{"id":549521,"date":"2023-02-08T22:04:15","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T19:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/kevin-devine-is-still-protesting-himself\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T22:04:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T19:04:15","slug":"kevin-devine-is-still-protesting-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/kevin-devine-is-still-protesting-himself\/","title":{"rendered":"#Kevin Devine is still protesting himself"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41e238afe6e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41e238afe6e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/kevin-devine-is-still-protesting-himself\/#%E2%80%9CKevin_Devine_is_still_protesting_himself%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Kevin Devine is still protesting himself&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/kevin-devine-is-still-protesting-himself\/#Roughly_two_decades_into_his_solo_career_Devine_discusses_his_DIY_roots_his_brush_with_major-label_stardom_and_the_subcultural_%E2%80%9Clemonade_stand%E2%80%9D_hes_been_operating_ever_since\" >(Roughly) two decades into his solo career, Devine discusses his DIY roots, his brush with major-label stardom, and the subcultural \u201clemonade stand\u201d he\u2019s been operating ever since.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CKevin_Devine_is_still_protesting_himself%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Kevin Devine is still protesting himself&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"deck\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Roughly_two_decades_into_his_solo_career_Devine_discusses_his_DIY_roots_his_brush_with_major-label_stardom_and_the_subcultural_%E2%80%9Clemonade_stand%E2%80%9D_hes_been_operating_ever_since\"><\/span>(Roughly) two decades into his solo career, Devine discusses his DIY roots, his brush with major-label stardom, and the subcultural \u201clemonade stand\u201d he\u2019s been operating ever since.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"content_blocks\">\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242444\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left image\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11569_1_1_cwxrwd\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Kevin Devine is still protesting himself\"><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><\/p>\n<p>      Erik Tanner<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242445\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <span class=\"lead-text\">Back when Kevin Devine<\/span> was a teenager on Staten Island, around the same time he began writing his own songs and playing punk shows, he started hanging out with a guy called Freedom <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trip<\/a>odi. Freedom was, Devine says, \u201cthe first vegan I ever met, first straight-edge person I ever met, first <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>ist I ever met.\u201d His home borough was thought of then, as it is now, as a conservative enclave in New York City. But Devine\u2019s Staten Island, with guys like Freedom Tripoldi at its center, was different: \u201cThere was this weird little fist of fucking weirdos. They weren\u2019t cool kids, weren\u2019t percolating in Williamsburg or the Lower East Side, and weren\u2019t the meathead jocks and wannabe mafioso kids that some might associate with South Brooklyn and Staten Island. It was DIY.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            In the almost three decades since then, Devine\u2019s career has taken him further away from that scene in Staten Island than he could have imagined. After releasing a couple of records as the frontman of the emo band Miracle of 86, Devine went solo. He recorded his debut album, <i>Circle Gets The Square<\/i>, in 2000, releasing it on a tiny indie label in the U.S. before it was picked up in Europe, giving him the chance to tour abroad. At his first show in Cologne, Germany \u2014 pretty much 20 years to the day before Devine and I speak on Amp \u2014 there were 50 kids who knew every word to his songs. \u201cI don\u2019t think my family knew that record existed,\u201d he says now. That show &#8220;meant something fucking ridiculous; it felt monumental.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            Soon enough, Devine was attracting the attention of a major. He was a smart, sensitive singer-songwriter with a left-liberal edge, and big corporations wanted a guy like that on their roster. After two more albums on his own, he signed to Capitol Records, who promised to make him a singular star. The relationship lasted long enough for him to record 2006\u2019s <i>Put Your Ghost To Rest<\/i> and soft release it before being dropped, the casualty of a merger. <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242446\" class=\"content_block paragraph image triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11912_2_1_j1vwhm\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Kevin Devine is still protesting himself\"><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><\/p>\n<p>      Erik Tanner<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242459\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            Devine, always suspicious of the music business, had been