{"id":620317,"date":"2024-05-13T18:08:26","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T15:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-sampling-helped-amen-dunes-sublimate-social-disorder-into-song\/"},"modified":"2024-05-13T18:08:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T15:08:26","slug":"how-sampling-helped-amen-dunes-sublimate-social-disorder-into-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-sampling-helped-amen-dunes-sublimate-social-disorder-into-song\/","title":{"rendered":"#How sampling helped Amen Dunes sublimate social disorder into song"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content_blocks\">\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<style>\n<p> article.custom .custom-title, article.custom .custom-media .caption {\n   color: ;\n }<\/p>\n<p> article.custom .custom-attribution, article.custom .custom-attribution a {\n   color: ;\n }<\/p>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261602\" class=\"content_block flush title center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"custom-title\">\n      How sampling helped Amen Dunes sublimate <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> disorder into song\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-description\">\n      <i>Death Jokes<\/i>, his first album in six years, is a sincere look at the sicknesses of our society, filtered through a kaleidoscope of fragmented sound.\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-attribution\">\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Raphael Helfand<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-media\">\n<div class=\" image center_align\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_s4bwai\/amen-dunes-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-stevenbrahms-steven-brahms-a.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"How sampling helped Amen Dunes sublimate social disorder into song\"><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Amen Dunes. Photo by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stevenbrahms\/\">Steven Brahms<\/a>.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"custom_share_buttons_top \" style=\"\">\n<div id=\"new_socials_bottom\" class=\"new_socials_footer  \">\n<p>      <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/FDR_SocialSharing_Facebook-747312c39722d47504a80f02500b8d4ad2e36acf922bad1c83799db1bc77f605.png\"><!-- <span>Share<\/span> --><\/p>\n<p>  <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefader.com%2F2024%2F05%2F13%2Famen-dunes-death-jokes-interview%3Futm_source%3Df%26utm_medium%3Dtw%26utm_campaign%3Dshare&amp;text=How%20sampling%20helped%20Amen%20Dunes%20sublimate%20social%20disorder%20into%20song&amp;via=thefader\" class=\"new_social_footer_button twitter new_social_share_button\" data-ga-event-category=\"Social Share\" data-ga-event-label=\"Twitter\" data-ga-on=\"click\" data-ga-event-action=\"cilck\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/FDR_SocialSharing_Twitter-8d78f695280aa3f8a4461702c68e9fcbfd6042af1600c62d49fdec4b735fb57a.png\"><!-- <span>Tweet<\/span> --><\/a><\/p>\n<p>        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/logo-snapchat-5f1563935ac089d0cf1773f642ddbfb6cdb16e8c4ac14fec95a3c11b6f963389.svg\"><!-- <span>Snap<\/span> --><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261604\" 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\">Damon McMahon\u2019s mind<\/span> is eternally open to inspiration, so he tends to find it in surprising places. In early 2006, he was shaving in a hotel bathroom during South by Southwest when his manager put on J Dilla\u2019s <i>Donuts<\/i> in the next room. The record had arrived a month earlier, preceding the legendary producer\u2019s death by only three days. <\/p>\n<p>            McMahon, who grew up obsessed with hip-hop during rap\u2019s \u201cgolden age\u201d (the late \u201980s and early \u201990s) had quit the genre \u201ccold turkey\u201d later in the decade as its center of gravity moved toward the commercial \u2014 though, he admits, getting into drugs and more psychedelic strains of music was a factor as well. More than a decade removed from the days when he\u2019d rush home to watch <i>Rap City<\/i> after school, he found himself deeply touched by Dilla\u2019s short-form masterpieces. \u201cI heard that siren motif, and it kept 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 throughout the album,\u201d he says. \u201cAll the music was so sincere and vulnerable and sad; it was like a lament. He really grabbed my heart.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>            Dilla\u2019s work isn\u2019t immediately reflected in the early music of Amen Dunes, the project McMahon introduced to the world three years after his <i>Donuts<\/i> epiphany. Still, it\u2019s remained a steady influence throughout the project\u2019s constant evolution, and he\u2019s finally paying it tribute on his new album, <i>Death Jokes<\/i>. The homage is in plain view: Dilla\u2019s voice (along with Lenny Bruce\u2019s) appears in the record\u2019s opening and closing tracks. But it\u2019s the Detroit luminary\u2019s unique approach to sampling that contributed more subtly and holistically to the project, driving McMahon to search out his own inimitable production language.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261624\" 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\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/AmenDunes_2024_promo_04_MichaelSchmelling_6720x4480_72_1_c6inwg\/photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-michael_schmelling-hl-en-michael-schmelling-a.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"How sampling helped Amen Dunes sublimate social disorder into song\"><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Photo by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/michael_schmelling\/?hl=en\">Michael Schmelling<\/a>.