines of God, but next month you can catch them opening for Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace. I bet that’ll be an amazing show that you do not want to miss out on. Grab a ticket to a date if you haven’t yet!

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