vindicated. \u201cI don\u2019t know if my orientation towards the industry shifted so much as it recalibrated and calcified to certain suspicions I\u2019d held before attempting to dip my toes in a certain kind of water,\u201d he says now, laughing. <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            Since then, he\u2019s built a community around his music in ways that might even look familiar to the 14-year-old kid learning about punk from Freedom Tripodi. He\u2019s toured the world on his own, playing small rooms in Northern Europe and massive stages at festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella. He\u2019s recorded EPs with John K. Samson and David Bazan for his <i>Devinyl Splits<\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a>, offered fans music via his <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/kevindevine\">Patreon<\/a>, collaborated with Manchester Orchestra on three albums as Bad Books, and, made music most major labels wouldn\u2019t know what to do with. His latest, last year\u2019s <i>Nothing\u2019s Real, So Nothing\u2019s Wrong<\/i>, is quiet and psychedelic \u2014 he\u2019s described it as \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/kevin-devine-goes-kaleidoscopic-with-nothings-real-so-nothings-wrong\">gently fucked-up<\/a>\u201d \u2014 a long way from the more conventional structures of an album like <i>Put Your Ghost To Rest<\/i>. <\/p>\n<p>            The two in-studio live albums he\u2019s recorded with The Goddamn Band over the past decade, <i>Matter of Time<\/i> and <i>Matter of Time II<\/i>, are Devine at his peak, experimenting and dabbling in extremes as he reworks older material. Those albums showcase an artist who&#8217;s never seemed afraid of pausing to look backward, even when the past might seem uncomfortable. So, while our conversation was loosely based on the 20th anniversary of his arrival as a solo artist, I figure we\u2019d have ended up discussing everything from Staten Island DIY to label bullshit anyway.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242458\" class=\"content_block paragraph embed triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\">\n    <iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=588194885\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/devinylrecordsny.bandcamp.com\/album\/nothings-real-so-nothings-wrong\">Nothing&#8217;s Real, So Nothing&#8217;s Wrong by Kevin Devine<\/a><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242448\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <b>The FADER: What do you gain from looking backwards, from these moments of commemoration?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Kevin Devine:<\/b> Perspective. It\u2019s interesting how we\u2019re besieged by the moment we\u2019re in, but it\u2019s also so hard to be truly present. <\/p>\n<p>            I\u2019m a niche public-facing figure who has cultivated a lemonade stand in the corner of a very particular subcultural playground. That <i>Tour<\/i> EP [first released in 2007 and reissued in 2021] was a really funny hinge release because we did it for that tour with Brand New and Manchester Orchestra. I had spent the better part of 2 years getting signed to Capitol Records, being put through that system, meeting Rob Schnapf who did all the Elliott Smith stuff, making the record that became <i>Put Your Ghost to Rest<\/i>, having it soft-released. We did very little press, very little promo, very little marketing, and it was supposed to set up a larger release in the spring. And then, Valentine\u2019s Day 2007, I got dropped while in the van driving to play a show in Nashville. That EP came at a moment where I had just lost the label I\u2019d spent two years uncomfortably cultivating some relationship with while also like making this record that was a huge step forward for me. <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            Between <i>Put Your Ghost to Rest<\/i> and <i>Brother\u2019s Blood<\/i>, the band changed pretty dramatically. The direction of the band shifted. So when you ask me how I benefit from inventorying or commemorating, I think it\u2019s that you can connect some dots without trying to assign unearned meaning.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242449\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left pull_quote\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"pull_quote\"><p>\u201cThere was this moment where tasteful songwriter stuff with a slight idiosyncratic bent was having this real cultural moment. I think that was how I got signed: Capitol was like, \u2018Well, we should get one of those.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242450\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <b>Have you ever re-read <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.punknews.org\/article\/13472\/kevin-devine-talks-about-major-label-deal&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1675879389993648&amp;usg=AOvVaw2I-sk9v8dmJo9jzI89Ik-D\">what you wrote<\/a> about your relationship with Capitol at the time, when the relationship was still going?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I remember the spirit of it. I was speaking through some of those misgivings and ultimately talking about why I elected to take a shot anyway. Does that sound right?