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261607\" 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>            <i>Death Jokes<\/i>\u2019 creation came, as most things do for McMahon, as a result of silver-lined tragedies, happy accidents, and unsolicited revelations \u2014 not to discount the three years of monomaniacal crafting and editing he undertook to alchemize the few rough sketches he recorded on his phone in late 2019 into the 14 glimmering creations we see  before us today.<\/p>\n<p>            In 2017, McMahon <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ed to New Orleans (\u201cjust for fun\u201d) around the time of Fats Domino\u2019s death. One day, while exploring the city, he was swept up in the massive second-line parade honoring the late hometown hero and was blown away by the outpouring of love. <\/p>\n<p>            \u201cIt was fucking amazing,\u201d he says. \u201cThere were people smoking spliffs and drinking and playing music, and we walked for like an hour through the city. The next day, I got a bunch of his records and took them home.<\/p>\n<p>            \u201cThere\u2019s something about Fats that\u2019s very magical,\u201d he continues. \u201cHe\u2019s a non-singer like I am, a rhythmical singer. I feel a kinship with his approach. He\u2019s the one who made me want to learn piano, now that I think about it, so his death really kicked off the whole <i>Death Jokes<\/i> thing.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261608\" 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\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Schmelling_AMEN_DUNES_2024_226_FINAL_1_1_qvto5s\/photo-by-michael-schmelling.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"How sampling helped Amen Dunes sublimate social disorder into song\"><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Photo by Michael Schmelling.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261609\" 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>            Over the next two years, McMahon learned the basics of piano with the intention of working on a gospel record. Mostly, he says, he just learned Fats Domino songs. Still, the piano sessions led to the aforementioned voice memos, and the claustrophobia of COVID lockdown compelled a feverish bout of lyric writing, as well as some early experiments in sampling and drum programming. The album\u2019s concept came to him in the shower, inspired by a Vedantic urge to eliminate his ego. Later, as he sat at home like the rest of us, watching online interaction grow more and more poisonous as society collapsed, he gave himself a second goal: to sublimate this sickness into song, a personal healing process that he\u2019d then share with the world.<\/p>\n<p>            2021 was a frustrating year of rejected and botched collaborations, but also the year McMahon\u2019s daughter was born \u2014 a personal miracle that nonetheless \u201cfucked things up\u201d album-wise, he says. Despite these speed bumps, he hit his stride late that year, armed with a malfunctioning Roland TR-909 drum machine, a number of new sampling inspirations \u2014 UK Garage, Type O Negative\u2019s Peter Steele, and, less directly, Peter Gabriel \u2014 and a new team of castmates including Sam Wilkes, Panoram, Kwake Bass, Fever Ray\u2019s Cristoffer Berg, and Beastie Boys producer Money Mark, among others. Working remotely, they sent him stem files that he treated, for the most part, like the rest of his sampled source material.<\/p>\n<p>            <i>Death Jokes<\/i> was completed in the summer of 2022. Its bookending tracks, which obliquely establish the record\u2019s themes via clipped standup sets and (in Dilla\u2019s case) interviews, were added last.<\/p>\n<p>            When I called McMahon on the week of <i>Death Jokes<\/i>\u2019 release, he was on the FDR Drive, heading to a rehearsal space where he\u2019d join the chat for his new album\u2019s Bandcamp listening party before band practice. We talked about sample clearance, artistic autonomy, Milwaukee rap, and much more.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261644\" 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<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-261610\" 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>\n            <b>\u201cDeath Jokes,\u201d the title track of this album, is like a mini-overture. It sets up some of the sounds we\u2019ll hear elsewhere on the record, one of which is your idiosyncratic sampling. Here, you sample the voices of Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and J Dilla. We\u2019ll get to Dilla in a minute, but what was the connection you felt to Bruce and Pryor that led to you starting the record off this way?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            Those vocal samples came at the very end of [making] the album, summer 2022. It was like the icing on top. They set the stage, but they don\u2019t speak fully to the themes of the record. That same Lenny Bruce clip is used on \u201cPoor Cops\u201d at the end of the album, as is J Dilla, but it\u2019s teased here. It\u2019s just a hint at the implications of what he\u2019ll later say. These comedians are meant to represent irritants, miscreants, contentious voices. Originally, Andrew Dice Clay and George Carlin were in there, too, but George Carlin\u2019s estate wrote, and they were like, \u201cWe do not agree with the philosophies of this record. It goes against George Carlin\u2019s ethos.\u201d And then Andrew Dice Clay wrote back, like, \u201cNah, I don\u2019t like this music. I\u2019m not gonna do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            And Dilla, he\u2019s just introducing himself as a character who will speak more thoroughly later on the record.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>Speaking of Dilla, you\u2019ve mentioned <i>Donuts<\/i> as one of three key influences on this record, along with UK Garage and your (then) new 909. Was putting Dilla\u2019s voice on the record a simple paying of respects, or were there other reasons for its inclusion?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            [Dilla\u2019s voice] also came in very, very late in [making] <i>Death Jokes<\/i>, because the Beatles wouldn\u2019t let me use a cover of \u201cYesterday\u201d that Lenny Bruce and his daughter had done right before Lenny died. I was like, \u201cFuck this.\u201d Of course, I understand. I paid for every sample on the record, so I was willing to pay for it. It wasn\u2019t anything personal, like, \u201cOh, Paul McCarty doesn\u2019t want me to use \u2018Yesterday.\u2019\u201d It was indicative of the red tape and the stinginess in the music world \u2014 audience and creators. There\u2019s this scarcity mentality in the music world, and there\u2019s no generosity. There\u2019s no abundance. No one pays for music, and as a result the musicians are left to be so stingy and uptight. So I was like, \u201cWho can speak about this situation? Ah, J Dilla.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            <b>Did you start to listen to hip-hop again after that <i>Donuts<\/i> experience? Are there any newer rappers you\u2019re currently into?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            I go in and out. I\u2019m not as hungry as I once was, but I always check out the world. My favorite rapper today\u2026 I\u2019m obsessed with this kid Niontay. He\u2019s my favorite. He has this musicality that I think a lot of MCs don\u2019t have anymore. He\u2019s a wonderful singer; rappers are singers. I love Niontay, and Veeze out of Detroit, people who have really good flow. That \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#c7a380\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eOxAlfvpQmI&amp;ab_channel=VEEZEWEAKASS7\">Law N Order<\/a>\u201d track\u2026 I can\u2019t get it out of my head. I find the Milwaukee scene very exciting too \u2014 so nerdy and weird and awkward, but also aggressive. <\/p>\n<p>            <b>The songs that feel most like <i>Donuts<\/i> tracks on the record are \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#c7a380\" href=\"https:\/\/amendunes.bandcamp.com\/track\/predator\">Predator<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#c7a380\" href=\"https:\/\/amendunes.bandcamp.com\/track\/solo-tape\">Solo Tape<\/a>,\u201d for obvious reasons: They\u2019re these quick, playful interludes that came from late-night bursts of inspiration. Have you ever worked like that in the past, or have you <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly been more meticulous?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            I think most people know Amen Dunes through the <i>Freedom<\/i> record, where I was going for this clean melodic sound, but that\u2019s the total outlier. I think <i>Death Jokes<\/i> speaks to the first [Amen Dunes album], <i>DIA<\/i>, in that it\u2019s a solo project. It\u2019s pure improvisation. It\u2019s crafted over time, but it\u2019s improvisation, and it\u2019s impulsive. So yeah, I have worked like that in the past. <i>DIA<\/i> was all first takes. Shit, most of the records are first, second, and third takes that I then craft.<\/p>\n<p>            But yes, [\u201cPredator\u201d and \u201cSolo Tape\u201d] are like these interstitial moments that I find in the electronic music I love, and in J Dilla \u2014 this idea of these little moments that are brief but beautiful.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261612\" 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: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1976434632\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/track=2938360880\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amendunes.bandcamp.com\/album\/death-jokes\">Death Jokes by Amen Dunes<\/a><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261613\" 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>Another thing the opening track sets up well is the disorientation that hits us from the very beginning. You open the track between beats, in a way, and then you shift the pulse so much throughout the song that you don\u2019t really give the listener a chance to settle in. It all seems very linked to the chaotic, broken society you highlight throughout the album.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            This record is one\u2019s processing of the disorder. My processing, but it might be your processing. I\u2019m also talking about the world\u2019s processing. That chaos is a musical environment, but I recently realized this record is directed by the internet, really. The internet directs me. This record is a manifestation of my sublimation of the internet. I\u2019m guided by the algorithm, but I made it beautiful and I made it folky and I made it my own. I got intimate with it. I mean, [the song is] fucking psychotic. There\u2019s a Schumann piece, and then there are these beats, and there\u2019s J Dilla, and it makes you wanna puke in many respects. It\u2019s like the glut of the internet, and I was trying to sublimate it at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>So is that intro meant to represent the internet as raw data before it gets processed or sublimated?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            In a way. But it\u2019s raw data that I gave a hug to.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261615\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left video\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\">\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Amen Dunes - Rugby Child (Official Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yh763uxvddo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n \/\/trackYouTubeVideo('261615');\n<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261616\" 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\u2019m interested in the strange <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> of events that led to \u201cRugby Child\u201d \u2014 the broken 909 causing the tempo changes, which in turn give the strings this bizarrely layered feel that\u2019s hard to describe.