<\/p>\n<p>            <b>That\u2019s there, and there\u2019s a tension there too. You reference this perceived assumption that being part of a major label would stop you from writing politically. And then there\u2019s this clear-eyed line: \u201cI\u2019ve seen plenty of bands that think that they\u2019re going to be the one that doesn\u2019t get screwed by the major system, and I am cautious and realistic.\u201d You ended up getting dropped a few weeks later. Do you remember having written that bit specifically?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m laughing with and at myself but also having moments of semi-joyful communion with the fact that those things all still resonate with me. The reason I\u2019m laughing is that I still talk about this all the time, and maybe I will forever. <\/p>\n<p>            I was a kid who got into punk and indie rock as a preteen through R.E.M. and Nirvana. Later, I got more properly into hardcore shows and punk rock shows \u2014 the wave of emo that included Sunny Day Real Estate, but also Superchunk and Sonic Youth and Pavement and Helium. And the next big bang was Elliot Smith. There\u2019s a pretty short list of bands from those formative years that somehow managed to sign to a major label. They snuck into a life where they were never really selling a ton of records, didn\u2019t seem to have any interference or heavy duty involvement or investment. They were just themselves. It was almost like the job of a band like Built to Spill on a major label was to bring in another cool indie rock band that might actually be a bigger commercial concern, the way Sonic Youth brought Nirvana to Geffen. <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            There was a difference between that and whatever was h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening in the early 2000s with the Long Island emo scene. It had an unapologetic careerism. Those bands wanted to be rockstars, and that\u2019s okay. And the bands that were happening in New York at the time wanted to be cool stars, some continuation of the Talking Heads, art-damaged stars. But in both instances, their ambitions were pretty grand with respect to the public part of it. I never thought that far or that hard about that. My internalization of the shit that happened with Kurt Cobain, and to a lesser extent Elliott Smith, was that it\u2019s pretty dangerous up there. Those were smart, willful, creative people; those were not pushovers, wilting flowers. But they were in some conflict about a whole bunch of things. They wanted people to pay attention, but they also understood how abhorrent and perverse pain and celebrity were.<\/p>\n<p>            <iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2733244400\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/devinylrecordsny.bandcamp.com\/album\/matter-of-time-ii\">Matter of Time II by Kevin Devine<\/a><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>            <b>How did that manifest at Capitol?<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            I couldn\u2019t believe it when Capitol Records was interested in signing me. I love what I make, but I think it was so much more a sign of the times. There was this moment where tasteful songwriter stuff with a slight idiosyncratic bent was having this real cultural moment. I think that was how I got signed: Capitol was like, \u201cWell, we should get one of those.\u201d I remember the president of Capitol calling some meeting at the Foundation Room at the now-defunct House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard, and I played a set. After, he silenced the room, put his arm around me, and said to the room, \u201cElvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan\u2026\u201d and then tightened his grip around my shoulder and said, \u201cKevin Devine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I remember 98 percent of me thinking, \u201cThis is all such horseshit and I want to dissolve like Nightcrawler from the X-Men.\u201d But then two percent of you thinks\u2026 \u201cMaybe. Maybe I\u2019ll be Built to Spill and just tuck myself into a corner here and have a 15-year run on a major label. Maybe I\u2019ll be the exception. Maybe I\u2019ll be Neil Young.\u201d I remember telling Rob Schnapf that story and him looking me straight in the eyes and going, \u201cMan, what an asshole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been to some laughable extent trying to figure out how to have a career in the music industry while like not being in the music industry for 15 years since that time. It\u2019s a very particular path, but it\u2019s the one I\u2019ve got. <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242451\" class=\"content_block paragraph image triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/211210_KD11423_1_hhofmv\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Kevin Devine is still protesting himself\"><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><\/p>\n<p>      Erik Tanner<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-242452\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <b>I wonder how much that experience has influenced the community building you\u2019ve done since. On Patreon and through the <i>Splits<\/i> series releases, you\u2019ve cultivated this circle of disparate musicians and devoted fans. It seems like you\u2019re calling back even further, to the DIY ethos you started out with on Staten Island.