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            The music was written during the <i>Freedom<\/i> sessions, but the lyrics were written during the pandemic, and it was very much a reflection of feeling trapped. A friend had overdosed in the early lockdown, and I used him as an example of the tea kettle exploding. But then I was like, \u201cI don\u2019t want to do it like an Amen Dunes song; I want this to feel fun and free.\u201d I\u2019m a big Lil Peep fan. I love all that he engendered, so I was like, \u201cWhat\u2019s the cheapest way I could do this song? What if I put a kick drum on top of a folky finger-pick guitar?\u201d I used the Lil Peep song \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#c7a380\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3rkJ3L5Ce80&amp;ab_channel=LilPeep\">Benz Truck<\/a>\u201d as a model.<\/p>\n<p>            I had this fun format, but I realized I didn\u2019t know what I was doing, so I started programming all these beats. In Ableton, you\u2019re supposed to abide by the computer\u2019s grid, which is a BPM that\u2019s mapped out so all of your instruments can be edited within that format. I didn\u2019t do that, so I was recording a 909 with a broken clock, manually nudging the beat as I went. Since it wasn\u2019t on the grid, when I did overdubs they wouldn\u2019t line up with the drums. It was fucking crazy. I hired an engineer, and he spent maybe two weeks on and off with me trying to edit \u201cRugby Child\u201d to be straight. It didn\u2019t work. I made it work, in the end, by editing every kick drum by hand, so your ears can\u2019t tell that it\u2019s truly off.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261618\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left video\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\">\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Amen Dunes - Round the World (Official Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IKecPxW_orU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n \/\/trackYouTubeVideo('261618');\n<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261617\" 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>\u201cRound the World\u201d is a sample saga, but the central sample is of your own piano playing. Do you approach sampling yourself and sampling others differently?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            No, I don\u2019t think so. Everything\u2019s material. [On \u201cRound the World\u201d], I did that out of necessity. Like a lot of my songs, it was an improvisation that I recorded with my iPhone, and I tried to transcribe it. The problem was that it was nine minutes long and the chords changed constantly. My music is rhythm music, so my voice and all the subtle melodic changes went along with every chord change. If you straightened it out, it\u2019d just be trash.<\/p>\n<p>            One of the many themes of this was artistic flexibility and autonomy, not being told by the man that you can\u2019t do what you want to do. I wanted to discuss the constriction that exists these days that has a chokehold on art making. Lenny Bruce talks about it in the last track. \u201cRound the World\u201d is an example of that stranglehold: I perceived that I would be foolish to do it alone because it\u2019s so unorthodox, so I hired these two jazz pianists to do it for me, and they basically scoffed at me, like, \u201cYou\u2019re a fucking idiot. This is stupid. You don\u2019t need to do this. Just straighten it out.\u201d They tried it, and it sounded terrible.<\/p>\n<p>            I tried to do it myself, but it didn\u2019t sound right either, so eventually I went to the original improv, chopped it up in my phone into 15 different chord voicings, and pasted it throughout a nine-minute grid in the Ableton session.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n #content_block-261614 {\n   background: ;\n   padding-bottom: 40px;\n }<\/p>\n<p> #content_block-261614,  #content_block-261614 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-261614 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #c7a380;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261614\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left pull_quote\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"pull_quote\"><p>\u201cThere\u2019s this scarcity mentality in the music world, and there\u2019s no generosity. There\u2019s no abundance. No one pays for music, and as a result the musicians are left to be so stingy and uptight.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261619\" 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>Before starting this record, you learned to play piano from a psychic medium named Jonichi. What inspired that?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            Every time I do an Amen Dunes record, I try to do something new and challenge myself because idiosyncrasy comes from accidents. Originally, I wanted to make a gospel record, so I was like, \u201cAlright, I\u2019ll play piano,\u201d but I didn\u2019t really learn. I just got good enough that I could bang out some chords and do some walking bass lines. Basically, I could play Fats Domino songs. I wanted a new tool to write new songs with, and then Jonichi brought a whole other thing.<\/p>\n<p>            He was taught by Nadia Boulanger, who was a legend \u2014 she was blind and she taught everyone from Ravel [(not actually, but Aaron Copland and Astor Piazzola for sure)] to Quincy Jones \u2014 so I learned from him to respect tradition. He would come and show me some basics, and then he\u2019d lecture me about the way she taught and what she believed was important in artmaking. <\/p>\n<p>            Basically, she believed that it\u2019s important to challenge convention, to not be a sheep, to not kowtow to trends. We need contention in art, or it\u2019ll fucking die on the vine. But how does one get there? Her method was through tradition, actually; the only way to be avant garde is to have your shit together and know your predecessors and have a practice and take it seriously.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261621\" 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: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1976434632\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/track=3987465797\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amendunes.bandcamp.com\/album\/death-jokes\">Death Jokes by Amen Dunes<\/a><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261620\" 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>\u201cPoor Cops,\u201d <i>Death Jokes<\/i>\u2019 closer, gives the album a satisfying sense of symmetry, with Lenny Bruce and J Dilla coming back. You said these bookends came at the end of the recording process, but the album\u2019s core concept was obviously something you\u2019d been thinking about for some time. From what I understand, you didn\u2019t mean for this album to be ironic or comedic, so in what sense are these songs \u201cdeath jokes\u201d?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            There are two meanings to death jokes. There\u2019s this Hindu idea of non-dualism: essentially that this human body that I identify with as Damon \u2014 this body and mind and personality and egoic structure \u2014 is not really my true self. Death jokes are these songs, poems, whatever, that encouraged me to relinquish my attachment to this inauthentic self.<\/p>\n<p>            The pandemic forced me to do that. We all were in this gauntlet, like, \u201cAre you gonna hold on or are you going to let go?\u201d The death jokes were my songs that I was offering to everyone, to help me relinquish this clinging and remember who I really was. That summer, I had one magical day. I listened to a hip-hop album \u2014 someone I\u2019m not gonna mention, someone I don\u2019t really like, but he was a shining star and he had these amazing intros and all interstitial moments \u2014 and I was so jealous, like, \u201cGoddammit, I wanna do this. I don\u2019t have any fucking intros, outros, anything.\u201d I was so pissed.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-261623,  #content_block-261623 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-261623 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #c7a380;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261623\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left pull_quote\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"pull_quote\"><p>\u201cWe need contention in art, or it\u2019ll die on the fucking vine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261622\" 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>            I was in Woodstock, and there was an unbelievable fucking thunderstorm. And in that next three-hour span, I did \u201cDeath Jokes\u201d and \u201cPoor Cops,\u201d and I did the sampling for \u201cRound The World.\u201d At that point, I saw this secondary theme emerge, which was speaking out against social constriction, the giant flattening poisonous cauldron of our digital existence that forces us to capitulate and fucking conform and attack one another. That\u2019s what I started realizing I was so fucking angry about. I made this album because it hurts my heart to see the world behave this way.<\/p>\n<p>            Inauthenticity: that\u2019s what I was speaking out against. One side effect of that is that artists are as dead inside as ever, really, because people are afraid to be contentious and to dialogue and to challenge. So who emerges? I go to YouTube and I explore, and within minutes I\u2019m like, \u201cOh yeah, fucking Lenny Bruce.\u201d  He came up and just fucking laid it on me \u2014 he\u2019s dead, but he laid it on me. His jokes that I use in \u201cPoor Cops\u201d basically do my whole job for me. He basically fucking did my whole album for me. He says it all.<\/p>\n<p>            If you want to know what <i>Death Jokes<\/i> is about, listen carefully to what he\u2019s saying; It\u2019s genius. He reenacts the trial where they basically sentence him to death [(four months in a workhouse)]. They\u2019re afraid of him, so they lazily and quickly paint a picture they can use against him to insincerely take him down. He says, \u201cPoor cops.\u201d \u201cThey know not what they do,\u201d really, is what he\u2019s saying. That\u2019s what <i>Death Jokes<\/i> is about.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261645\" 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<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Raphael Helfand<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\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\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" 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;\"><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\/2024\/05\/13\/amen-dunes-death-jokes-interview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How sampling helped Amen Dunes sublimate social disorder into song Death Jokes, his first album in six years, is a sincere look at the sicknesses of our society, filtered through a kaleidoscope of fragmented sound. By Raphael Helfand Amen Dunes. Photo by Steven Brahms. \u00a0 Damon McMahon\u2019s mind is eternally open to inspiration, so he&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":620318,"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_89,f_auto,q_auto:eco\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_ci0pls\/amen-dunes-steven-brahms_ci0pls.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[111197,87510],"class_list":["post-620317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-amen-dunes","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620317","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=620317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}