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t literally want to be at The Join on Staten Island today, but I think there\u2019s got to be a part of my mind that can see the breadcrumb trail from that place to now. The Capitol thing was like an attempted detour to see like how much of that could I bring with me and be in this space. It gets harder and harder to live in the middle. But to this point, I\u2019ve been able to figure out how to make a living as a lemonade stand operator, and I have adherents who are really committed and devoted and seem to get it. Yes, there\u2019s of course parts of me that are like, \u201cI wonder if I could\u2019ve been like artist X if I\u2019d had this amount of infrastructure, but then the other part of me steps back in. I can\u2019t fucking believe everything we\u2019ve managed to do for as long as we\u2019ve managed to do it. And I\u2019ve always felt the weird sense of joy when we\u2019ve done things like played at Coachella and Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, or had sliding-door relationships with industrial things or had a record chart on <i>Billboard<\/i>. I could ask, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t I become Sufjan Stevens?\u201d But there\u2019s another way you can look at it that\u2019s just like, \u201cHoly shit, how cool.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><b>How has your relationship with your old songs changed? Are you able to be kind to the version of yourself that wrote a song like \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hdMSYSv_Cgg&amp;ab_channel=KevinDevine-Topic\">Just Stay<\/a>?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m grateful that I had the tool of articulation and expression to, as best as I could at that time, try to make sense of the feelings I was having. I\u2019m grateful to no longer be in those exact same spaces. I do still feel. I can identify the person in those songs. It was an endless, anxious stream back then. I just couldn\u2019t stop. I was so uncomfortable. I want more than anything sometimes, especially with some of the songs from 2002 to 2005, to put my hand on that kid\u2019s chest and say, \u201cIt\u2019s alright, slow down.\u201d I know too that you can only get there how you get there, and this is how I got here. But I\u2019m also glad that the serrated nature of those feelings and the things I was doing to invite the more chaotic executions of those feelings into my life are not a part of my daily diet today. <\/p>\n<p>            <b>I was thinking about \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5dBubWSKQJg&amp;ab_channel=KevinDevine-Topic\">Protest Singer<\/a>,\u201d your very early song, and a line that sticks out, where you say, \u201cSo you call me a protester, I\u2019m only protesting myself.\u201d I wonder if over the years maybe you fulfilled that lyric in ways you couldn\u2019t have foreseen back then. Did collapsing the personal and the political in your songs feel natural from the beginning?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It did not feel natural or intuitive to me. I literally wrote that song the spring of my freshman year of college. I\u2019ve maybe written a dozen or so songs that could be considered political, and I\u2019ve never really thought my music was very good rallying music. \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=O1sXLzGj3C4\">Another Bag of Bones<\/a>\u201d doesn\u2019t really work in a protest environment. But I do recognize that I go to certain places in my songwriting that other artists don\u2019t because there is something alienating about them. I\u2019ve had people outright tell me they don\u2019t like my music because of that, and I\u2019ve had people in the industry tell me they don\u2019t know how to get my music on the radio for that reason. There\u2019s that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L-uDPv7iQEo&amp;ab_channel=KillRockStars\">Elliott Smith lyric<\/a>: \u201cIf it\u2019s your [decision] \/ To be open about yourself \/ Be careful or else.\u201d Another way you could say it is, \u201cIf it\u2019s your position to write about a personal experience of social issues, be careful or else.\u201d I\u2019ve never known how to write about social issues from any other place than as an extension of personhood. But ultimately, I would argue that I\u2019ve probably protested myself more than anything else.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Alex Robert Ross<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/2023\/02\/08\/kevin-devine-the-fader-interview-on-amp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Kevin Devine is still protesting himself&#8221; (Roughly) two decades into his solo career, Devine discusses his DIY roots, his brush with major-label stardom, and the subcultural \u201clemonade stand\u201d he\u2019s been operating ever since. Erik Tanner Back when Kevin Devine was a teenager on Staten Island, around the same time he began writing his own songs&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":549522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/c_limit,w_1024\/c_crop,h_533,w_1024,x_0,y_9,f_auto,q_auto:eco\/211210_KD11569_1_2_loq96c\/211210_KD11569_1_2_loq96c.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[139602,87510],"class_list":["post-549521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-kevin-devine","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}